Blessed Are The Pure in Heart, For They Will See God

 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. What is a pure heart? Does it mean that we must have not one iota of “bad stuff” in our heart? No! Otherwise, no one could meet this requirement! God describes the human heart, shaped by Adam’s sin DNA, as deceitful above all things. (Jeremiah 17:9)  Ouch! Our All-Knowing God also informs us that we are not able in our humanity to fully escape the effects of that damage; Psalm 51:5 tells us that we, like God’s servant David, are born with sinful hearts. Even as babies we cannot have pure hearts!

Do you know the Abraham of scripture, whom God called out of the land of the Chaldeans to become the father of a nation that would be called Israel? Guess what – he messed up. Yep, he messed up kind of big time; his heart chose not to wait on God and instead chose to go where God said not to go. He temporarily stepped out of God’s will, the consequences of which fell hard on him and his nuclear family, and even continue through to our times and actually impacts us! Despite his serious disobedience in that instance, though, God would still come to call him friend! Similarly, those disciples who were considered close to Jesus, his traveling buddies so to speak – who even set aside their regular work and income, and personal schedules to follow Him all throughout Judea, parts of Samaria and Galilee for three years, even they had issues. Some of them were doubters, some had a militant edge, a number of them by their actions told Jesus, “I’m out!” when He was arrested. Still, Jesus would call them His friends – and Jesus does not pick friends willy-nilly! And look at what the apostle Paul says about himself, he who is considered one of the great apostles, faithfully carrying out God’s will to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles, risking his life to do it, so that even to this day, we are experiencing the benefits of Paul’s faithful evangelism: this faithful person who, in God’s grace, saw Divine things that no one else in scripture experienced in that way -- even he struggled with sin!)

So, then, how is it that these faithful persons can be said to have “pure hearts” and see the God of their salvation, the God of promise? How is such a thing possible? It is only through Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins – His death on the cross, a single act – that could make it possible. Jesus’ sacrifice – the Blood He shed for us – had the power of canceling our sin debt, wiping out the condemnation of our souls and protecting us from the wrath of God, because He, Jesus, would cover, i.e., take the guilt of all our sins on Himself. His sacrifice not only liberated us from the body of sin, as Paul calls it, but also opened up the way to God for us, to “see” God as He reveals Himself in His Word, when we repent and accept the invitation contained in the Gospel to believe Jesus is our Lord and Savior. It is possible because when we allow Christ’s blood to “operationalize” in us, when we surrender our hearts – i.e., our wills and presumed right to be boss of our souls, the Holy Spirit, placed in us by God, cleanses or takes away the power of sin in believers’ lives. Then, when we submit to His cleansing work, our hearts will be shaped and trained in righteousness. We will be able to “see” God with spiritual eyes as noted above and experience Him in ways that persons without the Holy Spirit cannot (Psalm 51:1-2,10-12; Romans 6:9-11,17-19; Galatians 5:16-17,19-25; Ephesians 1:3-19). The Holy Spirit enables us to choose obedience – both to repent of sins we know we committed, and those that the Spirit has to reveal to us; to seek and do those things that please God. The process to make us pure before God is called sanctification[1] , which begins at the moment of salvation, and continues throughout our earthly lives until we look like Christ. So how else does the Holy Spirit cleanse and purify our hearts? He works in us through the Holy Word of God, prayer, and circumstances – along with faithful believers in community – to gradually ‘knock off the dirt’ of a life once controlled by a sinful nature. He motivates us to live a clean, moral life, to be “living sacrifices”, and to pursue God’s will in our lives. A pure heart is a heart like Christ’s. This world and our sin nature makes keeping our hearts pure hard work. We must work and submit to what the Spirit is doing for us per above in shaping us like Christ - that’s the purity God seeks. Nothing else this world has is going to shape our hearts in a way that pleases God! If we are to be living sacrifices to God, then our hearts are to be a temple to God. The pure in heart delights in all things God and seeks above all things to please Him. (Psalm 1:1-3; 37:4; 112:1; Ephesians 5:8-10)

