"The Delusion"

     A friend recently sent to me a video of a gentleman who spends much of His life as a motivational speaker who seeks to awaken people to the potential of life being a truly meaningful and joyful existence.  The man possesses a winsome personality, boundless enthusiasm, and great communication skills that enthrall audiences and likely motivate listeners to seek bigger and better things in their lives.

    The gentleman, however, does not believe in God.  He rather affirms a "spirituality" and "creativity" in human beings, the source of which he does not identify in anything I read in the material available on the Internet.  In essence, the man believes that human beings are as much "God" as anything that exists, and that we create our own meaning and joy by opening our eyes to the possibilities of life.

      I always initially scratch my head when such notions emanate from seemingly reasoned, well meaning, and intelligent people. The Bible, however, provides a simple answer for the delusion in a statement uttered by the Lord Jesus Christ during His earthly lifetime.

     "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).

    The man in question desires the benefits that only God can provide.  He longs for spirituality, meaning, and fulfillment.  However, there are evil deeds in his life for which he does not want to be held accountable by One greater than himself.  The issue is not primarily intellectual.  The issue is moral.  Belief in a God, particularly the God of the Bible, would mean change, the change of sinful attitudes and behaviors being exposed and ultimately eliminated.  Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, while freely providing forgiveness and relationship with God, would also effect a moral upheaval of life that the gentleman is heretofore unwilling to accept.

    The man exists by God's determination.  He "lives and moves and has his being" in God.  God has given to him "life and breath and all things."  He lives in the light of God, and the creation in which he exists continually bears witness to the truth of His maker and sustainer (Acts 17:25-28; John 1:9; Romans 1:20).  The gentleman nevertheless refuses to acknowledge, praise, thank, love, trust, and submit to the Lord who lovingly provides all things, and who draws him to Himself (John 12:32).  Evil deeds deceive him in a delusion that will ultimately condemn him for an eternity if he persists in his willful unbelief.

     There is no spirituality, no meaning, and no fulfillment except in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He made us, He sustains our being, and He is "the one mediator between God and men" (Hebrews 1:2; Colossians 1:17; I Timothy 2:5).  Creation, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the testimony of the church bear continual witness to every human heart that Christ is the issue, Christ is the hope, Christ is the meaning, Christ is the fulfillment, and Christ is the life.  No excuse will suffice in that day of judgment when the only refuge will be the Lord Jesus.  "What think ye of Christ?  Whose son is He?" (Matthew 22:42). 

"To live is Christ."

(Philippians 1:21)