The Man

Jesus was born roughly 2000 years ago in a small country town. His parent’s were carpenters, ordinary folks who found themselves in the middle of an extraordinary story. At the age of 30 Jesus stepped onto the public stage, gathering a small group of friends and traveling across the beaten footpaths of his country. Over the next three years Jesus performed miracles, preached a radical message of transformation and revealed his identity as the Son of God to those that followed him. Then in an act of love that illustrated everything he had taught he gave himself up freely to be crucified on a Roman cross, his purpose to redeem humanity from the brokenness of sin and the darkness of evil.  Among his last words was the prayer that those who crucified him would be forgiven. His body was taken from the cross and he was buried in the tomb of a friend. Soldiers were assigned to stand guard outside so that no one could disturb the body and the story seemed over, written and done.

The Mission

Some might ask why did Jesus Christ chose to enter the world in the form of a man?  He had a single purpose in mind and it was expressed in everything he did.  That mission was to redeem people everywhere from the bondage of sin and selfishness so that they could again be truly free.  Before Jesus people did what came natural: hungering for power, embracing greed, caring only for themselves and rejecting a relationship with God.  Because people rejected God someone had to make peace, to bridge the gap and Jesus stepped forward and offered himself as the final peace between God and men so all men from that time to today could be reconciled to God through the death and resurrection of Christ.  It was in his resurrection that he proved he was no ordinary man.  The story seemed over, finished, his disciples had begun to fall into despair and yet three days after he was crucified Jesus rose from the grave, and was seen by many witnesses.  This demonstration of power even over death gave power and veracity to the message.

The Message

The Bible teaches that all people have sinned, done things wrong and because of this there is no one who can claim to earn their way to God based on their own righteousness.  Because of this Jesus offered us his righteousness and stepped in to take the consequences of our sin.  He died for us: saying the words “It is finished” as an indication that he had completed the work he had come to do.  The Bible says if we believe Jesus came and died on the cross for us then we can be saved from the judgment of sin.  That’s all it takes.  “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that God has raised him from the dead you will be saved”  – The Bible goes on to say that in Jesus we can be a new creation, all things can be made new, our life can be changed and made different.  As a practical matter this often takes time but if you want to follow Jesus then finding a church to be involved in is one of the most important things you can after deciding to believe