For they shall see God. Can we see God with our natural eye? No – no one can. So why does the scripture say that if we live purely before God that we will see Him? Well, the answer to that question is two-fold. First: As the Holy Spirit begins changing us to be like Christ, as our hearts grow in obedience to Him, we begin to spiritually “see” God through Christ and how He has revealed the Father in scripture.  We see Him spiritually by faith as we grow closer to Him. As we continue submitted to God, we will come to see the image of God in others and in the glory of God. As noted in Ephesians 1 above, we are adopted by God as His children at the time of our salvation; the child can see his/her Father!! Secondly:  When we are ‘translated’, that is, when God exchanges our human form for one that is incorruptible, we will be able to gaze on the full beauty of the Lord our God, we shall see Him face-to-face and fall at His feet in worship! For only the pure in heart will gain the heavenly kingdom of God and see Him.  

 

Explore

·       Has anyone experienced this: the water company (in my area it is the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, aka WSSC) is doing work on your street and needs to shut the water off for several hours (yikes! But it happens). When they have completed their work, they notify the residents in the area that for the next several hours they should boil their water. Why do you think that is? What could happen if you choose not to follow that recommendation?

·       Again, the foregoing discussion is a lot of meat to chew on. As you go through it, what part(s) stand out for you in a way that you had not thought of before?

·       Lastly, an audit: When we consider the purity that we are called to,  

o   what do we allow into our hearts – the “throne” God’s temple, for a temple is a place where God is worshiped? What kind of media and gaming do we participate in? Does it honor God and His character? Does what we read and what we view with our eyes honor God and His moral standards for us?

o   See our bodies as God sees them – as sacred. Sacred things are treated modestly and honorably. Does how we intentionally dress or not dress, exposing certain body parts – does it honor God? That is, when a person looks at how we dress or expose certain body parts, does it draw him/her toward Christ so that our outsides reflect who we are to be in Christ?

o   Does our conduct toward one another align with God’s Word?

o   What is worship? Do we worship God daily? 

o   The big question is: Do we really want to see God?

Bonus: Let Praises Rise - Trey McLaughlin & SOZ; Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord - Michael W. Smith

---

[1] Sanctification: a process of being transformed into Christ’s image by the work of the Holy Spirit in you. He directs you into the things of Christ - His words, His character, His lifestyle; when we submit to His work in us, not only will we see His transforming power in us and over us, but also will the angels in heaven, and the world around us. Sanctification is a life-long process -- beginning at the time of our salvation until we are raised up by Christ to be with Him.

Blessed are Those Who Mourn, for They Will Be Comforted

 

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. The word translated “mourn” here means a deep grieving. It is true that God is a God of comfort to those who mourn the death of a loved one or lost relationship (2 Corinthians 1:3-5), and that God’s comfort surpasses any other, as we know that all perfect healing will happen in heaven. Yet, the inference here in this beatitude  goes beyond even that. It is one of deeply grieving our sins that have separated us from God, so the translation from Greek would be “Blessed are those who deeply grieve their sins that have separated them from God.”  As Ephesians 2:1-2 indicates, before our surrendering our lives to God, we were like “dead men/dead people walking” - we had no way to rectify that situation on our own. We were helpless. We rejected Jesus, and so lived and walked in the darkness of the world under the power of satan. (Romans 1:20-22; Ephesians 5:8) The ruler of this world – satan – is doing everything he can to keep us away from the only true God. Yet, by God’s amazing grace, God reaches down through all eternity to call us out of the mire of sin and darkness. God the Holy Spirit prods us and pings us, even allowing us to make choices that will bring despair or suffer troubles if we don’t immediately respond to His call, so that we can call out to Him and seek His face. The Holy Spirit pursues us – like the Father in  Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son, so that, by God’s grace, at some point we, too, may respond to the Spirit, falling down on the rock and hard place of sin and grieving the mess we’ve made by rejecting all God has done in Christ for us. The Spirit delights when we respond to His insistent call to us to “wake up” and to lament our sins – both “gross” and “respectable”. To recognize that the only source of release from the captivity and oppression of sin and its penalty – eternal death – is through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul, in his letter to the church at Corinth, refers to this recognition as “godly sorrow” – a sorrow or mourning generated through the Spirit’s prodding that leads us to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). In response to our grieving and repentance, God forgives us, surrounds us with His comfort, pouring out His grace on us and His Spirit into us. We receive the bounty of blessings – entrance into forever relationship with God, finding our true comfort—our peace -- in Christ, and in knowing that because of what He did at the cross, God has guaranteed our eternity with Him, and that He will lavish His love, grace, and mercy upon us (Ephesians 1:3-14). Have we mourned our sins? Do we mourn the sins that still befall us even though we are saved? It is never too early or too late to do so.

