Let me ask you a question…

Are you living in this world to get rich or die trying?

Some people say they’re scared to die, others say they’re ready to die. But almost everyone wants to go to heaven. Whether they’re hoping there’s really a “heaven for a gangsta” or a “hip-hop heaven”, all people want to get to heaven.

They want heaven cause they hear it’s a “better place” or a place where “dreams come true”. Truth is, heaven is better, matter of fact there’s no pain, no suffering, and no death there. There’s even no need for church buildings because people don’t need to be reminded to kick it with God there. Everyone is there WITH GOD forever.

So how do we get to heaven? God requires us to be perfect.

So, are you perfect? Me neither. Matter of fact, nobody is. That’s why it says in the bible:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
-Romans 3:23.

Sin is anything that offends God or doesn’t meet God’s perfect standard. That standard is given to us in the law of God. Can you honestly say you have never lied, stolen, or had a dirty or evil thought? Those are what you call sins. And you know what, we are all guilty of breaking God’s laws. We are all sinners. So, we got a problem. How can peeps like us, who are not perfect, get into Heaven?

See, God has to punish sin. So, what’s the sentence?

The Bible tells us that “The wages of sin is death…“Romans 6:23. Which means, it ain’t heaven.

So, what can we do about this? The bad news is WE can’t do anything. There are no plea bargains and we can’t beg the judge for another chance. When we mess with laws they don’t care about how nice we are or how sorry we are. If you jump out of a plane the law of gravity doesn’t care how bad you want to get back into the plane, you’re gonna fall. God’s laws are no different. They are perfect and there is no getting around them.

What’s worse is that God tells us in James 2:10 that “Whoever breaks one law is guilty of breaking them all.” So if a person steals one car or steals 20, he’s guilty of stealing, and whether you tell a little white lie or rob a bank, you are guilty of sinning against a perfect God.

Hold up, isn’t God loving and forgiving though?

True. God is perfect in His love and forgiveness. But he is also perfect in his fairness or justice. If you can stand in His court and admit that you are guilty and deserve punishment for your crimes then he will show His perfect love and forgiveness because he has already taken His perfect justice out on another person instead of you.

That person is Jesus Christ. He is more than ya homeboy or a name in a hot song. He is God’s perfect, and Holy Son. Out of love Jesus left Heaven to hang out with us sinners for 33 long years. While he was here he never lied, cheated, stole, or had an evil thought. He never sinned and never offended God.

So, He is the only one who has enough in the “Bank of Righteousness” to pay our debt. No one else was or will ever be perfect, holy, or righteous enough to pay that cost for us.

And that cost was heavy; it was death on a Cross. God poured out all the anger we deserved on Jesus. Jesus offered to take this punishment out of love for us.

“God demonstrates his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” -Romans 5:8

Christ, who didn’t deserve to die, paid our debt, which means freedom for us. But he didn’t stay dead, He rose from the dead which means eternal life for us.

So what does trust in Jesus mean?

Trusting in Jesus means more than getting let off the hook from your sins. It means depending on Jesus alone as the only one who has paid the debt you owe God. Faith in Christ means trusting in Christ as your only way to Heaven.

If you’re like me you have put trust in a lot of things in life. Like money to get the bills paid and put food on the table. Trust that the check will come on the first and fifteenth. Trust in your family or your crew to be there when you need em’.

The reason we trust in these things is cause we see them as valuable enough to put our trust in. We don’t trust in things that we don’t value.

But, everybody knows that money may fail us when we need it. Sometimes the checks don’t come when we need em’ and we’ve all had family and friends dip out on us when we needed them. If you trust in things that can fail, why wouldn’t you trust in Christ who has never failed?

We trust in doctors because of the medicine they can provide our bodies, how much more should we trust in the One who created the body, even yours?

People try to tell a lie that there are things in this life more valuable than God and following that lie keeps us from trusting in Christ alone to make us right in God’s sight.

If you trust in Christ you can have confidence that “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1). Jesus Christ took our condemnation and punishment. If you see Christ as worthy of your trust, that promise is for you. He is the One who defeated death once and for all! Who could be more worthy of your trust?

So, once you see Christ for who He really is, then you can stop looking for what you can do to get right with God and trust in Jesus.

See, no matter how hard we try, we won’t be accepted by God by trying to live right and going to church every Sunday. We can’t buy His acceptance by paying tithes. We can’t talk our way into heaven with excuses or explanations. We can only trust Jesus as the only way to personally knowing God. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8 “It is by grace that you have been saved through faith and not of yourselves-it is the gift of God…”

So, what’s keeping you from putting your trust in Christ?

If you want to put your faith in Him alone, pray to God,

“Dear God, I know I am a sinner and can’t do anything to earn my way into Heaven, I put my trust in Jesus Christ as the only way to spend eternity with you. Thank you for providing a way through His death and resurrection.”

Realize that praying a prayer doesn’t save you; it’s your trusting in Him. The next step is to find someone you respect who is living for Christ and ask them to guide you like Jesus did with his disciples.  It’s important to find a community of people you can learn more about following Christ with.

Don’t just live this life trying to get rich or die tryin’.

What on earth is worth keeping you from spending eternity with Christ now and in Heaven?