If we asked a young person, “Do you want to be happy?”, they would definitely say “YES!”, raising their both hands in agreement.

 

– But how long do you want to be happy? For a day, a week or a year? For ten or thirty years, or for all your life until your death? And do you want to be happy after death too?

 

Deep in his soul, man has a desire for happiness, true happiness, which no one can take from him. Only the very thought of happiness ending one day makes us sad. People search for happiness in human relationships, wealth, money, career, fame, success or in pleasures, alcohol, drugs. But they cannot find it there. They experience disillusionment, an even deeper emptiness, loneliness and pain in their soul. St Augustine expressed this desire for happiness with the words: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”

 

Today, the ideologists of globalization destroy ordinary human happiness and programme the individuals and the entire nations into accepting homosexual perversion and gender schizophrenia coupled with the stealing of children by the juvenile justice system and their moral and psychological devastation. They legalize narcotics and impose the culture of death; even healthy people are nowadays killed by euthanasia which helps to prepare a so-called paradise for a golden billion.

 

A picture of false happiness is illustrated by the American Statue of Liberty. One can see dead birds lying at the monument almost every morning. Flying towards the illuminated statue, the night birds crash, break their wings and fall dead to the ground. This is the picture of many young people who seek happiness in false freedom.

The only true freedom is found in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has overcome the spirit of lies and the bondage of sin.

 

A certain Christian narrates: “I had a relative who was an alcoholic. Such bonds are hard to break. One day I learned that during a bout of heavy drinking he had smashed the furniture in his house and beaten his wife. So I went to visit him. It was five o’clock in the afternoon. I found the poor man sitting in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee. His five-year-old little boy was sitting beside him. I greeted him kindly. Then I asked, ‘Things have gone wrong again?’ Gritting his teeth, he stood up like a shot. Without saying a word, he went into the next room and came back with a clothes line in his hands. Still not uttering a word, he began tying his little boy to his chair. I thought, ‘What is he doing now? Is he still drunk?’ I let him go on. When he had finished tying up his son, he made a knot, then shouted, ‘Get up!’ The little fellow began to cry. ‘But I can’t get up!’ he sobbed. Then the drunkard turned to me and with a painful expression on his face, he said, ‘You have heard: But I can’t! Well, it’s the same with me. I can’t either!’ Isn’t that heart-breaking? After a moment, I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out a pen-knife. Then, paying no attention to the damage I was doing, I cut the brand new clothes line. Quietly I said to the lad, ‘Get up!’ And the boy got up! Turning to the drunkard, I said, ‘There, you see!’ ‘Of course,’ he snapped back, ‘you cut the cord.’ I replied, ‘Now listen to what I am going to say. Someone came to cut all the bonds of sin that hold us. Jesus!’”

 

This example concerns us all to a certain extent. We cannot be delivered from the bondage of sin without Jesus! But there is a wonderful reality: He has delivered us from the power of darkness! (cf. Col 1:13) “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Joh 8:36)

 

How to begin? “Repent – change your minds – and believe in the Gospel!” (Mk 1:15) The Gospel is the divine truth which relates to you personally: “God so loved the world (you) that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever (you too) believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (cf. Joh 3:16) How did God love you? He gave what was most precious to Him – His only begotten Son. What should you do to have eternal life and not perish? You must believe in Him. Believe that you were not redeemed with gold or silver but with His precious Blood which was shed for the forgiveness of your sins (cf. 1Pe 1:18-19). Conversion means a change from egocentrism to Theocentrism. So the first place must be given to God rather than your ego.

