So ‘Jesus’ means “the Lord saves”. Saves from what?
In the Old Testament, Jews who did things that were not kosher, like sinning, asked God for forgiveness by shedding the blood of a lamb in a sacrificial ceremony. Since everyone was sinning, God foresaw the day when mankind would run out of good lambs (God did not accept seconds as sacrificial offerings). Thousands of shepherds would end up on the unemployment roles, creating a domino effect that would have catastrophic consequences throughout all segments of the economy.
You serious?
Well, that bit about running out of lambs may be a stretch, but the plain and simple truth is that God, through Jesus, saved us from an eternity in hell. He does not like sin. So what’s sin? It’s living your life the way you want rather than the way God prescribes. Sin just happens to be the one thing all of us humans have in common. God gave us free will and we all decided to take a hike. We’ve all abandoned God in one way or another through sin—whether we know it or not; whether we are willing to admit it or not.
So God called on a number of prophets, people who foretold the future at His directive, to tell all Israel that He would send a Savior, a King for these Jews to rectify the situation. Of course the Jews were clueless. They were expecting someone to save them from Roman tyranny, not their own sins. But Jesus was to be born a man and become the sacrificial lamb of God. Jesus would actually die as the only means of atoning for our sins. Pretty wild, huh? When John the Baptist first laid eyes on Jesus, he exclaimed, “behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” John was definitely tuned in.
So if the Jews were expecting a king and Jesus was really God in human form, why was He born in this stable. Shouldn’t royalty, Godly royalty at that, have been provided a more upscale entrance into the world?
The Bible tells us that Jesus did not come here to be served as would be expected of royalty. Look to the Queen Mother for that. Jesus came to serve mankind: to teach us about humility, compassion and forgiveness and ultimately suffer and die for our sins. Note that the angels announced the birth of Jesus to the lowly shepherds, not to the leaders of Israel.
So what’s so bad about sin? Sometimes I do things that are wrong and I say I’m sorry. Some of the stuff I do no one knows about, no one gets hurt and no one’s the wiser.
God is always affected by what you do. If you believe in modern evolutionary theory, then you are the ultimate result of some green slime washed up on the shore millions of years ago. But the Bible teaches that we were all created in the image and likeness of God. This does not mean that God has a wart on His nose like me or that He shares any of your physical characteristics. It means that we were created as spirit beings and given earthly bodies. We were once destined to live forever and our bodies were to never grow old. Sin kinda put the kibosh on all that. I know this may be a tough concept to swallow, but then, you haven’t tried my meat loaf.
From the beginning of time, God had intended that we have a real working relationship with Him. As with a human father, we could pretty much have asked Him for anything: the car keys on Saturday night, money for college or baby sitting the grandchildren. But to earn His favor, we had to play by the house rules. Unfortunately, the very first humans—Adam and Eve—blew it all by becoming the very first sinners.
So it’s really all their fault. Why do we have to experience God’s wrath?
Well, remember that God is sovereign. He is a perfect God—above all others. He can’t even look at sinful people without feeling queazy. We have all inherited that sinful nature from Adam and Eve. God bounced them out of the Garden of Eden. But even then, He promised to send someone to save our butts and to kick Satan’s once and for all. God has never given up on us.
Who is Satan?
Satan is the one who tricked Eve into sinning. She subsequently convinced Adam that sinning wasn’t as bad as God made it out to be. Perhaps you’ve heard of the classic battle between good and evil. Well, there really is a spiritual battle raging all around us. It started on day one and will continue until the last day—the one where the world comes to an end. The guys in the white hats are followers of Jesus Christ and the guys in the black hats are followers of Satan. This subject is much too complex to deal with here. I will explain all this in a future article. But now might be a good time to pose this question: “what color is your hat?” We live in a world of relativism where everything is represented by a shade of grey. But remember: God is a perfect being. There is only black and white in His economy. And it is understood that you wear a black hat unless you choose to don a white one.
