The Reason To Repent

Repent simply means to turn away. It means to turn away from a life that says to God, "We can do it without you and get our own joy," to a life that says to God, "We need you, we are relying on you to show us the life you desire us to live to get as much joy as we can in this life and the next." But why would you ever want to say that to God? Why would you ever want to repent?

You don't repent because you have a guilty conscience and you want to get rid of it.

You don't repent because hell is scary and you want to escape the possibility of ever going there.

You don't repent because you just don't want God to be angry with you

You don't repent so your life can be blessed and pain free.

You repent because Jesus is beautiful.

Jesus died in the place of sinners to divert the wrath of God from whomever would place their trust in his redeeming work on the cross. And Jesus states that whoever decides to place their trust in his work will respond in joyful obedience that could, ultimately, get them nailed to a cross, or at least feel like, because they are now called to embody Jesus. Why would anyone, then, want to embody Jesus when it could lead to such extreme agony?

You repent and embody Jesus because what he did on the cross is so mind-blowing beautiful. You don't repent when you look at Jesus hanging on the cross and you see a peasant revolutionary whose time ran out. You repent because you see God in the flesh hanging on a cross so that he can restore the creation that spit in his face and should be destroyed. You repent because it is so beautiful that God would spare us his wrath by pouting it out on himself. You repent because that mercy and love is so wonderful that you want to be a part of it. You want that love in you. You repent because you want to obey a God who would go to such extreme measures just to have a relationship with you. You repent because God paid the penalty for your treason so you wouldn't have to and thus could have a life filled with joyful worship in serving God as his adopted child.

You repent because Jesus hanging on a cross to divert the wrath of God from sinners is beautiful.