 

Imagine a large room. On a platform at the front there is a big throne, a symbol of power and rule. This is a picture of your soul. Your “self” is proudly sitting on the throne and is surrounded by a number of counsellors. These represent various half-truths, habits, fears, images, dependences, your “goods”… Jesus stands at the door as a servant to whom you send your commands or wilful wishes. He must often listen to grumbling discontent or even swearing. This is a picture of an unconverted person! Conversion, or spiritual revolution, means that your “self” comes down from the throne to the door and Jesus is given the place on the throne. From that moment you stand at the door and wait for His wise commands which you may not understand many times but you want to fulfil them even in small things. This is true freedom. Until now you automatically yielded to passions, suggestions or moods which made you flit from one vanity to another and ultimately filled you with bitterness and disappointment. But now they lose power. Through conversion your life becomes effective because God can work through you right where you are. This brings a blessing to others, and your works are then a treasure stored in heaven where thieves do not steal and rust does not destroy (cf. Mt 6:19-20).

 

How to overcome the law of sin which is programmed in our nature? By the law of the Spirit: “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom 8:2) There are certain natural laws. For example, if I place a stone onto the surface of water, it sinks to the bottom. If I place a plank under it, it keeps afloat because there is another law at work here. By nature we are subject to the law of sin and death. We all sink, we all are dragged down by sin into eternal perdition. We know it. And now all depends on whether there is a greater power to intervene and keep us from sinking. God has given us this greater power in Jesus – He redeemed us, He delivered us. If we are united to Jesus by faith, the law of the Spirit overcomes in us.

 

The essential relationship of man to God can be illustrated in a short paraphrase of the Parable of the Priceless Pearl: A merchant who sells pearls approaches a wealthy man and offers him a pearl of great price. The rich man likes it very much and wants to have it at any cost. He asks: “How much is that pearl?” The merchant says: “All you have.” – “Well, I’ll give you all my money. Give me the pearl, please.” – “But you have not given all you have. Where do you live?” – “In my house, of course.” – “Well, you must give your house as well.” – “How do you mean? Shall I live in the garage?” – “You have a garage?” – “Yes, a garage and two cars.” – “So the garage and the cars too.” – “Well, I give it too but now give me the pearl, please!” – “You have not given all. Do you live alone?” – “No, I have a wife and children.” – “So you must give your wife and children too.” – “And if I give them, will you give me the pearl?” – “It is still not all.” – “But now I really have nothing more, I am a beggar.” – “You still have something! Are you healthy? Your health too!” – “Well then! But now you must give me the pearl!” – “You have not given your all.” – “I have nothing more.” – “Oh no, you still have something. It’s your own free will. You must give it too.” – “Good, and now, please, give me the pearl!” – “The pearl is yours! This pearl is the kingdom of God; this pearl is Christ. In Him you have everything; all heaven is yours because it belongs to Christ. You have received Him as your Lord. And now He gives you all these things back. Your health, your house, your wife and children, all your property. But remember one thing: It is not yours any more but it belongs to Christ. Now you are not the owner but a trustee – a steward. The time will come when your wife will depart this life, you will grow old and ill, so you will lose your health, and finally, you will die and lose everything. But if you have this Priceless Pearl – Jesus, in Him you have everything. He overcame death; in Him you have eternal life.”

 

“God has sent His Son … that we might live through Him.” (1Jo 4:9) And St Paul calls: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”

 

One day a big stone – a large piece of rock – was delivered to Rome to famous sculptor Michelangelo. He was walking round it for a while, looking at it, absorbed in thought, and then said: “I see Moses therein.” His apprentice wondered: “Master, but this is no Moses, it’s just a big stone.” The sculptor replied: “He is there! Well, all that is not Moses must be removed!” “And how will that happen?” “It is blows that give a shape!” And this is how the stone was made into the sculpture of Moses.

 

It is the same with us: All that is not Jesus must be removed! We must give Him our heart so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith! We must give Him our reason and will, that is our mind. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Phi 2:5) We must give Him our eyes, our hands, our feet. He wants to use them. This is conversion, this is a new life! This process (way) of transformation is not possible without blows – suffering. It concerns above all inner suffering, when we renounce our own will, suffer little humiliations, accept in faith what God sends on us, or seek and do the will of God every day!

