Why Are We Not Good Enough?

I was wondering how could it be fair that no one is good enough to stand in God’s presence? Even when we are doing our best to be good?

But then I thought, “Well, in what situation would it seem right and fair to to keep people away from something because it is so clean?” Maybe it’s not about what is fair to me, but what is fair to it. We have a pretty me-centric perspective.

And I thought about an innocent baby, very precious and perfect, asleep in perfect peace. And since we are talking of something purer than anything in this world, let’s imagine this baby is so pure that it has never needed to build an immune system to guard from infections of the world. Nobody would think it’s fair to this perfect, beautiful baby for any one of us, no matter how healthy we are now, or how fair it would be to us, to track even our dusty shoes into his presence. Much less lean over, look at, and breathe on this fragile baby.

But what I think is cool about God is that although he is more pure and perfect than the newest infant in the world, he is more powerful and wiser than the strongest, and most clever humans and demons.

And I think this difference ironically turns the tables of what we thought was happening. When we come before God, It is not our contaminating sin, big or small, that would infect him, but it is God’s powerful purity that pushes back on our seeping, dirty selves and threatens to obliterate us. Just like when Jesus touched the sick, defiled people and instead of it infecting Jesus, their infection was pushed back over its heels and succinctly destroyed. His purity is more powerful than our dirt. And without the pure life of Christ taking the place of what we had growing in us, after God’s purity did its work in us, there would be nothing left of us to live.

So to answer our question, It would NOT be fair to put me before a perfect God. But not because I deserve more, but because I wouldn’t even have time to run for my life.

Raw Spoon