BioShock and The Gospel

*MAJOR SPOILERS are used to prove a point. Be warned.*

BioShock is a mind blowing game. From the second you go into the lighthouse to take you down into Rapture, to the end credits, you are in awe of the game. Rapture is such an interesting and engaging setting that you cannot help being drawn in.

Then comes the famous plot twist. One realization changes how you view the whole game. Everything you had done was pointless. Your cause was not just, your goal was not real, and your true motivations were not what you thought they were. You were a slave to a greater evil than the one you were facing, and you did not even know it. Only after you have discovered the truth and have been set free from slavery, can you finally face the true evil at work in Rapture.

Sadly, our lives before finding Christ are the same. Like the main character in BioShock before the memorable confrontation with Andrew Ryan, we live our entire lives as slaves to sin. We may have tried to do good, but we were all selfish at heart. "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" Romans 3:10-12. That was because, like in BioShock, there is a plot twist that we had not yet reached. We had not learned the truth. "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin" John 8:34. Nobody can live a perfect life. We all sin, and we all screw up. Therefore we are slaves to sin, and like in Bioshock, many don't even realize it. Because sin is our master, we have earned death, "For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23a. The life changing truth is, that we are hopeless, and doomed. Enslaved to an evil master.

But there is more to this truth. The verse continues "...but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 6:23b. We are offered freedom. Though our debt is great the price has been paid. "If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" 1 John 2:1-2. Jesus came to earth, and paid the debt for our sins. All we must do is accept his free gift and we are free from our captor. Free to fight against him who enslaved us, and like in BioShock, our former master will be defeated.

Application:

Have you ever thought about how amazing a gift God has given us? That, even though we deserve death, God became a man and died so that we could live. Think about that for a while before moving on.

 Jesus died to be "the propitiation for our sins...but also for the whole world." What steps are you taking to help your friends accept this free gift?

 Are you praying for them?

 Are you living a godly life around them?

 What else can you be doing?

Jesus' last words were a command, telling us to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit" Matthew 28:19.

Are we making disciples as we were commanded?

Going Further:

Comment with some ideas on sharing this truth with others, or with people in your life that we can be praying for God to reveal this truth to. Video Link: http://youtu.be/14pQ5B0iTUs