WHY JESUS?
Making Sense Out of Christianity
I was talking to an atheist once about where morality comes from if there is no God. He told me that he thought morality began through a process of reciprocal altruism. In other words, as people did nice things for one another they realized that when they did so, the other person tended to do nice things back. I pointed out to him that this was not truly altruism, but actually the exact opposite...selfishness. Someone who is nice to other people only because they believe that they may get something out of it is not really being altruistic at all. They are being deceitful. They are only acting like they really care for you in order to have some selfish desire of their own satisfied.
This little conversation illustrated a fundamental point of Christianity, the depravity of the human heart. Yes, people do nice things. We may hold the door for someone, give them a ride when they run out of gas, or even give food and clothing to the homeless. But if we are honest with ourselves, there is at least some small part in the back of our being that wants to do those things because someone will see us and thank us, or perhaps simply because we feel better about ourselves for doing so, and who doesn't want a hearty "pat on the back," even if it only comes from our own ego?
We all tend to think that we are pretty good people, but that is because we like to compare ourselves with other human beings, especially the vilest personas in human history. Compared to them, of course we look good. None of us have committed the mass genocide of Hitler, so when contrasted to him, we are good people. But God is perfect, and when compared to Him instead of our fellow man, we are as far from perfection as the east is from the west.
Perfection and imperfection cannot intermingle into one body. Inevitably the imperfection will taint the perfection. This is why if we want to join God for eternity, we must be made perfect. Matthew 5:48 tells us to "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." But none of us are perfect. Do you want proof? Take this little test:
1. Have you ever (in your entire life, not just recently) stolen something, even as small as paper clips from your office or food from the restaurant where you work?
2. Have you ever used the name "God" or "Jesus" as a curse word or to express exasperation?
3. Have you ever told a lie?
4. Have you ever looked at someone lustfully, regardless of whether you acted on those feelings?
If you answered "yes" to ANY of these questions (most people can answer "yes" to all of them) then you have just confessed to breaking God's commandments (and this was only four out of ten!).
All religions in the world other than Christianity involve some aspect of good works as the path to communion or unity with the divine. They teach that if you want to get into God's good graces, just do enough good deeds and He will love you. Christianity stands alone in proclaiming that it is impossible to ever do enough good deeds to please God, because no matter how many you do, you will never be perfect. The only way for us to be with God is for Him to take action to come to us, not for us to try to work our way to Him.
Imagine for a moment that you are in a courtroom and are found guilty of a crime. The judge is willing to let you off with only a fine, but you have no way to pay it. As you stand before the court sweating, realizing that you are about to face jail, someone walks in the door, opens up his wallet, and pays the fine on your behalf. That is what Jesus did on the cross for you and me.
None of us can live up to God's standard of perfection. When we stand before God on judgment day, we will be found guilty. He will look on us and see our sin. Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin is death." The punishment we earn by our sin is death. The body dies, and after judgment it will stay dead. The soul then exists forever in Hell. If only God would find us righteous then our body would still die, but it would later be perfected and resurrected, and we would live eternally with Him.
That is where Jesus came in. When He died on the cross, He took our punishment for us. The death we deserved was placed upon Him. He went to Hell for us. No man could ever escape from Hell or overcome the permanent death of the body. But Jesus is no man; He is God. As God, He was able to take our punishment, yet still rise again on the third day. He conquered death and in doing so took the punishment we deserved.
With Jesus having paid the price for us, the day of judgment will look very different. Now when God looks upon us, Jesus steps in between. God looks at us to judge us, but instead of seeing our sin He sees Jesus' perfection. That perfection is imputed to us and we are declared righteous and worthy of living forever in God's presence. This is God's free gift to us, not because we did anything to deserve it, but simply because He loves us.
Just like any other gift, though, it can be refused. In fact, left to our own devices we will refuse it. Fortunately, God sends us the Holy Spirit to help. In order for Christ's "payment" to apply to you, you must believe that He has done this for you. That is called "faith." God sends the Holy Spirit to believers to give them that faith. If you truly believe that Christ died for your sins, then your debt has been paid. This does not mean that you can stay stuck in all your old sins, for true faith will also result in a changed life. Do you feel the Holy Spirit pushing you toward Christ? If so, tell God about it in prayer. One possible prayer is included below, but the best prayer is always one that comes from your heart. If you want to know what your next step should be, please contact us. We would be honored to help. God bless you.
One possible prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I confess that I am a sinner at heart. Throughout my life I have rebelled against Your will. I know that I cannot possibly live up to your standard for me of my own power. I will never be able to join you in Heaven by my own good works. I need a savior. I thank you God for sending me Jesus to pay the price for my sins. I accept Christ as my personal savior and ask that You write Your law on my heart. Thank you God. In Jesus' name I pray.
AMEN
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