Illustrations

ILLUSTRATION: Lifesaver

Mark Broadbent Illustrations , ,

MW_100804_SLSA_IRBRescue_0059Many people believe that a person becomes a Christian by committing their life in obedience to Jesus. As a result, they are never really sure if they are committed enough. But what if becoming a Christian has nothing to do with our commitment to obey Jesus, and everything to do with Jesus’ commitment to save us?

When a lifesaver is rescuing a drowning boy, he doesn’t demand that the boy commit to becoming a better swimmer, or promise that he get swimming lessons. He simply asks the boy to stop trying to save himself and to trust him.

The same is true when it comes to Jesus. When he sees us drowning in our sin and despair, He doesn’t demand that we commit to being obedient. He simply asks us to stop trying to save ourselves, and to entrust our life and eternity into His hands.

Becoming a Christian isn’t about promising to obey. It’s about waving our hands up in the air and declaring our desperate need to be rescued.

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ILLUSTRATION: Police Officer

Mark Broadbent Illustrations ,

police-officerSuppose I decide that I’d like to become a police officer. So in order to get into the police academy, I head out into the city, find as many illegally parked cars as I possibly can, and then start writing out tickets. I continue to do this day after day, until eventually I’ve written out more than a thousand tickets. I finally feel like I may have done enough to prove myself, so I rock up to the police academy and show them records of all the tickets I have written.

Now of course this whole idea is riduculous. No one writes tickets in order to become a police officer. In fact, any attempt to write tickets before first being made a police officer is futile. The tickets would not be valid. They would be counterfeit.

A person does not write tickets in order to become a police officer. Rather they are first made a police officer, and then they won’t be able to help but write tickets.

The same is true in our approach to God. We don’t do good works in order to become a Christian. In fact, the Bible teaches that any attempt by an unbeliever to do good works in the sight of God is futile. Although their efforts may seem good to us, from God’s perspective they are counterfeit works.

The Bible says that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6), “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and that “a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:18).

So we cannot do good works in order to become a Christian, any more than we can write parking tickets in order to become a police officer. Rather we must first be made a Christian, and then we won’t be able to help but do good works.

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ILLUSTRATION: McDonalds

Mark Broadbent Illustrations , ,

Mcdonalds-95-logoSuppose I walk into McDonalds one day and I ask for a Big Mac. The man serving me politely asks me for $4.80. So I reach for my wallet only to realize that I left it at home. Usually I would walk away, but I am really hungry so I begin to plead with the man serving me. I tell him that I’m really sorry I left my wallet at home. I then ask him if there is anyway that he can give me the Big Mac for free. Of course he says no. But I don’t give up and I tell him how I will never do anything like this again if he could just find it in his heart to give me the Big Mac. So eventually he gives in and gives me the burger.

A week later, I am hungry again so I walk into the same McDonalds store and see the same man that served me last week. Again I ask for a Big Mac, and again he tells me that it will cost $4.80. So again I reach for my wallet and again I have left my wallet at home. Despite the fact that this is extremely embarrassing, I ask him if he can once again find a way to give me the Big Mac for free. It is even more difficult to convince him this time, but eventually he gives in after I explain that this is the absolute last time.

A week later again, I go into the same McDonalds & see the same guy working there. I again ask for a Big Mac and find myself in the same situation. For a third week in a row, I have forgotten my wallet. And this time, no matter how hard I try, the man serving me is not going to give me the Big Mac for free.

But what if I have a friend who feels sorry for me? Without me knowing, he goes up to the man behind the counter and says: “Here’s $1,000. Give that guy who keeps forgetting his wallet whatever he asks for”. That would change everything. The next time I ask for a Big Mac and  realize I don’t have my wallet, the guy serving me is going to ask “Do you want fries with that?”

Why?

BECAUSE MY FRIEND PAID FOR ME!

The same is true for us in our approach to God. So often we ask God for forgiveness, promising that we’ll never ever sin again. But within days, sometimes within hours, we have already broken our promise. So we go to God again, begging for His mercy, once again promising that we’ll never sin again. But over and over again we break our promise.

But what if we didn’t have to beg God to forgive us? What if we didn’t have to keep hoping to catch God in a good mood? What if we didn’t have to keep promising to do something that we know we can’t do?

Christians can be sure that they are forgiven because Jesus actually paid for their sin in full. It would be unjust for God to punish them for their sin, when Jesus has paid the price for them to escape God’s punishment.

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