Explore

·       Do you remember a time when you grieved the loss of something or someone? How did that make you feel? Did you cry?

·       Why do you think that Jesus wants us to mourn our sinfulness? What might mourning the sinfulness of rejection of Jesus look like?

·       Is Jesus’ blessing of peace enough for you? Why do you answer that way?

Bonus: "Forgive Me, Lord, For I Have Sinned", Nathan Surgenor

Blessed Are the Poor In Spirit, for Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Some commentators interpret this passage as ‘the poor are blessed people.’ It is true that many people in Jesus’ day were poor; those who listened to Jesus’ sermon were mostly the common, ordinary and often poor persons who had been oppressed by taxes, stringent laws and regulations, and low wages. Jesus, in His humanity, grew up in a poor village; He even speaks about Himself as being homeless!


Yet, this is not the poverty that the first beatitude refers to.

This blessing relates to an impoverishment of spirit -- being spiritually poor before God.

What does “spiritually poor” mean? It means we don’t know what we think we know about God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit; our knowledge and awareness of God are so limited that we have a skewed vision of who He is. We are impoverished or spiritually poor when we do not have the right relationship with God. (Compare Romans 1:20-22,28)

So, what does a right relationship with God look like? It begins when God speaks to us through His Holy Spirit: through His Spirit-authored Word the Bible, through prayer, and other ways (this calling is an individualized call unique for that person; only God knows how, when, where His Spirit will initiate the call). When we truly listen to and receive the Spirit’s call or prompting, we must respond to God, humbly surrendering mind, heart, and soul to Christ. We repent, i.e., turn away from our sinful attitudes, behaviors and from rejecting Jesus and His rightful Lordship over us. We seek, we beg God’s forgiveness. When our hearts are submitted to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, God pours out His grace on us; we are “cleansed” by the Word and Blood of the Lamb, and we receive God’s salvation and His Holy Spirit in us to enable us to follow Christ (see at verse 13 in the Ephesians link). As Ephesians 1:3-14 tells us, we become spiritually rich when we receive a father-child relationship with God.

As Christ followers who are spiritually rich, ours is the kingdom of heaven; we have been rescued from the kingdom of darkness, and transferred to the kingdom of God’s Son, which is the kingdom of heaven (Colossians 1:12-14). What is the kingdom of heaven, this kingdom of God’s Son? This kingdom, God's seat of authority, emanates from heaven where God dwells – Christ is its King. God’s kingdom of heaven is invisible in that it does not have a geographic location, a physical building or estate on earth; God’s throne is not visible to the human eye. God’s kingdom is the place of relationship with God, built on the richness of His love and grace, His justice and character, His mercies, His salvation. It is the rule or reign of God as Sovereign in our lives. It is visibly the universal Body of Christ, the True Church (those called out of satan’s kingdom of darkness – the 'ekklesia') in whose hearts Christ reigns – true disciples of Christ still living on earth and those who have been translated into the heavenly home (2 Corinthians 5:1) who represent God’s ways and authority. They belong to the light, to the kingdom and the kingdom is theirs; they are Citizens of God’s kingdom through the work of the Spirit, people who are obeying the commands of Christ and worshiping Him alone and sharing this good news with others, inviting them to enter the way of the Light of Life. (for further reference, see Jesus' preaching on what the kingdom of heaven is in Matthew 13:1-53, which He taught via parables)

Jesus does not want us to continue poor in spirit; He desires us all to come into a saving relationship with Him and to inherit the spiritual riches God has stored up for us. (John 3:16-17; Matthew 25:34)   When we are finally awakened in our desires, in our heart and spirit to our desperate need for Christ and pursue it -- and God transfers us to His kingdom of light, we receive not just a single blessing, but continual blessings for an eternity!

