Our Hope

The following is a confession both of our hope and of our desperate need of this hope. While affirming the benefit and necessity of governments and laws, ultimately we do not place our hope in them. In all we do or say, publicly or privately, our desire is to guard, treasure, and commend the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, we have done a poor job of all three of these. We at Awaken Manhattan have not loved God or our neighbor as we ought. Because of our hard hearts we have often hid behind hatred or fear. We are in as much need as anyone of this hope. In commending holy lifestyles and attitudes, we want to be the first to say that we have not yet arrived. We are still pursuing them. But there is one who promises to get us there, and we hope you will join us as we seek him.

Mankind was created for joy. We were created to experience pleasures beyond our wildest imaginations, to behold beauty never before dreamed, to savor love that surpasses all understanding, to marvel at reality more mind-boggling than the smallest cell or the largest galaxy.

God is this fountain from which we were made to drink. God created us to know him. He created this world to show us who he is. He wants to be cherished and enjoyed as the all-satisfying treasure that he is. This is worship. When we treasure him as our greatest delight, he is most glorified and we are most happy.

But we have not done this.

"...my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." (Jeremiah 2:13)

This is the great evil of mankind. We have forsaken God and created weak and empty substitutes. We have tried to find joy and life apart from him and his design for human flourishing. We reduce, twist, or outright reject that design. Relationships are reduced down to sex. Sex is twisted to be a mere physical high appropriate at any time or in any form. Biblical marriage is rejected as archaic or inconvenient.

This propensity toward evil is not only present but rampant in our hearts. The Bible says that all of us in our natural condition are "slaves of sin" (John 8:34) and "dead" (Ephesians 2:1). These evil desires run deep to the very core of our nature. And because we oppose God we stand condemned before him.

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Scripture adds many more sins to that list. As morally corrupt creatures we cannot dwell with our morally perfect Creator. Rather, we are deemed "enemies of God" (Romans 5:10) and subject to eternal separation from him in Hell.

But God did not leave us without hope. Before the foundation of the world God planned to reconcile us back to himself through his son, Jesus Christ. While we were dead and helpless, life came into the world. When we could not come to God he came to us.

Jesus lived the life we could never live, in perfect obedience and submission to the Father and his design for human life. On the cross, Jesus took upon himself the punishment for the sins of every man, woman, and child who would trust in him. The Son of God, who for eternity past had only ever experienced the most affectionate favor of his Father, on the cross experienced his holy wrath and indignation in our place.

Jesus was dead for three days, and on the third day he rose from the dead. His resurrection demonstrates the Father's acceptance of his sacrifice and the sufficiency of that sacrifice to give us life and bring us back to God.

All who trust in the death of Jesus for them and joyfully embrace him as Lord are forgiven by God. The punishment they deserve for every evil thought or action in the past or in the future was poured out on Jesus at the cross, and the perfect life that Jesus lived is credited to them.

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Those who trust in Christ receive new identities as sinless, perfect sons and daughters of God. They are adopted into a relationship with God where they are not defined by sin in them but by Christ in them. The Holy Spirit begins a lifelong work convicting them of sin and transforming their desires into those that are pure and holy. Jesus sets them free from the power of sin to control them so that they are no longer enslaved to it (Romans 6:6). They are enabled to begin putting sin to death and to experience true freedom from it.

The Gospel not only has power to transform individual lives but to transform families and communities. Marriages are marked by intimacy, sacrifice, mutual care, and faithfulness. Parents love and nurture their children while training them in lives of holiness. Children love and honor their parents. Men show deep affection and care for each other while laboring side-by-side. Women likewise receive love and support from one another as they seek to honor God in their work. Employers recognize the value and dignity of their employees and provide for their needs. Employees work diligently and joyfully while honoring their employers. It fosters a spirit of generosity where those who have much share with those who have little. The Gospel frees us from being consumed by selfishness and instead consumes us with love for one another.

Yet, the Christian life is also a daily fight to "put off the old self...corrupt through deceitful desires" and to "put on the new self, created after the likeness of God" (Ephesians 4:22-24). Christians are not immune to evil desires -- whether it is pride, ingratitude, jealousy, anger, lust, homosexuality, or any other sin. But those who joyfully embrace Jesus as their greatest treasure will live their lives seeking to obey him instead of obeying the sinful desires of their hearts. We cannot have true faith in Jesus while refusing to turn away from sin. Those who have truly come to Christ are a "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) and are given new desires for holiness that are reflected in their lives and relationships.

Following Jesus is not easy:

"Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33)

"The way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Matthew 7:14)

Not only is it hard because we must fight sin, but following him involves complete surrender of our lives to him as well as suffering and even persecution. Nevertheless, Jesus says that on this path we will experience fullness of life, and he promises to give us strength to walk this path until we are finally and completely united with God, either at death or at Christ's second coming, when our bodies will at last be glorified and made perfect forever.

Jesus is the door -- the only door -- through which we gain access to God and to this fullness of joy for which we were made (John 14:6). Our Maker is worthy of our lives, and we are desperately sick without him.

Ultimately, our hope is not that you would help us change some laws. Our hope is not that you would adopt our political agenda. Our hope is not that you would add a few more "dos" or "don'ts" to your list. Our hope is not even that you would agree with us at all.

Our hope is that you would be enamored with Christ.

You were made to experience a "joy that is inexpressible and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8). Don't settle for anything less. Don't settle for weak substitutes that don't last. Keep seeking until you find and experience the joy for which your soul was made.