There is one God. There is one God and He is the Maker of heaven and earth, and He made us in His image and likeness, male and female, with dignity and purpose. He made us to worship Him but we chose to sin against Him; to rebel against Him; to disobey Him. As a result, we are separated from God and we live under the foolish myth that, to some degree, we are each our own god declaring right and wrong and living our own life by our own standards.
God lovingly entered human history as the man, Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man. He was born of a virgin and lived a life without sin, though He was tempted in every way as we are. His mission was to live the righteous live we could not, culminating in the cross, where He substituted himself. Our first parents in the garden substituted themselves for God, and, at the cross, Jesus reversed that substitution and substituted Himself for sinners. Jesus went to the cross, willingly to take upon Himself the sin of those who would come to trust in Him. He took upon himself the sin of His people, past, present, and future. Jesus Christ – God, who became man – died in my place for my sins, paying my debt to God and purchasing my salvation. Jesus’ dead body was then laid in a tomb and for three days He was buried. On the third day, a Sunday, which is why we worship on that day – Jesus rose in victory over sin, death, Satan, demons, and hell.
Jesus ascended to heaven and is alive and well. He is seated on a throne, and is ruling and reigning over all nations and all cultures and all philosophies and all races and all periods of time. He is ruling over men and women, children and the elderly, the rich and the poor, the wise and the simple, those who are living and those who are dead, and He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is ruling and reigning over all people, commanding everyone everywhere to repent of their sin. This involves realizing that even though you are a great sinner, Jesus is a greater Saviour. The wondrous reality is that those who humbly turn to Jesus in this way will never be rejected, but be given cleansing and new life in Him.
God is coming again to judge the living and the dead, and those who trust in Him will enjoy eternity in His Kingdom of heaven forever. Those who do not will suffer apart from Him in the conscience eternal torments of hell. Hell is a real place and a real representation of the anger of God against sin. This same wrath was absorbed in Jesus Christ on the cross in substitution, for His people. Those who reject that mercy deserve wrath for their sin forever. God takes no pleasure in the death of sinners, and so again He calls on all to repent.
Contempt, Curiosity or Conviction are the three possible reactions to this message of Jesus as Redeemer and Lord. Contempt, as a rejection of Jesus, saying, “This is ridiculous. This is old religion. This is Christianity. We’re tired of this. Have you nothing new?” No, there is no such thing as a new kind of Christian. There are only Christians who love Jesus, believe the Bible, repent of sin and trust in Him alone. Then there are others who have curiosity about who Jesus is and how His cross-work makes a difference. Continue to pursue your curiosity, and if you pursue the truth, you’ll end up worshiping, loving, knowing Jesus, and even be converted. Finally there is the reaction of heart conviction. Where you say humbly, “I believe in Jesus. I believe He lived, died, rose in my place for my sins. He’s my great God and Savior, and I want him to change my life now, and I want my life to be lived with Him forever.” If that’s you, we would beg – implore you to give your life to Jesus today; to confess your sins and trust in Him; become a Christian. Know Him today as your Redeemer and King.
