About Jesus

The fact that Jesus taught that He was the "I Am" and that He was the Messiah that the Jewish people had been waiting for is Good News for ALL of us today. That Good News is often called "The Gospel," but what does that mean?

https://youtu.be/HT41M013X3A

Many people often think of the promise of the Good News as someday going to be with God "in heaven" but there is a lot more to the Good News than what is often thought of as "floating around in clouds someday by and by..."

https://youtu.be/Zy2AQlK6C5k

We believe that Jesus IS in fact the Creator God who revealed Himself to the world and came to remove the dividing wall of sin that separated us from Him through His death, burial, and resurrection so that we could have relationship with God.

After living life as an atheist and researching the claims of Jesus, the now renowned scholar C.S. Lewis concluded, C.S. Lewis concluded: “We're faced, then, with a frightening alternative. The man we're talking about was, and is, just what he said, or else insane or worse. Now, it seems to me obvious that he was neither insane nor a fiend. And consequently, however strange, or terrifying, or unlikely, it may seem, I have to accept the view that he was, and is, God.”

When we come to believe that Jesus is in fact God revealed to humanity then it leaves us with a startling choice. We either accept His word, works, and wonders in our lives by recognizing Him as king of the universe and king of our lives or we reject all of that by recognizing ourselves as the ruler of our life.

What will you? Will you recognize who Jesus is and receive what He offers you? This is the most important decision you will make in your life!

If you do believe and receive you become a child of God.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

Now there are huge possibilities of what God can do in your life. God can do great things during your current lifetime and you can also enjoy eternal life, which is that life that you’re beginning to experience now. You, and others who have chosen to follow Jesus with their lives, now form part of the family of God and get to live life with God.

You probably had already realized that you had a need in your life – His forgiveness, His love, His acceptance, etc. That need led you to give Him your life. One of the things that He did for you was that He forgave your sins. The Bible says that all of us have sinned. Because of this we’re separated from the good things that God has for us.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Romans 3:23

Some people think that sin is what other people do, like stealing, murder, adultery, and other things like that. The Bible includes many other things than just these as injustices before God. Some of these include; lying, cheating, lust, gossip, jealousy, greed, and other similar things; these sins are just as bad as the first ones! That means that ALL of us have sinned! Sin means that we have “missed the mark.” There was a right way to live and we missed it!

As a result of our sin we separate ourselves from God. The Bible says that we have left the road to God – like sheep that choose to wander wherever they want.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:6

When we choose to sin we are choosing to separate ourselves from God too. In that state of sin we become the boss or king of our own life – the one who has the last say. In that sinful state there is no place for another King. Sin is very selfish by wanting to demonstrate its independence from God in this life. We frequently combine this selfishness with words and actions that hurt God. Sometimes we’re blatantly rebellious towards God, but more frequently we are indifferent towards God; we just don’t care about Him and we don’t want to know about anything that God has to say about our lives.

Even all of our good deeds will never be enough for us to receive forgiveness for the sins we have committed (Isaiah 64:6) and there are consequences for our sin: Death (Romans 6:23).

So now what do you do??? Many believe that by doing good things, or “good works” they will cancel out all the sin that they’ve committed. But anything a human could do in a lifetime would never be enough to get rid of sin. The Bible says that this is something that we cannot earn.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Some people ask why there is such a severe punishment for sin. But many forget that God is just, He is fair. He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. Besides, because sin is harmful, many times to innocent people, how could God allow sin to go unpunished?

https://youtu.be/G_OlRWGLdnw

Imagine a courtroom where a judge must sentence someone who is guilty of a crime. People would not say that the judge is an angry and unloving judge because He upholds the law. On the contrary, they might say that he is unjust if he does not give the guilty party a sentence according to their crime. What would you think if you saw a judge put down his gavel and take off his robe and let the guards take him away in the place of the criminal to carry out the criminal’s sentence? That’s basically what Jesus did for you when he suffered and died on the cross to take the punishment for your sins. In this he demonstrated his justice and his love; he took the penalty for your sins so that now you can be free from them.  

We already saw that we could never do enough good to outweigh our sin so this is really Good News to know that God has provided a way for us to be saved from our sin and from death!

You can receive all of this by turning from sin and from yourself and choosing to put your trust in Jesus Christ to save you from your sin.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Can you see how much God loves us? He gave up his own son to die for you and me. Because of this we can have eternal life that we could not have had any other way. He made it so simple that all we have to do is ask him and he will give to us forgiveness from sin and a new life with him. The only reasonable response to this kind of love is to recognize him, not only as savior, but also as Lord of our lives because he is the one who saves us and gives us life!

Have you invited Jesus Christ into your life to be your Lord (master, ruler, etc.) and savior? Have you given him your entire life? If not, you can do so right now. Pray this from your heart:

Lord Jesus, I confess to you that I have sinned. I thank you for dying in my place. I know that only you can forgive my sins. I want to ask you to forgive my sins and to give me eternal life. I now break with everything I have worshiped in your place. I turn away from my sin and from going my own way and I turn to you.

I ask you to be the lord and ruler of my life; I give all my life to you. Please guide me in your ways and change me according to what pleases you. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Jesus Forgives Your Sins

I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. John 5:24

When you believe in Jesus Christ He forgives your sins and gives you eternal life. He will not condemn you for the sins that you have committed. You can trust in his complete forgiveness and he has also given you eternal life! This means he will not speak of your sins in the future and will give you eternal life.

You Receive Eternal Life

What is eternal life? Do you have to die to be able to enjoy it? Jesus describes it like this:

And this is the way to have eternal life--to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. John 17:3

Therefore, eternal life is really about knowing Jesus Christ. Not just like you know somebody at school or at work, but really knowing Him, like best friends know each other. The more you get to know Jesus the more you will come to know what it really means to live. You are now on a journey with Jesus Christ, and each day that you walk with him you will be learning new and good things about him and about life.

You Become A Child Of God

Wow! The first two things sounded good, but this one’s amazing! God allows you to be his child. When someone gives their life to Christ and accepts him as lord and savior they become sons or daughters of God.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

Now you have a very special relationship with God. He really has given you a lot of love and acceptance by calling you his child. Because this is so special you must take great care of your relationship. But, that’s not it; if you follow him faithfully he guarantees that he will keep his promise.

And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

Ephesians 1:13-14

He has given you his guarantee, the Holy Spirit! Can you believe that the ruler of the universe wants to have such a close relationship with you!?!

Read Ephesians 2:1-10 & Romans 8:1-17 to see what it says about this new relationship as a child of God and how God gives His Spirit to fill and empower us to live this new life in Him.