Face to Face With Failure
Sooner or later every man must face the fact that he has been an absolute failure.
(We expand on the phrase ". . . he came to the realization that he was an absolute failure . ." from the 'Typical Christian' page.)
The Path to the Cross
There are a multitude of ways God brings men to their senses, and to acknowledge their need of someone to pay for all their failings. In the words of evangelists,
"They fully confess that they are sinners and that they need a saviour."
For some it's being at the cross in their mind's eye. It has happened for some when they were led to meditate close to some monument of the cross.
Some are deeply affected by the love and mercy of another man. An example of this is the true story of a brutal Japanese prison commander. After the war an Allied officer refused to testify against him, and so the commander escaped with his life. He later became a Christian.
A New Understanding
There was once a ruler of great wealth and influence who described his own goodness in detail. Then God opened his mind to the infinite greatness of him who created everything, and the man loathed himself.
Read in Job 38 how God had questioned that man.
Job 38:3-5
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who . . .
(from New International Version)
Job's response in Job 42:5-6 is
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes."
(from New International Version)
The prodigal son -
Luke 15:17-20
17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father. . .
(from New International Version)
Guilt
It is man's nature when smitten by feelings of guilt to turn away from God, even to hide, sometimes to justify himself.
In the book of Genesis, chapter 3 verse 8, we read,
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
(from New International Version)
Then came the excuses,
Gen 3:12
The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
(from New International Version)
Gen 3:13
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
(from New International Version)
What to Do
No man on earth can forgive you for breaking the laws of God. Without God's help you are eventually doomed.
If you are appalled by the things you have said and done in your life, you are not alone.
King David was led to record his intense bodily and mental suffering, the result of his sinful folly, iniquity and sin. See Psalm 38. David's life was in tatters. He was a very sick man. He was a failure and he cried out to God to save him.
Ps 38 3 to end
3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
my bones have no soundness because of my sin.
4 My guilt has overwhelmed me
like a burden too heavy to bear.
5 My wounds fester and are loathsome
because of my sinful folly.
7 My back is filled with searing pain;
. . . . 8 . . I groan in anguish . . .
10 My heart pounds, . . .the light has gone from my eyes.
11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
17 . . . my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
I am troubled by my sin.
21 O LORD, do not forsake me; . . .
22 Come quickly to help me,
O Lord my Savior.
(from New International Version)
[Dear reader, never despise the many cries of Job or David. Don't grow weary of their tears lest God put you in a similar situation to teach you humility and compassion.]
The tax collector -
Luke 18:13-14
13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
(from New International Version)
Rom 3:23 -- for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . .
Acts 2:21
And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.'
NKJV
created 15apr04 moderately revised 14sep06
upd.27mar07 - minor
|