Well, that’s one peculiar heading, isn’t it? Questions would be like why would you say that or phrase it the way you have, though all of us deep down know this to be true and not only does our conscience tell us that this is true but also it is something that’s affirmed by God’s Word again and again; Romans 5:8 stands out (we will come back to that). However, in order to try and push these truths aside over the course of human history we have come up with elaborate lies to tell ourselves that not only don’t we need Him but even if we do it is in order that He may work for us and thus essentially creating the lie that He is the one who actually needs us which couldn’t be further from the truth as Acts 17:24-25 shows that not only does He not but everything that exists actually comes from Him thus showing we actually need Him. However, before we prove that let’s take a journey through some of the lies we have created to undercut our need for Him.
The Lie of the Authentic Self
To live the worthy walk of Christianity, we are told that in everything we do we do it all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) or to live is Christ (Philippians 1:21) or that we ought to die to our sins and be alive in Christ (Romans 6). All these fly in the face of man’s obsession with sin which comes from an obsession with self. For man, since the beginning of time with Adam and Eve, would rather have been their own gods than submit to God. Man would rather create their own gods, even if they know that their creations pale in comparison, to worship rather than devote themselves to God. Man’s obsession with self was so great that they killed the prophets sent to them to shine a light on their evil ways.
In today’s age yes, we may not be straight up killing the men who warn us of our evil ways but we are ignoring them and calling them judgmental and using the straw man that we shouldn’t judge others without realizing that Christians don’t judge others based on themselves but rather we judge others based on the ever-living Word of God. This brings to light the fact that man doesn’t want to live the life that Christ lived as spoken of in Philippians 2:5-8
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Living for Christ seems taxing many will tell you, it will stifle my hopes and dreams as we are commanded that to live the worthy walk, we need to empty ourselves for God and become bond-servants for the sake of His name and will being done. What’s even more telling of our obsession with self is the fact that even some if not most Christians choose to live for themselves where Christ instead of being their all in all, is rather treated as a means to an end either for health, wealth or whatever you want essentially, we treat Christ as our magical ATM or genie in a bottle. In short, instead of conforming to Christ, we want Him to conform to our lives which brings us neatly to reason two:
The Lie of Worldly Wealth and Pleasure
As the word clearly states in 1 John 2:15-16:
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
What this means is exactly what it says and that is there’s no in-between when it comes to Christ you either love Him or you love the world. There is no both-and it is just an either-or when it comes to this. It is the radical call of the gospel one of which many have failed in answering.
And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Matthew 13:22
The case of the young man in Matthew 19:16-25 comes to mind. We won’t look at all the verses but where Jesus tells him of the radical call of the gospel:
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
Matthew 19:21-22
Let’s start with an obvious caveat, what Jesus means isn’t that all who are wealthy will not enter heaven but what He means is that all who rely on their wealth rather than on Christ will not see heaven in spite of their apparent good works. The radical call of the gospel is so radical that He said the following.
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
Matthew 10:37
However, the lie of the world is that you don’t need Christ and even if you apparently follow Him then you don’t need to put aside the things of the world as long as they make you feel good because apparently all you need is some good works to balance it and that thought was quashed by Jesus.
The Lie of Morality and Good Works
Many will not rest on their notion of subjective truth or worldly pleasure but rather on their apparent good works and hence making it the most pervasive lie that we don’t surrender to Christ fully. Let’s take a look at the rich young ruler again and what we see even before we see him downcast because he doesn’t want to give up his wealth is his boastful nature when it comes to the commandments
The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”
Matthew 19:20
Thankfully he was humble in saying that he was still lacking something in regard to it, in spite of His boastful nature. However, that still doesn’t negate the fact that he essentially lied by saying that he had followed all commandments to a tee because as we know from 1 John 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Those who boast about their morality or apparent good works and as a result conclude that they have no sin are deceiving themselves. In Romans 2:1-10 we are blatantly told by Paul that there is essentially no difference between those who think they have found truth in themselves and those who boast in their good works as the result will be the same and that is God’s justified wrath on a stubborn people who have told themselves that they are good when we already know that there is none who seeks for good (Romans 3:11-18). So good works aren’t what we need but are rather a by-product of the one we absolutely need.
He Who Loved Us
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
As stated earlier we are back to the verse in which the three lies come to die. We aren’t Christians because we have found our authentic selves or because we have wealth and riches or because we have done many good works but we are Christians because He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (1 Corinthians 5:21). He is the chief cornerstone in which the builders rejected but is the foundation in which the church is built upon (Psalm 118:22, Ephesians 2:20) and as we are aware no gate of hell shall prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Who are the builders? They are those who have fallen into one of those three lies stated for them and to them, the cornerstone they rejected will become a stumbling block to them and a rock of offense (1 Peter 2:8).
However, to those who know without this stone, their foundation is basically nothing find joy in that they will be kept from stumbling and made to stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy (Jude 1:24). He is at work both to will and to work for His good pleasure in those who understand that they absolutely need Him.
Our Need for Him Makes Our Lives Meaningful
To finish let’s actually go back to the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 by looking at how the same story is told in Mark 10:17-26 with special emphasis on verse 21 which says; Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him. The reason I want to emphasize this is that we know that those whom Jesus loves He never casts away (John 6:37 joined with Romans 5:8). To start off this isn’t dogmatic but rather an anecdote but one which proves my point by the end of it. There is a possibility that this rich young ruler was actually John Mark (writer of the gospel of Mark). One possible reason for this is how the writers of the gospels loved to refer to themselves in the third person, especially in regard to Christ’s affections for them with John calling himself in his gospel the disciple whom Jesus loved for example. Also, in the 3 gospels in which this story is highlighted, it is only in Mark that we find the statement that Jesus loved him.
Anyway, if this is actually true then it shows that even Mark at the end of the day couldn’t rely on his riches or his apparent good works but only on Jesus Christ did he find meaning in his life. Starting off as a rich young ruler to being distraught because he still was attached to his riches to being converted only because of Jesus’ love for him and not his works to becoming one of Paul’s closest confidants to the point Paul personally asked for him when he knew he was about to die (2 Timothy 4:11). This in spite of the fact that Paul had issues with him rejecting the missionary work which led to Paul’s rift with Barnabas in Acts 15.
However, in spite of that God’s grace worked in his life to a point of not only being in Paul’s inner circle but his name is etched in history as the writer of one of the 4 gospels. A man who felt that he still needed his riches would never have had such a meaningful life but only one who knew his need for Christ and persevered in all that was thrown at him for His sake as a result could. So yes, you may tell yourself that you have no need for Him but only in Him is your joy made full (John 15:11), and all things done to the glory of God make your life meaningful (1 Corinthians 10:31, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Remember you will die and with that your wealth and pleasures are meaningless and your works count for nothing unless you understood your need for Him and as a result fixed your eyes on eternity. Shalom.
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