A CONFESSION OF A HELPLESS MAN

by A.T. Lischak

I confess that I am a weak man—a man who too often deceives himself into thinking he is strong enough to live according to God’s commands and capable enough to repay Him for the hatred I have harbored against Him. However, the truth is that all of my good works and supposed achievements are tainted with sin. Time and time again, I have chosen to oppose God and His ways. No matter how much I strive, I cannot repay Him, even if I dedicate my entire life to this task. The reality is that my currency is worthless before the heavenly court. As a result, what inevitably awaits me, as it does all mankind, is a punishment far worse than death—an eternity without the love of God, continuing endlessly. This knowledge gives me every reason to mourn my miserable condition.

Yet I also confess that this hopeless outcome is not my destiny because of Christ. Christ, who is God, chose to become human in order to offer me the only currency that could purchase eternal life. He accomplished this by perfectly obeying every one of God’s desires and decrees. He clung to God the Father, faithfully living in full obedience, and willingly became a servant to His own creation. In the end, He was utterly abandoned. His disciples deserted Him, and one of them even betrayed Him. The Father Himself, with whom Christ had always been in perfect and eternal fellowship, turned His face away from Him. Christ was rejected and despised, and it pleased the Father to crush His own Son so that I might be healed.

This was the only way my sins could ever be forgiven. God the Son had to live a flawless earthly life to account for my failures, and He had to bear the wrath of God in my place, taking upon Himself the eternal judgment that I deserve. I am confident that Christ accomplished these things because the Father raised Him from the dead, confirming that His work on my behalf was sufficient. Through Christ, there is now an escape from the punishment I am due. He is my escape. His blood covers my sins, and I am healed by the wounds He endured. Not only has He saved me, but He continues to fight for me and work in me through His Spirit. Even though I am still weak in my flesh, God has made me His child by the power of His Spirit.

I acknowledge that I have done nothing to earn the reward that Christ has secured, which is eternal life as a member of God’s family. Christ has done all the work. All He asks of me is to rest in Him and Him alone, trusting in what He has done rather than relying on the works of man, including my own efforts. Christ has reconciled me to God, and it is entirely His doing.

When I was thirteen years old, I made a personal declaration of allegiance to Christ, recognizing Him as my King, Savior, and Lord. Having grown up attending church, I had some understanding of the basic truths about Jesus. I knew that Jesus is God, that He came to earth to dwell with His people, that He died for them, and that He saved them. However, it was at the age of thirteen that the Spirit began to reveal deeper truths to me, starting with the profound reality that the gospel matters. More than that, I realized it applied to me personally if I repented of my sins and placed my trust in God’s Son.

As a result, I developed a deep desire to know Christ—to be with Him, to live for Him, and to turn away from my previous ways in order to focus on the One who makes life truly worth living. In a short period of time, God instilled in me a longing to grow closer to Him. I purchased a Bible and began reading it diligently. As I read, God revealed His active involvement in the world and in human history. I came to understand that Christ lived a perfect life on earth to compensate for all my shortcomings. His death on the cross was a substitutionary atonement for my sins, drawing upon Himself the wrath of the Father that I should have faced. Yet Christ was raised on the third day by the Father, demonstrating that His sacrifice was fully accepted. He now sits at the Father’s right hand, interceding for me, advocating on my behalf, and leading me daily.

I want to testify to the truth that there is a God who so greatly loves sinful and corrupt humanity that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, so that anyone who places their full hope and trust in Him will receive eternal life—a life that is not only everlasting but rich and deeply fulfilling.