"Jesus Is the Answer"?

This Sunday morning at service Josh, who was filling in for our usual ministers, opened up with a story that went like this, "So I commonly check in on some of my former students. And one of them posted just the other day saying, 'I'm 2.5 years out of school. Is this all life as to offer?' Yes! Yes of course life has more to offer and the answer is Jesus."


To which my reply always will be in the words of Paul Tillich, "Jesus might be the answer but what's the question?" (Tillich, Systematic Theology vol. 2)


There is an entire generation of young people in America that did what we were told to do, go to High School, then a good College and get your dream job; yet hardly any of us got the job we wanted and are now under debt but the system that either lied to us or was simply so incredibly incompetent to feed us such garage. Either way, we were led down the wrong path by our elders and we're left with debt for a fancy degree that we'll probably never use.


So, I suppose the question is, how does "Jesus is the answer" sermons reach a betrayed generation of hurting young people with very litter (if any) hope for a bright future. Or, how does "Jesus is the answer" help me in my suffering right now? I will attempt to answer this question here.


Let me first frame the situation and then reframe the true situation.

The first situation is as described above, a young, lost, aimless, hopeless generation with thousands in debt for a graduate program that only fed them lies; including (but by no means limited to) Satanism (I'm not kidding. I was once taught in a class how sympathetic and human Satan is), Marxism, Liberalism and almost anything else except God. That's the situation as our eyes see it.


The true situation is this: Man is utterly sinful/totally depaved with no hope of salvation or redemption in himself and, by his own sin, is under the just wrath of a holy God. That is man's, and this generation's, true situation. The solution (or the answer, as Josh put it) to the true situation: Jesus. Jesus, by living a perfect/sinless life and dying on a cross (which acted as an altar of sacrifice) under the full wrath of God paid the price for our sin; by this God's love for us is shown (Romans 5:8).


Perhaps you might be thinking, "Cool right? Jesus is the answer to my sin problem and how I get right with God; that's nice and all, but what about my useless degree, crushing debt and hopeless life?" And the answer is still Jesus. Allow me to explain.


God, in His love for you, chose to have His only Son die on your behalf. IE, God out of His love solved your greatest problem in your whole entire life. I mean to say, that your greatest problem is not your debt or a useless degree but your sin; of which God solved. That is the biggest problem in your whole life. We must reframe all our problems around this universal fact. Once we have this situation in proper view all other problems seem to take up a much lower place in our life. God proved His Son for you. Will He not also provide for your financial means in due time? His eye is even on the little sparrow; will He not much more remember you?


"Yeah but what about my aimless, hopeless life?" You might be thinking.

I can't answer the micro reason for your life or what you are supposed to do. For that, you must find your tribe (your church) and have the people around you help you through that question over time. But the macro reason for your life is also Jesus. Allow me to explain.


Jesus Christ was what we were supposed to be but Adam, due to His first transgression against God, allowed sin and death into the world and we were forever separated from God. Christ is the example of what we are to be and we now, because of His life and death for us, have the ability to gain a new heart from God; a heart that desires Him above all things. I don't care where you are in life right now; your aim, your chief desire is to be like Him in all situations. That's the purpose of your life. That's the aim of your life; no matter how much debt or how useless your degree may be.


I do wish Josh expounded on this point more because maybe then I wouldn't have had to write this essay to put my mind and my soul at ease once more. But regardless, it's written anyhow and I hope it was (at least somewhat) edifying to you as it was me and that your spirit can say with mine, "Jesus is the answer".