 

Explore

·       Imagine that you receive a notice that a bank account has been set up in your name and that each year $300,000 would be deposited into it tax-free, along with a home for life, the best education, and authority to live your life honorably and with purpose. What would be your response to the donor?


How is this illustration similar to this beatitude? How may it be different?

 

·       Which one do you think is worse: being spiritually poor or being financially poor? Why did you give that answer? 

·       If you become spiritually rich, what would you do with your riches?

Bonus: "You Know My Name" - Tasha Cobbs Leonard; "I'd Rather Have Jesus", Kevin Smith and Day III Chorale; "Who Am I", Casting Crowns

[view an overview of why the Beatitudes here]

Are we Growing in Christ?

Are We Growing in Christ? Special Bible Study beginning June 13.

--A Follow-up to Tuesday, May 9 Bible Study (and May 7 sermon!)--

Dear Friends,

A recent Bible study had Daniel 9 as a basis for its discussion. The passage reminded us not only of the importance of prayer, but the kind of prayer God will hear. As we fleshed out those principles, we were reminded of the key avenues or means of grace that God works through for growing up His children ‘in Christ’, that is, to enable us to be transformed to be more like Christ in attitude, perspective, and behavior (in another Bible study we learned that this process is called    ‘sanctification’). We are informed by God the Holy Spirit in Paul’s letter to the Romans at    chapter 12, verses 1-2 (NRSV) concerning that will of God: 
   
“1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your    bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.    2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds,    so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and    perfect.” [also see 1 Peter 2:5, Romans 8:9-11, and Ephesians 1:3,4 and 2:10]    

It was reiterated to the Bible study group what these key avenues or means of grace are that God uses in growing His children (these are not necessarily listed in order of primacy):    
1. Prayer    
2. Bible study    
3. Worship    
4. Stewardship    
5. Service    

During the Bible study, we were invited to do as ‘homework’ finding scriptural    passages that inform us and instruct us concerning each of these means of grace.  We are called by God to grow up and grow into Christ, as noted in Acts 2:37-47, where the passage outlines principles for growing the Church and growing individually ‘in Christ’. 

We were invited to a special study on these means of grace via a different approach from how we studied them before. To stimulate our thinking on these things, here are some optional questions for each item as we search for Biblical support for each item. A study Bible, a Bible concordance or index,    biblegateway.com, biblestudytools.com, and similar resources, may prove helping in finding answers . To frame one’s mind and heart for this activity, why not pray for guidance to find what God desires for us personally, and as a Church.    

#1 – Prayer. What is prayer? Why do we pray? (people often ask this question when they    reason that since God knows everything why should I pray?) What kind of prayer pleases God?    (The answers can be found in the Bible)    

#2 – Bible Study. A former bishop in the church noted that there was a    significant level of Bible illiteracy within the church community. During Sunday morning comments a while back, it was also related that during a particular youth retreat a few years, youth were not able to differentiate the Bible from a prayer book.  Indeed, in many churches, persons do not bring a personal Bible to church services to follow the Bible readings, notate, or follow along in a sermon. Others opine that the Bible is either too hard to understand, or outdated-- not relevant for today. Each of the fundamental points of the issues raised herein, of being Biblically literate/illiterate, knowing what the Bible is, and the authority and    relevance of the Bible – are described within the pages of the Bible. What priority does Bible study hold in our lives? Why should a person who identifies him/ herself as a Christian study the Bible? What can happen if a person chooses not to study or rely upon the Bible, or even rejects its absolute truth? Answers are in the Bible.    

#3. Worship. ‘Worship’ is viewed many different ways – but, how does God view worship? What is worship according to God, and what is the worship that God desires? What worship will    God not accept? All of these can be answered in the Bible.    

#4. Stewardship. Many churches schedule ‘stewardship seasons’ to encourage persons’  financial support for the church or to learn about tithing. Yet, how does God view stewardship, that is, what does He say stewardship is? The answer is in the Bible.    

