Now is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It won't last forever. We must take it or leave it."
--The Case for Christianity, C.S. Lewis
For us to know where we are going, we must first know where we have been. Everyone’s testimony will end the same, showing God working in our lives. Now what makes our testimony unique is its personal meaning to us and what gives it its power is the message it will give to others. Our testimony acknowledges who we were, and what trials we have overcame. Sharing our testimony allows us to help give guidance so others can learn form our experiences. Sharing it also show God promise and existence in our lives.
My testimony is formed from the story of my life. Like a lot of young people today, I was raised in a broken home. My parents divorced when I was 8, and I was uprooted from my home in New York and moved to Ohio. I have never been to a school for more than 2 consecutive years. I remember always being the new guy, having to try to get people to like me, then moving and trying all over again. This soon made me try less and less with each move; I started to shield myself from getting close to people so I wouldn’t get hurt.
In the start of my teens my mother became disabled with disease fibro malaysia and a disc degenerative disease. I grew up not having much, living off government assistance. My home was made up of myself and a step father I couldn’t relate to. I had fallen into a depression that blinded me and distorted my sense of reality.
I gained a lot of weight and had become socially detached from my peers. Insecurity of being myself grew until I wasn’t sure who I was at all anymore. Then thoughts of suicide started to birth itself in my mind, until one day I couldn’t take it… I didn’t like who I was… I was nobody. I decided to make a choice to either change my life or end it now. I decided to change my life.
I started working full time at 14 years old, money became a goal that motivated me, to make me happy. I started to diet to lose weight. In fact, it I became a borderline anorexic. I switched schools and paid my way though a private school. I did what I thought would make me happy. I had money, I looked good, and I was in a new school to start my new life. Funny how things turn out… I wasn’t happy. I was compromising the integrity I was raised with. You see I tried to do things on my own. I had my own ideas and concepts of what I wanted and what I was meant to do with my life.
I met this girl, who invited me to a cell group. I had been to church before and I knew what a bible study was. I was too smart for myself; I knew there was no God. The people were nice and I continued to go. They invited me to a summer church, and they said that it would be a lot of fun, so I went.
They didn’t tell me that this camp would be the turning point of my life. It was on the second day of camp, Tuesday June 19th, 2001 where I opened my self up to an alter call and gave my life over to Jesus, surrendering everything to Him.
That night was just the start for me, because I didn’t change overnight. God used my youth pastor to be the first father figure I ever had. He discipled me and I gained a family I had never had before. I also changed my view on money; instead of valuing greed, I see what gives money its value is sharing it with others. When I graduated, my mother was healed of her disease that had bed ridden her for 8 years. Over time I grew in self confidence knowing who I was in Christ.
I know where I have been, and I thank God for allowing me to experience my past, because with out, it I wouldn’t have the tools necessary to relate to my generation.
Have you ever read the Sunday morning comics? If you look really close you can see it is just a bunch of dots. I believe this is how we see our present, just a bunch of dots. But God sees the whole picture, the full story, and from that perspective, it is beautiful.
“God is a loving God and I’m a good person. Of course I am going to heaven. I said the “sinners prayer†when I was 12.†Sound familiar? It does to me, I used to say this. I had a misunderstanding of salvation, and the outcome would not be heaven. But understanding the true meaning of atonement would be my salvation.
Webster’s defines atonement as the reconciliation of God and humans brought about by the redemptive life and death of Jesus. There are five facets of atonement; justification, regeneration, adoption, sanctification, glorification. Without all five facets, one will have a skewed reality of salivation. Breaking down the facets, one can understand the process of salvation.
God demands righteousness (Exodus 23:7). Justification pardons sin’s penalty of death (Romans 6:23) and reconciles the righteousness of Christ to us, moving us back to a position of favor with God.
With the righteousness of Christ transferred to us through justification, this causes a new birthing, process called regeneration. We then are born again (1 Peter 1:3). Here is where we are adopted into God’s family.
Adoption is God giving us a son-ship status to have the rights of The Fathers inheritance (Galatians 4:1-2). This is immediate but the inheritance takes a process.
Being sanctified set us apart from the things of this world (2 Corinthians 6:17) and starts a process of dedication, purification, consecration and service. This is something that has to be done daily, become a son/daughter growing deeper in a relationship with the Father.
During/after the process you will learn how to put to death the things of you flesh (Colossians 3:5). The Glorification restores us to our original glory and purpose. Romans 8:30 and whom he foreordained, then he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Truly understanding salvation is atonement. Salvation is not just saying a prayer or being “saved†by works (James 2:14). All five facets of atonement are important for one to understand the truth and process of salvation.
