"They crucified two criminals with Him, one on His right and one on His left." (Mark 15:27)
There are two kinds of people on this Earth: criminals and criminals; which one are you?
Lets be a bit more specific...
1. One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Jesus (Luke 23:39)
2. The other admitted to wrongdoing and asked Jesus to remember him (Luke 23:40-41)
So now which one do you want to be?
I've been a believer for 20 years and I've observed the biggest deception for humanity to be the hope that they are perhaps not criminals after all and they can fix their problems and build a lasting future without God.
Make no mistake about it: we are hopeless criminals! Every last one of us! We have all broken the very foundations of life and the created order of God. In our sin we are not compatible with life and God's creation. We deserve to see the fruits of our ways, which we don't even realize are terrible beyond imagination. Every evil word produces death and destruction (do you want to enjoy that for eternity?). Every adulterous look breaks the creative holy bond between man and wife and produces rejection, loneliness and terror for the parents and children. And so on.
"All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:12)
"God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Psalm 53:3)
"I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21)
The only way to be close to God is to turn away from the works of flesh. The surest way to turn away from God is to trust man...
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD." (Jeremiah 17:5)
Let us not trust man, but God, for...
"And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee." (Psalm 9:10)
"none who wait for you shall be put to shame" (Psalm 25:3)