God’s desire is that we spend eternity with Him in Heaven. So He sent Jesus to roll out the red carpet. We’re all invited, but we can’t get past those pearly gates unless we play by those house rules.
OK, I can see it coming. I know this won’t be fun, but what are the rules?
Don’t be mistaken in believing that living by God’s rules is no fun. I thought that way at one time and I was wrong. I thought for the longest time that Christians hardly ever laughed. And they never laughed in church! I was wrong. Some of the best times I’ve had in recent years have been in church. I thought Christians never have sex. I was wrong. They just don’t have sex with the person on the barstool next to them—the one they just met an hour before. Married people have sex, and from the number of kids I see in church, they have a lot of it.
The Bible tells us that God has a plan for our prosperity. He gives us hope and a future. We really have an awesome God, one who will take care of our every need, if only we will trust Him. To open the lines of communication, start by praying. Don’t ask for the car keys just yet, but rather, take account of who you really are and recognize that you are a sinner, a wretched sinner. Don’t get all defensive now and start calling me names! I was a sinner too. In fact, I still am, though I’ve graduated from ‘wretched’ to ‘occasional’. I will continue to sin until the day that I die. It is a part of my nature - yours too. But this sinner is going to Heaven - for no other reason than the grace of God.
God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die on a cross some 2000 years ago to pay the full price for all our sins, even the ones we haven’t even committed yet. What a gift from a loving God! That’s God’s grace. It’s like getting a speeding ticket and the judge says, “I’ll pay your fine for you.” Except, we’re not talking about a speeding ticket that might keep us from driving for a while. We’re talking about sins that will keep us out of Heaven forever. Take a moment to consider the gravity of that one sacrifice made on our behalf.
As sinners, we can’t be allowed near God. There is nothing we can do to make up for our sins. It does not matter how many little old ladies we help across the street, how much money we give to charity, or how many Hail Marys we recite—we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. The bar is just too high. But God says believe that my Son died as a sacrifice for your sins, repent—turn from your sinful nature and trust that I will take care of your every need.
Are you serious, again?
This time I am. God wants you to hit the brakes on sin and acknowledge that Jesus died so that you would be free from the penalty you must pay for your sins. Then He want’s you to trust Him for all your needs.
Well, even if I believed that Jesus died for what you call my sins, they bring me pleasure and power and comfort and security.
You won’t ever know what true pleasure and power and comfort and security are until you get to know God on a personal level. He created the ground you walk on, the air you breath and the food you eat, just by calling them into existence. That’s power! The armies that prayed to Him won their battles without throwing a spear or loosing a life. That’s security! He created and controls this entire universe. I have no problem calling Him ‘Master’.
If you really want to get to know Him, ask God to reveal Himself to you through Jesus. You probably won’t hear voices from heaven (if you do, email me right away!), but God does have a way of making his presence known. Ask God for help. Ask Him to help you make sense out of all this. By now, all the saints in Heaven are rootin’ for ya too. It will become easier and easier to understand God’s will for your life. And you’ll be much happier for it too.
Get yourself a Bible or dust off the one that’s been sitting on the shelf all these years. It may never have made much sense to you, but when you get serious about bible reading, God will help you understand it.
Find yourself a church. There are a lot of churches that wimp out on the spiritual needs of the people, so beware. There are many flavors of Christianity, too. A church firmly rooted in the bible should be your only choice. And if they don’t honor Jesus as Lord and Savior, move on to another church.
Ask lots of questions and spend time with the folks you meet at church. Get yourself invited to a bible study group. Experience has taught me this is the best place to learn about God’s word and to develop new friendships.
In time, I will provide links to good, solid, bible-based churches on the home page of this Website. If I haven’t yet listed one in your area, email me. I would consider it an honor to find one for you.
And remember always—if God is on your side, who could possibly be against you. The bible actually ay that!