Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Your truthful answer to this question will demand a commitment. Do you believe that you are a lawbreaker, that Jesus died to pay the price that lawbreakers are supposed to pay, and that He resurrected? If you do, are you willing to trust Him alone for your eternal salvation? This will mean a break with your former beliefs about righteousness, salvation and living. Would you live in lawbreaking or in Christ? Would you try (or not even try!) to please God by your efforts or would you rest in Jesus’ already-accomplished, perfect obedience of the Law?
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Even non-believers in God realize there is an intelligent Creator. |
John 14:9, ESV
The only way we can know God is by knowing Jesus Christ. Why? Think about it- most religions seem to have a concept of God: that can-do-everything, better-than-us , all-knowing, Creator of the Universe. However, neither you and I have physically seen him. By looking up and by looking at the things that exist, we may have an idea of how the Lord is like. The orderliness of the universe, the intricacies of a flower, the complexity of a human being, the steadiness of the seasons. They all bear witness of a maker who’s a bit smarter and more powerful than us. Now, how can you learn how to establish a personal relationship with him and live where he lives forever? We do not learn about this by looking up anymore.
The Bible (Greek word for “books”) is the record of that God’s interaction with man- specifically about those men and women who lived in his chosen country, Israel. It was to them that he gave his law and standards we usually refer to as the 10 Commandments. He said that “that the person who does the commandments shall live by them.” He expected his men and women to obey all of his commands perfectly, every day, until the end of their lives. What would happen if someone didn’t? God strictly said that “the soul who sins shall die.” Sin is disobedience against a command given by that God.
The story of mankind, from the beginning of creation until our days, has consisted of man coming up with his own laws and dying. Wars, famines, pestilences and tragedies are all results of living in a world where God is not universally acknowledged and worshiped. Because we have both a body and a soul, we will exist even after our body dies. However, if we have disobeyed any of the Lord’s commands, our immaterial self will not spend eternity with him, but we will have to spend that same eternity paying for our sins in suffering and separation from God.
We have broken God’s Commands. We have lied when He told us not to give our neighbor false witness. We have hated some people in our hearts when He told us not to murder (either in thought or in deed). We have worshiped other gods by trying to fill the gap in our hearts with many things. We are guilty. We cannot undo our disobedience to God by our subsequent good deeds just like a serial killer cannot shake off his serial killing by spending 20 years working in soup kitchens. Just as this will not hold any weight in a court of law, our attempts at being good will not hold any weight before God’s throne of judgment. We are guilty as charged, and we deserve to pay eternally in Outer Darkness.
Jesus Christ, who’s God in material, human form, was born about 2006 years ago to take care of this problem. He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law… I have not come to abolish … but to fulfill … ” He lived a life of perfect obedience to God’s commands for 33 years. He did not do evil, but “went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Yet, he was killed. Not only was he killed, but he was executed in the worse form possible back them: by crucifixion. Liken that to today’s electric chair, except that death on crucifixion takes longer, and the criminal is stripped from his clothes. Yes, those fancy paintings of Jesus Christ have clothes drawn on him only out of respect. Jesus died the death of a lawbreaker, not because he was a lawbreaker, but because we are lawbreakers. He completed the Law for lawbreakers in order to make them innocent.
Yet he arose! On the third day, his body was not in the tomb. Up to this day, while all of the other tombstones are famous for the body they contain, Jesus’s is famous for what it does not contain! He appeared to more than 500 people after this and then went up to Heaven. Because nobody else has ever come back to life by self-determination, Jesus Christ deserves our attention! A powerless liar cannot resurrect himself from the dead. It was easier for him to tell someone in life, “Your sins are forgiven” because you can’t really measure whether that’s true or not by looking at the person. But to say that you will rise from the dead… your sanity and reputation depend on it! And he did.For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16, ESV
