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This is an article for people who are interested in the Christian faith, or who have friends or family who are Christian.
Christians believe that the world and everything in it is created by a loving God who gives meaning and purpose to each purpose and thing. No person has ever seen God, and no one is able to understand God fully. But we believe we know what God is like through the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus was born in about 4BC in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth, both places being in present day Israel. He learned a trade as a carpenter-builder. At the age of 30, he became a teacher for three years, until he was executed by crucifixion as a common criminal, probably in 30AD in Jerusalem. Against all the expectations of his friends, he rose from the death, and this one thing compelled his followers to tell people far and wide about him.
His followers, who were all Jews at first but later included non-Jews, formed a community known as the Church. Its task was to continue the work he has begun. We believe that Jesus is the Messiah foretold in the Jewish scriptures and therefore we belief that the Church is the new Israel.
We become members of this community through the ceremony of baptism whereby we are 'born again' into a new relationship with God through Jesus. Jesus taught people to think of God as a loving Father - he creates us, loves us, protects us, provides for our needs, and guides us through life. He is Love. Jesus taught us to speak to Him in prayer as "Our Father". The word he uses for 'father' is 'abba' which means 'Daddy'.
Jesus called himself Son of Man,
not Son of God, but he did in fact claim to be divine. He said that whoever
saw him had seen the Father. He was the human expression of God, showing God's
will for peace and healing and goodness by his actions and supremely showing
God's love for the world by his death on the cross. After his resurrection,
on of his friends could say of him "My Lord and my God".
Jesus wants his followers to know that God is with them always. We call his
presence the Holy Spirit. God inspires us through His Spirit and gives us gifts
to minister His name to others.
Christians use the Jewish scriptures believing that they reach fulfillment in the coming of Jesus into the world. We accept some of the writings of the early Christians also as scriptural - the accounts by his friends of his teaching, death and resurrection, and letters written by the Apostles to the first Churches. We believe that the writers of scripture were inspired by God's Holy Spirit, and we regard the Old and New Testaments as sufficient to contain our beliefs.
We believe that by dying on the Cross Jesus has won for us forgiveness from the effects of sinfulness. We hope that beyond this life, therefore, we shall be in the presence of God and be united with our loved ones, and that we shall find our fulfillment as human beings in the heavenly life of Eternity.
God so loved the world that he gave His only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved (John 3, 16-17)
"In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the expiation of our sins. Friends, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4, 10-11)
Man's need of Christ
Man was originally endowed with noble powers and a well-balanced mind. He was perfect in his being, and in harmony with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy. But through disobedience, his powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love. His nature became so weakened through transgression that it was impossible for him, in his own strength, to resist the power of evil. He was made captive by Satan, and would have remained so forever had not God specially interposed. It was the tempter's purpose to thwart the divine plan in man's creation, and fill the earth with woe and desolation. And he would point to all this evil as the result of God's work in creating man.
In his sinless state, men held joyful communion with Him "in whom are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:3. But after his
sin, he could no longer find joy in holiness, and he sought to hide from the
presence of God. Such is still the condition of the unrenewed heart. It is not
in harmony with God, and finds no joy in communion with Him. The sinner could
not be happy in God's presence; he would shrink from the companionship of holy
beings. Could he be permitted to enter heaven, it would have no joy for him.
The spirit of unselfish love that reigns there - every heart responding to the
heart of Infinite Love - would touch no answering chord in his soul. His thoughts,
his interests, his motives, would be alien to those that actuate the sinless
dwellers here. He would be a discordant note in the melody of heaven. Heaven
would be to him a place of torture; he would long to be hidden from Him who
is in the light, and the centre of its joy. It is no arbitrary decree on the
part of God that excludes the wicked from heaven: they are shut out by their
own unfitness for its companionship. The glory of God would be to them a consuming
fire. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face
of Him who died to redeem them.
It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which
we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them. "Who can
bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one." "The carnal mind
is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be." Job 14:4; Romans 8:7. Education, culture, the exercise of the
will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but here they are powerless.
They may produce an outward correctness of behaviour, but they cannot change
the heart; they cannot purify the springs of life. There must be a power working
from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness.
That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of
the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.
The Saviour said, "Except a man be born from above," unless he shall
receive a new heart, new desires, purposes, and motives leading to a new life,
"he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3 (margin). The idea that
it is necessary only to develop the good that exists in man by nature, is a
fatal deception. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned". "Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again." 1 Corinthians 2:14; John 3:7. Of Christ it is written,
"In Him was life; and the life was the light of men," - the only "name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." John 1:4; Acts
4:12.
It is not enough to perceive the loving-kindness of God, to see the benevolence,
the fatherly tenderness, of His character. It is not enough to discern the wisdom
and justice of His law, to see that it is founded upon the eternal principle
of love. Paul the apostle saw all this when he exclaimed, "I consent unto
the law that it is good" "The law is holy, and the commandment holy,
and just, and good." But he added, in the bitterness of his soul-anguish
and despair, "I am carnal, sold under sin." Romans7:16, 12, 14. He
longed for the purity, the righteousness, to which in himself he was powerless
to attain, and cried out, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver
me from this body of death?" Romans 7:24 (margin). Such is the cry that
has gone up from burdened hearts in all lands and all ages. To all, there is
but one answer, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world." John 1:29.
Many are the figures by which the Spirit of God has sought to illustrate this
truth, and make it plain to souls that long to be freed from the burden of guilt.
