The great sin of our age is the consequence of people corrupting and forgetting the pure doctrines of God. In our age, people don't know who God is, and therefore they don't know His true value, beauty, and worth. This leads people to make belittling statements about Jesus Christ, such as, "You have a God-shaped hole in your heart." Does the Bible teach this, or something radically different? I would say the latter. The statement belittles the true reality and worth of our great God.

          In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 we learn that God has bought us with His blood and that our whole body is the "temple of the Holy Spirit," not just a small piece of our heart. A temple is designed so that the whole structure is useful for one purpose. God is our purpose. In the Bible, God is said to have filled the temple with His presence. Therefore, the whole of our souls, minds, and hearts were designed to be used and completed by God, not just a God-shaped hole in them. Anything less than that is not biblical.

          When the Bible says we are "complete" in God, it is not saying that man equals 95% and God finally fills that last 5% to complete us. God is in all things 100%. Without God we are at absolute 0%. We are incomplete and going to hell. If God would only forget to think about us, we would no longer exist (Heb. 1:3). Jesus Christ makes us entirely complete. We see this in the language of the Bible as it talks about the Lord Jesus Christ, "the fullness of Him who fills all in all" (Eph. 2:23, NASB). Colossians says that "Christ is all and in all" (3:11), and that "he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him" (Col. 1:18-19, NIV). This is also the language of the soul who has truly met Him and His saving power, for David says, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You" (Ps. 16:2, NASB). In Ephesians 2:12 we are told that we are "without Christ... having no hope and without God in the world." To be devoid of all hope is to have 0% in the equation of completion. Christ is said to be the "fullness" of all things. He does not fill a small hole in our hearts. Instead, He creates a completely new heart for us that is designed as a temple for Himself, to be filled with His presence. (See Ezekiel 36:26 and 37:13-14.) We belittle Christ if we make Him any less than "all" and everything. People who only give Christ a part of their hearts are people who will find the Gates of Heaven unopened for them. I fear that many in my age who think they have their religion covered will find Christ uttering those most dreadful words, "Depart from me, I never knew you." You walk in an invention, a manmade fairytale, if you think you belong to or are following Jesus and have not given your whole "heart, mind, soul and strength" to Him.

"So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."

(Luke 14:33)

          Unless you are like the man in the parable of Matthew 13:44, who sold everything he had in order to have the treasure of knowing Christ, then you will not enter into heaven. The sin of this age is belittling the true reality of God's fame and worth. That is why the Bible says that the "love of many will grow cold" (Matt. 24:12) in the last days. If we understand that the "eyes of man are never satisfied" (Prov. 27:20), then we know there are grave problems if we don't see God in His true greatness and glory. Only the soul who truly sees God as infinitely treasureable will "sell everything" and love God with His whole heart, enough to follow Him and forsake this world. Because our doctrine of God is sloppy and weak, our ability to see His true beauty is also diminished. Therefore, millions of so-called professing Christians only give God a hole in their hearts, instead of giving all of it.

          Psalm 50 shows God angry with people who were doing the right things but not worshiping Him for who He really was. This seems odd, because at this time in history Israel was actually doing all of their ceremonies and sacrifices to God. But they did not know who their God really was, and they only gave God a part of their worship and not all of it. God's famous words to them were, "You thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face" (Psalm 50:21, NIV). Israel thought God needed the blood of bulls to drink and eat, but this is an offence to the absolutely supreme and sufficient God. The more God's true image is distorted, the more we are unable to fully follow Him. He says also, "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you" (Ps.50:15). Apparently, the people in Israel who had this misconception of God were not willing in all things to rely on God in times of trouble. The consequence of their low view of God as being one who needed them for food was that it caused them not to completely trust and love the almighty God. Sounds like a lot of people today who have diminished views of God and thus are not willing to give Him their whole lives! Instead, they trust in man, worldly wisdoms, and pleasures. But we know this is futile, for the psalmist has already declared "Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help" (Ps.146:3).

