Making God happy

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

From the earliest recorded history to the present, humankind has struggled with guilt feelings that we are not good enough to approach God. This sense of failure is accompanied by the urge to do something to appease Him.

Do you feel that you have to do something to balance your moral failures? Do you give to charity or volunteer, hoping that God – whoever He is and wherever He is – may take note of your goodness? What does it take to satisfy God?

The story of redemption recorded in the Bible is of a loving God who knew His children had wandered out of relationship with Him. He sent His son to find them, and bring them back. Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10).” His was not a mission to seek and destroy, but to find and save.

The Bible says that we have failed God and come short of what He requires, and Christ, not humankind, paid the price for our wrongdoing. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

When Abraham Lincoln was president, a criminal was offered a pardon for a crime he had committed, and unbelievably, the man refused the pardon – something without precedent in legal history. The highest court determined the verdict. “A pardon is a piece of paper, the value of which is dependent upon its acceptance by the person implicated. If the pardon is rejected, it is no pardon at all.” And the man died for his wrongdoing.

Jesus Christ paid the price of your sin, but it’s up to you to acknowledge your failure, confess it and receive the pardon He offers.