In honor of Christmas, I’d like to offer a brief summary of Christianity. There are a lot of misconceptions out there; maybe this can help clarify a bit.
What do you want first, the good news or the bad news?
Actually, the good news won’t make any sense unless you know the bad news.
…and the bad news won’t make sense unless you know the basic news. So maybe we should start there.
Basic News
There is a God.
There is ONE God.
Specifically, there is the God of the Bible – the God of Christianity.
God is real, and Christianity is true. Like, really, actually, objectively true. Historically and spiritually and in all the other ways. Real, and true.
(There is evidence for this! Good reason to believe Christianity is the only true religion. Let me know if you’re interested in hearing any. (Please be interested!))
This one true God created everything. He is the source and sustainer of all life.
He created all people.
He created YOU. Knowingly, and on purpose.
This one true God is perfect, pure, and good.
And now, we can get to the
Bad News.
We are *not* perfect, pure, or good.
I’m not, and you’re not. (Hard, and sad, but true.)
Every person who ever lived has done something wrong. (Any arguments there? Okay, there’s one exception, see below.)
Doing something wrong (this is what the Bible calls sin) separates us from God, because He is perfect, pure and good, and He cannot accept wrong things. The consequence must be resolved; the penalty must be paid. (This is justice. Justice is good.)
The penalty of doing wrong things is separation from God.…but God is the source of life.
So, the penalty for doing wrong things is, ultimately, death.
Sin earns death. Eternal death. Eternal separation from God.
We’ve all sinned.
We’ve all earned eternal death.
The penalty must be paid. God must give us what we’ve earned.
But wait! Here comes the
Good News!
Jesus, God in human form, came to PAY OUR PENALTY.
He lived a perfect life, so He did *not* earn death.
But He took our place, paid our penalty, died our death –
to give us His life.
Then He came back to life, proving He was who He said He was, and He lives forever, as rightful King of everything!
Now, we CAN be reconciled with God, no longer separated from Him!
Now, we can have true life, forever, because of Jesus!
Merry Christmas!!
Hang on, though; there is a little more
bad news (although it pales in comparison to the goodness of the good news!).
We can’t just stay as we are.
We can’t keep living as if there’s no Jesus, and still have our penalty paid.
Jesus offers every person eternal life in Him! But…we must be IN HIM to have that life.
So…how do we move from being by ourselves to being in Him?
Well, we can’t hang on to our wrong things; we have to turn away from sin and turn to Jesus.
This is what “repent” means. It’s changing direction.
We have to give up our old sinful ways, and follow Jesus instead.
We have to choose to “die to self,” and choose to belong to Him.
We have to leave our old lives behind to live new, true life with Him, in Him, through Him.
But, really, if you think about it, what do we give up? Moments of wrong things that feel good but aren’t actually good for us in the long run. And what do we gain? True life, that lasts forever!
That is a win-win.
If this makes sense to you, and if you haven’t already, stop right now. Turn from your sin, and follow Jesus. Tell Him you want to do that (He’ll hear you). Let me or another Christian friend know if you did – because that means you’re part of God’s family now! That’s wonderful!! There’s so much more beauty and joy and peace to come!!
If this doesn’t make sense to you, but you’d like to know more and understand more, please reach out, either to me or to another Christian you know. This is life and death – forever. It really is true, and it really matters. Don’t put it off; you aren’t guaranteed more time.
Jesus is no longer a baby in a manger. He came to save you from the penalty you’ve earned. He didn’t come to condemn, but to truly, lovingly, joyfully save.
Joy to the world!!
More Than This Mess 