          The human heart was made by God to worship and treasure infinite grandeur, specifically God's infinite grandeur. If you don't know the true greatness of God, you will only give Him a part of your heart, while your remaining passions go to wasting your life on vain worldly pleasures which will all fade away. Christ said you will either love one or hate the other. Many who did not give Christ their whole lives, souls, minds, and hearts will not find the welcoming Jesus they had imagined on the judgment day. Consider why the Pharisees were unable to see the glories of Jesus during their day:

          "And the Lord said, ‘To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not weep."'"

          The religious leaders were childish children, in the sense that they were so lost in and busy about trivial play and worldly business that they made themselves unable to understand the seriousness and glory which God was displaying through Jesus Christ. Beware that this does not happen to you! Pray that you will have ears to hear, that you will have a good heart, which only God is able to make.

          People say, "The truths of God have been debated for centuries; how am I to know which truths are the real ones"? Then they go about their lives, only halfheartedly trying to read their Bibles, and listening halfheartedly on Sunday mornings. But we know that God has already said that if you are halfhearted, or "lukewarm," He will reject you on that great day of His return. The sin of this age is that we do not make our Lord Christ Jesus our all in all. The sin of this age is that we do not sell everything we have in order to be with Jesus Christ. We give Christ only part of our lives instead-only part of our marriages, playtimes, cars, hobbies, sex, food, etc. Christ will say to those who did not make it their main aim to know Him and His glorious doctrines, "You should have known. I made you-I created you to know Me, but you instead wasted your thoughts on knowing everything else but Me. By not pursuing Me as the most important and wonderful knowledge in the universe, your life has instead testified, to everyone around you and most importantly to Me, that other things in life are more valuable and beautiful than my Father and I. Therefore, depart from Me, for I never knew you, you workers of iniquity."

          The rich young ruler in Matthew 19:21 did not want to give all to God, unlike the man in Matthew 13:44. The rich young ruler showed that you can give your life to God in following most of His commandments-going to church, doing all the right things, loving your parents-but if there are some areas you are not willing to give up to God in order to follow Jesus Christ, then you are unfit for the kingdom of God. The Bible is very radical to most, but true Christians know God will finish the good work He started in them. Right after the real-life example of the young ruler, Peter said, "We have left everything to follow you!" What is the reply of Jesus? "Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life" (Matt. 19:29). Thus, Matthew makes it clear for all to see that you either give everything and follow Christ your Savior, or you will have nothing.

          Note that the rich young ruler started the conversation by asking how he could have eternal life. Jesus answered that to follow Him, one must forsake everything. This is what the young ruler proved he was not able to do. This is not the only time Jesus was asked this type of question and responded in a similar, interesting way. Luke 10:25 tells the story of one who asked, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Here is Jesus' answer: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Here, Jesus says that one may acquire eternal life by loving God with all his or her heart, mind, soul, and strength.

          Ultimately, it seems that what the rich young ruler was unable to do was fulfill the greatest commandment: "Love your God with all your heart." That is why Jesus said elsewhere, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:6). If you don't give God all your love, mind, heart, soul, and strength, then you will not have eternal life. You will feel the utter dread and hopelessness as you find God forcing your knee to bow on the great judgment day. Understand: the young ruler was willing to do almost all of the commandments, but not the first and most important one-"Love your God with all your life." It is important for us all to take notice of our lives. Don't leave one area in your life unused and un-submitted to your beloved Lord and Savior.

        I plead with all not to be like the rich young ruler who was willing to give so much but was not willing to give all and follow Jesus. Instead, I encourage all to give up everything, knowing that "great is your reward in heaven," for knowing Christ is "eternal life" (John 17:3). Do this by looking to our great example, the Lord Jesus Christ. He who left everything to save us is now seated at God's right hand. We shall also sit at His feet and enjoy the glorious King's fellowship for all time, if we do the same.