#5. Service. In many churches, there is a perception of great challenge for and/or reluctance on the part of many churchgoers to become persons with a ‘servant’s heart’ – some are convinced that service is only for ‘certain people’ in the church, or that one must be personally asked by a religious professional or by clergy to be a servant or take on a service role. Believers who are ‘in Christ’ are called by the Lord to serve. Yet, what does it mean to be a servant of Christ? What might service look like within a church fellowship setting like St. Christopher’s (or elsewhere),  that is, in what roles might lay persons serve to support the church and the community surrounding the place of worship? How does this coincide with the spiritual gifts that believers receive when they are saved, or does it? Are Christians only required to serve ‘at church’?  Answers to these questions can be found in the Bible.    

Conclusion. The Gospel of John, chapter 10, identifies Christ as the Great Shepherd. He says His sheep hear His voice. He further says that He came so that we may have life, and have it more abundantly. A shepherd leads by voice, words and by action. The sheep respond to the voice and to the words and action. Christ’s words have life in them. He is reaching out to us to follow Him. How will we respond to that call? And what happens after we come to Him, after we accept His call to us to be His followers and for Him to be our Lord?  Namely, what is God’s will for you and for all of us called by Him, what does He call us to be  and to do? The answer is in the Bible! That is what it looks like to ‘grow in Christ’.    (2 Peter 3)

From the Handbook for Successful Living

Dear Friends,

                           Psalm 119:9-16 

I read today a devotion that cited the passage above, and wanted to take the thought and share with the group here.

When my children were growing up, like any other children they liked testing their limits, aka ‘exploring’ to a little child. The whole sensory thing – touching, seeing, tasting, hearing, etc. – is a vital part of a young child’s growth. However, as a parent, I knew that there were things that the children should not experience – things that could prove harmful (even back then there was a movement to give children free rein of their lives – to be ‘free range children,’ which I did not subscribe to!). Harmful things like going under the sink where cleaning products were kept. Touching the stove or fiddling with the knobs. Playing too close to the stairs. And for loving parents the list goes on. I recall only once when I had to truly demonstrate to my children the consequences of a hot stove, which lesson proved beneficial because they never fiddled with a stove again until they were old enough to safely cook – that is another story! I placed physical barriers to certain areas of our home – like guardrails – that were designed as warnings and security tools to keep the children from danger and the very unpleasant consequences of fiddling with things that could damage them. As a parent, being the ‘police’ was exhausting, was not fun, nor was it always a popular thing to do; however, because I love my children, I knew I had to do those things to ensure their safety and protect their lives.

Why, then, do we sometimes expect God to be any different from a loving parent, or would even want Him to be? After all, He is the one who created the capacity for parenthood, and provided the template and instructions. As a loving Parent, He’s not just a provider. Our Father Who Art in Heaven knows all things about us – He can see from the beginning to end and beyond in our lives. He knows every millisecond about us. He knows our needs better than our own human parents. He knows what will make a mess of our lives, what decisions will have never-ending consequences, what impact the things we see and hear will have on us, what impact the people we hang around will have on us, and even knows the number of hairs on our head that we will ever have in this life. (see also Psalm 103:8-19; Psalm 121:8 in conjunction with Deuteronomy 6:24-25 and Jeremiah 29:11-13; Isaiah 55:6-11; Matthew 10:29-31) He has given us the Handbook for Successful Living for this life and beyond. This Handbook, God’s Word the Bible, sets forth guardrails for our success and protection, and like toddlers, we sometimes try to get over them, stamp our feet in defiance, or have a tantrum because we think those guardrails are preventing us from enjoying something good or fun, or popular. When we ignore those guardrails, those protections and guides that God Who Knows All Things has put in place for us – His children – we get into trouble; unfortunately, some of the consequences can last a lifetime, or result in irreparable harm or even death. (compare Galatians 6:7-10)