 

Eternal life is in Christ Jesus

“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” And the Apostle emphasizes: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1Jo 5:11-13) If someone asked you, “Do you have eternal life?”, maybe you would answer “I don’t know” or “I’ll know it after death”. But the Word of God says quite clearly: “He who has the Son has eternal life…” – this speaks about the present, not future. If you have received the Son of God, Jesus, you have eternal life. You have it now! You have it here on earth, though for the time being in obscurity and with suffering. After death you will have it in full glory, when there will be no more suffering but only eternal joy and happiness.

 

What is the difference between our life in heaven and the life of angels?

God created perfect spiritual beings – angels; He gave them life. God also created man and gave him life. Man lost this life through sin and died. God, out of His love for man, assumed our human nature in Jesus Christ. The Son of God did not assume the nature of an angel or seraph but human nature, yet without sin. He died for us; He gave us His life. Through redemption, however, we were not given back only the life of Adam before sin. We were given the life of Jesus – the life of God. The dimension of our eternal life is not just that this life is eternal, i.e. without end, but that it is directly in God. And this was not given to angels. Angels have a life from God, but we have the very life of God which we have been given in Christ as a gift. Let us be aware of our dignity in Christ Jesus! The Word of God says: “Now we can be called children of God. And that’s what we really are!” (1Jo 3:1)

 

Our life is not only from God, but it is the very life of God: “At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” (Joh 14:20) In His priestly prayer, Jesus asks: “…just as You, Father, (are) in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us… I in them, and You in Me…” (Joh 17:21) Because we are in Christ, and He is in the Father, we have the life of God.

 

We have received the life of God through faith and baptism: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (i.e. become partakers in the divine nature of Christ).” (Gal 3:27)

 

“When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Col 3:1-4)

The confession of Jesus is the condition of our life in God: “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.” (1Jo 4:15)

“By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.” (1Jo 4:13)

The mystery of our life in Christ is expressed in the Parable of the Vine: “I am the vine, you are the branches…” (Joh 15:5)

 

The act of receiving Jesus:

“All have sinned.” (Rom 3:23) You too. “There is none righteous.” (Rom 3:10) Not even you! “The wages of sin (yours too) is (temporal and eternal) death but the gift of God is eternal life (also for you) through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23) Jesus now stands before you. “Behold, I stand at your door, and knock: if anyone opens the door, I will come in.” (cf. Rev 3:20) Open the door. I open... Now receive Him as your Saviour and Lord:

1/ Do you believe that Jesus is God and died for you? ………… (YES)

2/ Do you commit your whole life into His hands? …………

 

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Now repeat in faith the name of Jesus (Yehoshua) several times in the knowledge that what you have just done is seen by God, angels and all heaven.

 

Conclusion:

If you have received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, you are now to journey through the pilgrimage of this life which leads to eternal happiness in heaven. This earthly pilgrimage entails a spiritual battle with the spirit of lies and death. The way of following Christ here on earth means that you will be reviled and persecuted for the sake of the truth and the good like the Saviour Himself. Jesus says: “They will revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” (Mt 5:11-12) If a believing Christian suffers even the most crushing blows in life, evil slander, the loss of relatives or the loss of health, he unites to God by faith and experiences deep peace in that all which the world cannot give. Amid the most severe suffering, he perceives the presence of God. God enlightens his soul and shows him the meaning of suffering which he accepted with confidence as penance for his past sins and as a sacrifice for the conversion and salvation of his neighbours who still live in the darkness of unbelief or modern paganism. A true Christian is clear about the purpose of his life, he need not be afraid of death because he knows that it is only passing over to the glory of heaven where he will live forever in communion with saints and angels and with the Most Holy and Loving God. Heaven is our permanent home; we are just pilgrims on earth.

 

Jesus is the Way to our communion with the Father who created us. Jesus is also the Truth that sets us free from the spirit of lies, and He also delivered us from death – in Him we have eternal life. “He who has the Son has eternal life.” (1Jo 5:12)

 

In Christ,

 

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Download: Repent, and believe in the Gospel (Mk 1:15). Part 4: Conversion, personal relationship to Jesus Christ