Jesus Christ, the
Messiah
The bottom of a bag at Forever 21 has it. Tim Tebow has it
written on his face. It was probably the first Bible verse you ever heard or memorized.
John 3:16 sums up the gospel of Jesus Christ. It says, “For God so loved the
world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus Christ, the Messiah, came to earth to
die for people’s sins.
Remember how Adam was the first human to ever be created and
to ever sin? Because of his sin nature caused by his first sin in the Garden,
everyone ever born carries that sin nature. Think of it like the dominant gene
in a family line that started from Adam that causes everyone who possesses it
to have allergies. It’s nuance and there’s really no cure for it, except
medicine to treat it. Unlike allergies, Jesus Christ is the cure, as you will,
for the sin of each individual who accepts the fact that he was the last Adam.
This is because he wasn’t born with the nature of Adam (God made him in Mary’s
womb, just as God made Adam from dirt. No father was involved, just God’s hands.
So neither had biological fathers.), so he was pure from the beginning from the
sin nature caused by Adam.
As the story goes, Jesus died for humanity, and this wasn’t
just to make it a good story to tell people how much he loves them. In God’s
eyes, it was a sacrifice. Back story, the Old Testament tells us about numerous
accounts of people sacrificing animals to God for their sins. This was to
symbolize the belief in God’s promise to send somebody in the future to save
humanity from its sin nature. So when Jesus came, he was fulfilling the promise
by dying a sacrificial death. This is why he is what is known as the last Adam
(1 Corinthians 15:46). As Romans 5:12 and 18-19 explains,
“When Adam sinned, sin
entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for
everyone sinned. … Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but
Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new
life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But
because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”
So the idea that Jesus’ righteous life overturned humanity’s
sinful nature is what is key to being right with God. God didn’t do away with
humans the moment Adam and Eve sinned. Instead he mapped out a plan that would
be simpler than I think a lot of us want to believe. By believing that Jesus
Christ died and paid the punishment for any sins committed in our lives, let
alone our sin nature, we are made righteous in God’s eyes. Simple as that…
Now doesn’t that make you grateful that it’s not any of the answers
I listed yesterday?
Being Right With God
In conclusion to this long essay of a blog entry, I cannot
help, but include the fact that being right with God is not just simply saying
you believe in Jesus Christ; it’s actually believing in him and having the
evidence to show you do. Now I know no one’s perfect, I know I’m not. We’re
human. The thing is I strongly believe when we make a profession of faith in
Jesus Christ we recognize our sin nature and our need for Christ. Knowing this,
we begin to fall in love with God because he showed us love through the
planning of salvation in Christ. Love has compelled people throughout history
to do the craziest things. Move to a different country. Devote a period of time
each day to a particular person. Thoughts unending about the person. Doing
everything to care for that person.
If you believe and want to accept Christ as Savior, tell God that. Tell him something like this.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Please forgive me for my sins. Thank you for coming to earth to die for my sins. I accept that truth. I want to live it out in my life. Please draw me close to you and lead me to live a life to get to know you better. I love you. Amen.
No disappointments, I promise.
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