When, after his sin in deceiving Esau, Jacob fled from his father's home, he
was weighed down with a sense of guilt. Lonely and outcast as he was, separated
from all that had made life dear, the one thought that above all other pressed
upon his soul, was the fear that his sin had cut him off from God, that he was
forsaken of Heaven. In sadness he lay down to rest on the bare earth, around
him only the lonely hills, and above the heavens bright with stars. As he slept,
a strange light broke upon his vision; and lo, from the plain on which he lay,
vast shadowy stairs seemed to lead upward to the very gates of heaven, and upon
them angels were passing up and down; while from the glory above, the divine
voice was heard in a message of comfort and hope. Thus was made known to Jacob
that which met the need and longing of his soul, - a Saviour. With joy and gratitude
he saw revealed a way by which he, a sinner, could be restored to communion
with God. The mystic ladder of his dream represented Jesus, the only medium
of communication between God and man.
This is the same figure to which Christ referred in His conversation with Nathanael,
when he said, "Ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending
and descending upon the Son of man." John 1:51. In the apostasy, man alienated
himself from God; earth was cut of from heaven. Across the gulf that lay between,
there could be no communion. But through Christ, earth again is linked with
heaven. With his own merits, Christ has bridged the gulf which sin has made,
so that the ministering angels can hold communion with man. Christ connects
fallen man in his weakness and helplessness with the Source of infinite power.
But in vain are man's dreams of progress,
in vain are all efforts for the uplifting of humanity, if they neglect the one
Source of hope and help for the fallen race. "Every good gift and every
perfect gift" (James 1:17) is from God. There is no true excellence of
character apart from Him. And the only way to God is Christ. He says, "I
am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
John 14:6.
The heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love stronger than
death. In giving up His Son, He has poured out to us all heaven in one gift.
The Saviour's life and death and intercession, the ministry of angels, the pleading
of the Spirit, the Father working above and through all, the unceasing interest
of heavenly beings, - all are in behalf of man's redemption.
O let us contemplate the amazing
sacrifice that has been made for us! Let us try to appreciate the labour and
energy that Heaven is expending to reclaim the lost, and bring them back to
the Father's house. Motives stronger, and agencies more powerful, could never
be brought into operation; the exceeding rewards for right-doing, the enjoyment
of heaven, the society of the angels, the communion and love of God and His
Son, the elevation and extension of all our powers throughout eternal ages,
- are these not mighty incentives and encouragements to urge us to give the
heart's loving service to our Creator and Redeemer?
And, on the other hand, the judgements
of God pronounced against sin, the inevitable retribution, the degradation of
out character, and the final destruction, are presented in God's Word to warn
us against the service of Satan. Shall we not regard the mercy of God? What
more could He do? Let us place ourselves in right relation to Him who has loved
us with amazing love. Let us avail ourselves if the means provided for us that
we may be transformed into His likeness, and be restored to fellowship with
the ministering angels, to harmony and communion with the Father and the Son.
Jesus Christ
God sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to be born into the world, to live among
us, to die for us and our sins, and finally to conquer death and rise after
three days. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of
the Virgin Mary - and so was both fully God and fully human. The four Gospels
contain the story of Jesus' ministry on earth, his death and his resurrection.
Jesus began his earthly ministry when He was about 30 and preached true obedience
to God, radical justice and mercy, and love of fellow human beings. He demonstrated
the power and mercy of God by performing miracles of healing and sustenance
and even raising some people from the dead.
Jesus was also crucified. On the one level, the earthly authorities put Him
to death because his Gospel message was too great a challenge for them. On another
level, his death was divinely ordained to satisfy cosmic justice. Jesus Christ
died for our sins - "a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation
and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world" (from the Anglican Church's
Book of Common Prayer). This is the heart of the Gospel - Jesus Christ paid
the penalty for our sins and has shown us a new way to live in harmony with
God and creation.
The New Covenant
Jesus Christ rose again from the dead and He is alive today. He ascended into
heaven but sent the Holy Spirit to guide and support the Church and individual
believers. He commissioned the Church to make disciples (followers of Christ)
of all nations. Although Christ's death and resurrection have bought us our
freedom from sin and death, we nevertheless must accept this gift. We still
have free will and we can reject God's gift of salvation - we can choose to
live without God. But if we do choose God, then we are also called to live in
obedience to God's moral law, to do justice, to be merciful, to take good care
of creation, and to love one another. What happens to those who do not know
Christ or never have a meaningful opportunity to accept His gift? I don't know
because the Bible does not address this question. All I can say is that I know
that God will dispense true justice and true mercy. It is not our job to judge
the world, but it is our job to follow Jesus Christ's great commission to make
disciples of all nations.
Jesus is our shepherd and we are his sheep: he guides and protects us.
How do you know Christ is in your life?
When you invited Christ in your life, these 5 things happened to you:
1) Christ has indeed come into your life. Read Revelation 3:20. What does the door represent? Did you open that door of your life? Where is Christ right now in relation to you?
2) You have been reborn as a whole new creation. What does being born again mean in John 3:1-8?
Three dimensions to man.
body - physical dimension
mind - mental dimension
spirit - spiritual dimension only comes to life
when we believe in Christ
3) All your sins - past, present, and future have been forgiven. Isaiah 1:18 - How does God respond to our sins now that we've believed in Christ? Hebrews 10:11-14 How many of our sins did Christ die for on the cross?
4) A new relationship has been established between you and God. How does Romans 5:6-8 describe what we were like before we knew God? What are we like now that we know God?
5) God will never leave you
Read John 10:27-28 How secure are we in Jesus' hand?
How secure are we in God's hand?
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