Denomination: Independent
Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus Christ and why should a historical figure mean anything to my life, to my family, and to how we live our lives today?
The bible tells the story of a creator God who is constantly engaged with the struggles of a broken humanity.
From its first pages, we read of God’s desire for relationship with man and woman, and His plans for every person to experience rich fulfillment and true purpose.
God intended earth to be a place where peace, intimacy and love were shared not only between Himself and the people he had made, but also from person to person. Quickly and tragically however, this beautiful picture of creation soon became a distant ideal, as God’s people decided that life could best be lived without dependence on Him. This is what Christians refer to as sin. By rejecting God, it seemed that we had lost our connection to Him forever.
Since this bittersweet beginning, every people group on earth has grappled with questions about who God is, seeking to mend their relationship with Him or to invent a belief system that suppresses that universal and deep-seated need for His love. Some aim to transcend into the impersonal being that God is thought to be; others undertake repetitive rituals of prayer and sacrifice in an attempt to please and appease their versions of God. Still others conclude, tired from the debate over which method actually works, that the most important thing in life is to simply ‘do good’, in the hope that when it’s all over, these good works will have won them favour with whoever God is.
Even Israel, the people group that God graciously revealed Himself to, struggled to reach this end of knowing God through religion. Their's was a system of Law – a law which articulated God’s wisdom for living, summarized in the Jewish scriptures as love for God and love for others. In the end, this system of Law only functioned to point out humanity’s failure to live right before God, and their desperate need for forgiveness of their sin once and for all.
The answer to all of these “ways” is discovered in Jesus, the Way. He is God’s son, and yet He came to earth as a man and suffered death on a Roman cross, for us. Having lived a perfect life before God, He took the fall for humanity, becoming the very sacrifice that would pay the penalty that our sin deserved. This free pardon is what Christians refer to as grace. Grace however does not stop there. After dying for us, Jesus rose from the dead so that those who believe in Him could also live a new resurrected life; a life filled with true purpose, real peace and hope for an eternity spent with Him.
“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” Romans 3:22 NLT
Now, the only thing that’s left up to us, is to believe.
If you would like to know more about knowing God, we'd love to hear from you!
Who is Jesus Christ and why should a historical figure mean anything to my life, to my family, and to how we live our lives today?
The bible tells the story of a creator God who is constantly engaged with the struggles of a broken humanity.
From its first pages, we read of God’s desire for relationship with man and woman, and His plans for every person to experience rich fulfillment and true purpose.
God intended earth to be a place where peace, intimacy and love were shared not only between Himself and the people he had made, but also from person to person. Quickly and tragically however, this beautiful picture of creation soon became a distant ideal, as God’s people decided that life could best be lived without dependence on Him. This is what Christians refer to as sin. By rejecting God, it seemed that we had lost our connection to Him forever.
Since this bittersweet beginning, every people group on earth has grappled with questions about who God is, seeking to mend their relationship with Him or to invent a belief system that suppresses that universal and deep-seated need for His love. Some aim to transcend into the impersonal being that God is thought to be; others undertake repetitive rituals of prayer and sacrifice in an attempt to please and appease their versions of God. Still others conclude, tired from the debate over which method actually works, that the most important thing in life is to simply ‘do good’, in the hope that when it’s all over, these good works will have won them favour with whoever God is.
Even Israel, the people group that God graciously revealed Himself to, struggled to reach this end of knowing God through religion. Their's was a system of Law – a law which articulated God’s wisdom for living, summarized in the Jewish scriptures as love for God and love for others. In the end, this system of Law only functioned to point out humanity’s failure to live right before God, and their desperate need for forgiveness of their sin once and for all.
The answer to all of these “ways” is discovered in Jesus, the Way. He is God’s son, and yet He came to earth as a man and suffered death on a Roman cross, for us. Having lived a perfect life before God, He took the fall for humanity, becoming the very sacrifice that would pay the penalty that our sin deserved. This free pardon is what Christians refer to as grace. Grace however does not stop there. After dying for us, Jesus rose from the dead so that those who believe in Him could also live a new resurrected life; a life filled with true purpose, real peace and hope for an eternity spent with Him.
“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” Romans 3:22 NLT
Now, the only thing that’s left up to us, is to believe.
If you would like to know more about knowing God, we'd love to hear from you!