Please know that when I speak about these things, I’m not talking from a viewpoint of a Pollyanna or as someone just repeating what I have heard. I have seen the ‘back alleys’, and I know the consequences of going against God’s successful way – and please believe me when I say, as the Galatians universal warning above states, the resulting consequences of going against God is no respecter of persons. That is, yes – if you choose to not follow God’s provisions for a successful life, you will have consequences. There are no Teflon people or exceptions to the Galatians rule – none! And I repeat – there are no exceptions. Not even for ‘smart’ persons, church-going persons, or really nice persons. God illustrates that over and over again in His Word as a warning for us. Even His most devoted servant and child David – the same David who believed God and slew the giant, proved that rule to be true: when David chose a course of behavior that rebelled against God’s successful guide for his life – i.e., he ignored, did not find applicable to him – God’s successful guide for sex, David suffered irreparable and devastating damage affecting his family, and his kingdom that he never fully recovered from. Even though God forgave David of his rebellion, David still had to face the very sad consequences of his bad choices; the universal rule did not skip over him. So please, take God’s provisions at Psalm 119 above (and the other scriptures) as His expression of His love for you, instead of something depriving us of fun, or denying us of something that we think feels good, looks good, and that we cannot do without.

 

Oh, what a sad day it is when a person looks back on his or her life and knows that rebelling against God resulted in a life-long difficulty – one that God had wished for us to avoid, and one that grieved Him because He knew the pain and complications we would face. The God Who Sees All Things knew the path our choice would take us – one that caused us great heartache and difficulty. But what rejoicing to know that God forgives us through the blood of Christ, and that because He is the All Powerful God He can use the painful consequence of our bad choice and thoughts, when you and I have repented, to bring about something good! (compare Romans 8:28-39) [Because the Bible is written for each of us, one way to ‘get it’ is by adding our name in place of the first-person pronoun or where the text is being directed generically to a person or persons.]  

May “all these blessings come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God…”; “the Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.” (Deuteronomy 28:2; Numbers 6:24-26) – hugs. ms jo

 

What's Wrong?

A woman arrives in the emergency room of the hospital in pain and distress. "What's wrong?" asks the technician or nurse on duty. "Pain - head - severe" are all that the woman can say in response. Immediately she's taken into the examination room and given a barrage of tests, various pain medications, etc. Hours later, she is still in acute pain in her head, neck, and elsewhere. The medical staff had been able to treat some of the symptoms, but could not identify the underlying problem. I continually ask blessings for medical staff who have such dilemmas day in and day out. Their hearts want to help, but often they have to work in the 'dark' to address what is really wrong.

So, what's wrong with us? What is wrong generally with all of us - whether in a medical emergency or not - is a problem that cannot be alleviated by intravenous chemical treatments or other less/more invasive procedures. We are in the 'dark' as we try to treat the problem in our own knowledge and efforts. What is wrong with us is our sin nature - the defective DNA, for lack of a better term, passed onto humanity by our first parents Adam and Eve. Their decision to live their lives independent of God's rule cast their offspring into a condition that they could not deliver themselves from. Every human ever born - save for one - inherited this condition that doesn't just cause physical problems, but also affects how our emotions work, impairs our psyches, has even brought disruption and imbalance to the rest of creation. How else can you explain the devastations of natural disasters that increasingly worsen? How else can you explain the devastations of man's inhumanity to his fellow man - holocausts and reigns of terror, mass destruction, indescribable depravity? There is no other causative but sin.

Sin - rebellion against God and His laws and principles - has supernatural implications. That is, there is more to it than meets the eye; more than an 'act'. It is ingrained, insinuated, pressed into our nature and natural bodies and cannot be excised out; our bodies are imperfect and subject to disease, psychoses, and other problems. Inexplicable things. We are born in sin and even our hearts are opposed to God from birth. God sees the condition as spiritual death - a separation between us and Him. Living in a spiritual darkness. Spiritually dead people cannot receive God naturally. There is nothing we can do in and of ourselves to cross that chasm. No religious professional can rectify the condition nor can anything a religious professional does - regardless of the religion - make it possible to become spiritually alive in God's sight. Nothing. So, what can be done?

What can be done has been done. Since it is God's law and sovereignty in question by Adam and Eve's rejection and hence the subsequent dilemma we are in, it would have to be God's act of resolution to the problem that must take place. (John 3:16-18; 1 John 4:8-10; 1 Corinthians 15:2-4; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 2:1-10) Only God can fix what's wrong with us. And we must respond to his question, "what's wrong?" with the admission that what is truly wrong with us is our rejection of His Son - the only means through which we can truly be healed.