The Most Important Question Of Them All

ROMANS 3:22-24 THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF THEM ALL

“If you could ask God one question, what would that question be?” That was one of our questions on our survey we handed out at the LaPorte County Fair. “If you could ask God one question, what would it be?” There were different choices – why do bad things happen to good people, what really happens to a person when he dies, what is my purpose in life, and why don’t all my prayers get answered. You could also write in your own question if those choices didn’t suit you – one man said that his question would be this - why did God make mosquitoes? If he could ask God one question, that would be it.

Do you know which question was “x”ed the most? It was “why bad things happen to good people.” We have just been talking about that in our sermons the last two weeks. Which question is the most important one of them all? What is the most important question you could ask God, if you had the change. I’ll give you a hint – it has nothing to do with mosquitoes.

The most important question you could ask God is a question that was not on the survey. Maybe next year I’ll put it on there. That question would be this: “Am I ‘right’ with God?” That is the most important question of them all – “Am I right with God?”

Do you know what it means to be “right with God”? To be “right with God” means that you and God are on the same page – you have a good relationship with God – your relationship with God is so good that you know for sure, without a doubt, that when you die, your soul will be in heaven. No doubts. No worries. Not even a little. Is that you? Are you “right with God”?

That is what we are going to be talking about this morning. It is my goal that by the time you are done listening to this sermon, by the time you leave church this morning, you will know that you are right with God. It is possible to have no doubts, no worries, as you think about the eternal future of your soul. May God bless my speaking, and your listening, as we think about this most important question of all.

Where is the last place people look when they want to learn about God? It’s ironic, really – the last place people look is the Bible. It reminds me of what happens in my house - when my wife and I buy something that requires assembly, usually I spend an hour trying to put it together. It doesn’t work out. I get frustrated. Finally, my wife, Jennifer suggests to me that maybe I should try reading the directions. Then I do, and suddenly, it’s not so difficult after all. Maybe I should have done that right away.

So it is with God. If you want to learn how to be right with God, don’t try to figure it out yourself, because you won’t get it right. Read the directions. They’re right here, in this book called the Bible. If you want to find answers to life’s most important questions, the first place to look is the Bible. Let’s see what it says about being “right with God.” Romans 3:22 says, “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Wait a second – that doesn’t sound good. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”? That tells me that no one is right with God.

That’s not what I heard at the fair last week. A number of people came up to the booth and told me that the way to be right with God is to be a good person. If you try hard to be a good person, do the best you can, then you will go to heaven when you die. Then you will be right with God. Sounds good, but it’s not true. Those people haven’t read the directions. Here it says, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That whole “good person theory” doesn’t work, because no matter how good you are, you’re still a sinner. You still fall short of the glory of God.

How many of you have ever been to the Grand Canyon? It is beautiful there – a huge canyon with different colored rocks all the way down. Is it possible to jump over the Grand Canyon? Obviously not. Even if you took the greatest athlete in the world, and the wind was at his back, and he ate 100 energy bars, he still wouldn’t be able to jump across that canyon. No matter how far you jump, everyone would fall short.