JESUS is a name familiar to most everyone. Most people have seen paintings representing him. They know he was a Jew who lived in the first century A.D. They have heard that he was a remarkable teacher and did many fantastic things. They know he is the actual head of Christianity. But what is the real significance of this man? Why do we need Jesus?
To Be Forgiven of Our Sins
Before we can speak of forgiveness, we must first understand what sin is. The Bible says, “everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4 NRSV). To sin is to break God’s law. The Bible tells about our Creator and what he expects of us. A person can sin not only by doing what God has forbidden, but also by failing to do what instructed (James 4:17). We can sin by our actions, words, attitudes, and thoughts.
If you’ve ever had a job, you received wages for your work. When you sin you get something too. Romans 6:23 states, “the wages of sin is death.” The passage refers not just to physical death, but spiritual separation, a break in your relationship with God. The prophet Isaiah declared: “your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). That means that all sinners are condemned before God. We’re all under his death penalty. That is sometimes hard for people to accept. Most people think they’re pretty good, and you might be, but compared to whom? Your neighbor? The guy on the news? Your coworkers? God isn’t comparing you to your neighbor. Romans 3:23 tells us that he compares us to his own glory or purity. That is the standard. So if you say, “But I’m better than _______,” it doesn’t really matter. If one man is thirty minutes late for his flight and another is thirty seconds late, which is better off? They both missed the plane! If you’ve ever violated God’s law, and haven’t come to Christ, you’re going to “miss the plane” to heaven. What difference does it make that you’ll be closer than someone else?
That’s the bad news. Are you ready for some really good news? Jesus has come to satisfy the demands of God’s justice on our behalf. Though he is eternal and fully God by nature, he became one of us so that he could suffer for our sakes. His self-sacrifice was the only thing precious enough to adequately pay for our sins. So he chose to suffer and die a cruel, shameful death in our place. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; for by his wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). The fact that Jesus was who he claimed to be, and that God the Father accepted his death, was proven when God raised him and seated him on his heavenly throne (Acts 2:22- 36). We need Jesus because we need forgiveness for our sins, so that we can enjoy the awesome reality of a good relationship With God.
To Learn How to Live As It was Designed
Most people wander through life without a clear sense of purpose. Everyone seems to have his own philosophy of life that he has pieced together from various sources. People live life by trial and error. The problem is that all those errors mount up. They inflict pain and distress into our lives, hurt our marriages, put up barriers between us and our kids, and get us into all kinds of trouble. People say, “If only life came with instructions!” Well, it does. Our Maker did give us a life instruction manual. It’s called the Bible. However, it is not just a book of rules and outlined steps to follow. It centers on the story of a man: Jesus, the only one who ever lived out this life exactly as it was intended. Most people would rather learn by being shown than be being told. God didn’t just give us instructions, he took on human nature and showed us. He did it with us. He gave us a model, a perfect prototype to emulate.
Jesus explained: “I have come in order that you might have life in all its fullness” (John 10:10). Only when we live life as God designed it will we be truly filled up. When we look to Jesus for our ethics, main values, chief priorities, overriding purpose, and character, life works so much better! Our marriages become more loving and satisfying, our parent-child relationships are more trusting and fulfilling. We avoid so much unnecessary pain and anguish, and we learn to deal better with obstacles. We have clearer vision and an inner security because our life is founded on something solid, something outside of ourselves. It’s like the difference between building a house on drifting sand and building it on a solid rock foundation (Luke 6:46-49). We need Jesus to learn how to live life as God designed it.
To Help Us Through Life’s Struggles
Life can, at times, become devastating. One struggle after another heaps upon you until you’re bent over from the weight. Lonely and discouraged, you can begin to feel like no one really understands. Even if they do, there may be nothing they can do to help. Tragedies strike, and when they do, they shake the very foundation of our existence . The pain can be unbearable. Jesus hasn’t promised to take away all struggles, but he has promised to help us through them. No one can better relate to our suffering than he can. The Bible calls him “a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3). The hands with which he held children were rough and callused from the hard work of the carpenter’s shop. The feet that carried him here and there ministering to people’s needs often ached. The heart within him that was big enough to take in the whole world was broken with rejection and loss. He experienced the aching emotions that, on occasion, filled him up until they overflowed in tears running down his cheeks.
Yet, at the same time, Jesus was no weakling. He was strong enough to carry not only his own burden and his own cross, but the burdens of each man at the end of his rope, each broken woman, each hurting child. To all who make it their life’s goal to follow Jesus and spread the news, he has promised, “Behold, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).
They say that if you tear down a sparrow’s nest, the little bird will build again in the same place. However, if pull it down several times, she will seek a new location, a shelter higher up where it will be less vulnerable. Sadly, people are not always so wise. They build their nests with their hope for happiness in the things of this world, only to see them pulled down time after time. After each brief interval of sighs and tears, they begin building all over again in the same place. They never realize that through their defeats the Lord is calling them to build higher, to put their security in him. We need Jesus to help us through life’s struggles.
To Get to Heaven To those who love and obey Jesus, the prospect of meeting him face to face and being with him forever is the hope that keeps us going, no matter what life may throw at us. Jesus came to help us live life to its fullest, but this life will never be perfect, in spite of our efforts. As weak human beings under influence of the spiritual forces of evil, we have brought ruin, selfishness, crime and anger into our daily experience. Age itself takes its toll upon us, breaking down our bodies and, one by one, picking off the people we hold dearest. Instinctively, we know that there is something much better awaiting us. In spite of the atheistic theory of evolution, most Americans still believe in God and heaven. The problem is that most don’t know what the Bible teaches about who will go there. Before departing from this earth, Jesus comforted his followers with the assurance that he was going to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house. Upon being asked for directions on how to get there, he replied, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:1-6). In other words, Jesus says, “There’s only one way to heaven, and I’m it.” Do you want to be in heaven when you die? If so, you better get to know Jesus! It’s not just believing in him. It’s about making him your Savior and giving him your life. The apostle John made this clear when he wrote: “And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3-4). We need Jesus to get to heaven.
Jesus Is for You
Maybe you have not surrendered to Jesus and you’re wondering how to get to him? God has made it possible that everyone who wants to, His child can be. All one needs to do is obey the gospel (Rom. 1:16). Faith that Jesus is the Christ (Heb. 11:6; John 8:24), willing to repent of past sins (Luke 13:3), acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ (Rom. 10:9-10) and submit to water immersion for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
-Gary Workman
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