Jesus Christ is a real person who walked the earth over two thousand years ago. History has documented His existence with both secular and sacred eyewitness reports of His life, death and resurrection.
Historically, Jesus Christ has been acknowledged as God come to earth, not just a god among others to choose from. He stepped into time and split it in two. The years since the birth of Christ increase in number and are marked by the letters AD, taken from a Latin phrase for “in the year of our Lord”. The years decrease in number leading up to the birth of Christ and are marked by the letters BC, meaning “Before Christ”.
Personally, Jesus Christ is looking for volunteer lovers, not slaves. He longs for us to freely surrender to His love and allow His leadership to care for our lives (Rom. 8:15). You may know about the historical figure of Jesus Christ and may even acknowledge that you believe in His death and resurrection, but do you know Him personally and have you been captivated by His love?
Let us imagine that mankind exists on one side of an endless chasm and God is on the other side. We as humans are lined up in single file, with Mother Teresa in the front representing the most righteous person and Ted Bundy, the serial killer, at the back as the worst. The rest of us are in line somewhere between the best and the worse of humanity. Since we are all still on the wrong side of the chasm, the difference between us is pointless. Where we stand in line may make a difference to each other, but to God we are all the same - on the wrong side of the chasm. Romans 3:23 says, “We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
God is Holy: The word “holy” means separate. We may be a good person, but God’s goodness is totally separate from ours. We may be loving, but God’s love is separate from ours. He is on the other side of eternity (the chasm) from us. Because God is holy (separate from us), He requires absolute perfection from us, which of course we are incapable of. We may be good or loving compared to others, but never compared to God!!!
God is Love: His love required Him to make a way for us to get to the other side of the chasm. He created us for love and He desires a relationship with us.
“God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son” (John 3:16) Jesus, being God, humbled Himself and became a man. He lived a sinless perfect life. Then He allowed humanity to kill Him, taking the penalty for our sin (Phil. 2:5-8). God’s holiness requires death for sin. His love compelled Him to pay the price for us!!
“Come unto me all you who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest... for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28, 30)
Jesus is calling out to those who will acknowledge that they are weak with a burden of sin too much for them to bear on their own. When we accept the invitation to come to Jesus, we are saying that we know we can never earn God’s approval. Instead, we accept what Jesus did on the cross for us as the only way to get to heaven.
“If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).
When we come to Jesus, repent of our sins and ask for forgiveness, He removes our burden of sin and cleanses us from it! Once we do this, we are free to follow God and allow Him to lead our life.
“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.” (Prov. 3:5-6)
Once we come to Jesus, we will learn to trust Him more and rest in His love by acknowledging Him daily. We do this through worship, prayer, Bible reading, Christian fellowship and continued repentance.
