WHY WOULD I ACCEPT JESUS? WELL…part three

This is the final segment in this mini-series, Why Would I Accept Jesus? Well…  You have read in the previous posts that this series was prompted by a question that was asked of me by a young man after I delivered a message at Sunshine Mission about a year ago.  He asked, “What’s the big deal about Jesus?”  My immediate answer was, “Jesus isn’t just a big deal, He’s THE ONLY DEAL! No doubt there have been enough books written on this subject alone to fill a library, so my intent has never been to be all-inclusive in this blog-format.  For a reader who is searching for answers, or one who is “on the fence” about their belief like the young man at Sunshine Mission, hopefully this series will give you enough perspective to begin searching for “more”. And believe me, there’s more!  As you begin your journey of “coming to know Jesus Christ”, I believe the deeper you dig, the more you will realize that he is undoubtedly the most important figure ever to have lived.  He changed the world in which he lived; and he changed the world forever, and he will certainly change you.  Jesus tells us in Luke 11;10 “if we seek him we will find him.” 

The first week I talked about what Jesus had to say about himself.  He referred to himself as “I AM”, meaning he is one with God; he is everything; he is immutable. He said, “I am the Son of God”, meaning he came from Heaven; he existed before he existed in his mother’s womb. He said, “I am the Son of Man”, meaning he is the natural “counterpart” to the Son of God; he was thoroughly human; he was one of us. He said, “I am the Messiah”, meaning the anointed one from God; the Savior of the World.  And He said, “I am the “truth”, meaning he is the Word of God incarnate. (Ref. John 1:1)

Last week I wrote about how we develop faith.  As we come to know Jesus and begin to experience that “the truth of his teachings do set us free” (John 4:32), we begin building a solid foundation of truth on which we can stand, and from which our faith develops.  And what did Jesus teach: to love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind; to love our neighbor as our self; mercy, grace, compassion, forgiveness and service to others.  I also talked about the issue of SIN.  That has always been the barrier that has separated God from man, but for followers of Jesus Christ, that issue has become a non-issue since Jesus came as the sacrificial lamb to die in our place for the forgiveness of our sin. 

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A FOLLOWER OF JESUS CHRIST

This week I want to wrap-up by talking about what all of this means to us:  Why Jesus is not just a “big deal”, but why he’s THE ONLY DEAL!  As believers, or followers of Jesus Christ, we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior.  That means we believe He is who he claims to be; that he came to do what he said he would do (pay the price for our sins); and as his follower, we inherit eternal life and are heir to all the promises found in the Bible – and they are numerous!

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, something incredible happens at that moment of surrender.  We immediately experience what Bob George, author of “Classic Christianity”, refers to as “the exchanged life.”  According to Mr. George, “we will never experience a changed life until we experience an “exchanged life.”  The basis of that statement is found in 2 Corinthians, 5:17-18: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ…”  The “old things” referenced above is our “sin nature”, meaning our natural inclination to live our life with the focus on satisfying ourselves and our lustful desires and pleasures rather than bringing honor and glory to God as was originally intended.

The “new things” referenced above is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which replaces our “sin nature”.  As stated above, prior to the gift of the Holy Spirit, we were slaves to our “sin nature”.  But now we have options.  The nature of the Holy Spirit is not to sin but to please God.  Apostle Paul states this beautifully in Romans 8:12-14, “So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.  For if you keep on following it, you will perish.  But if, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”  This reinforces the welcomed proclamation found in Romans 8:1-2: “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  For the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death!”  How’s that for a message of blatant HOPE!

THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER

So why are we children of God? Because we are in Christ.  Why are our sins forgiven? Because we are in Christ. Why do we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? Because we are in Christ.  Wow!  As you can clearly see, being in Christ is important, but it’s more than important…it’s imperative! Being in Christ IS Christianity, and because of that, when God looks at me he no longer sees Dan the sinner, nor will he see you as a sinner.  No, if we have accepted His Gift of Grace (Jesus Christ), we are children of God because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.  Hebrews 9:22, “In fact, we can say that according to the law of Moses,…everything was purified by sprinkling with blood.  Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. In 1John, 7:1, “…and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.”  As hard as this is to grasp, we are sin free; we are set apart because we are in Christ. In God’s eyes we are now a Saint!

And there’s more.  As followers of Jesus Christ, we inherit the same eternal life he has.  Why? Because we are now sin-free. If you remember from last week’s posting, I talked about the nature of sin; how it contaminates, spreads, kills and destroys.  But that is no longer an issue.  We are washed white as snow by the blood of Jesus, so we can boldly come into the presence of God because we are no longer stained with sin. That barrier is gone; the sin issue is a non-issue for those in Christ.

THE SOURCE OF OUR POWER IS NOT US!

Now the challenge for new Christians is to accept that our old self IS gone and that we ARE new creatures in Christ. Only when we get that TRUTH will we be able to live the new life we are called to live in this fallen world.  But because God’s salvation package is absolutely perfect, that problem is solved by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus knew his disciples drew their strength from him.  That’s why he told them in John 14:16-17, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.  The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him.  But you do because he lives with you now (IT’S ME!) and later will live in you.”

Unfortunately many Christians live their lives as though they are totally oblivious, or worse yet, uninformed of the POWER and FREEDOM we have as Christians.  We are already victorious!  That’s God’s promise to us.  That’s why 1 John 4:4 tells us, “The Spirit that is in me (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the Spirit in this world.” (Satan)  The Holy Spirit empowers us to be the person God created us to be.  Do you get that? That is absolutely overwhelmingly POWERFUL!  That is how we go from being his proudest creation to being “his masterpiece.” (Ephesians 2:10)  The Holy Spirit is our secret weapon so to speak, but do not mistake his role:  he empowers us to do the work, he does NOT do it for us. Why?  Because our growth and maturity as Christians takes place in the journey.  We have to be in the trenches, not on the sidelines watching, in order to grow more Christ-like, and that is our goal day-by-day.

God’s plan and his provision for us, is perfect…absolutely, totally complete.  He never gives us more to do, nor will he expect more from us than he equips us to handle. And the truth is, we can handle anything if we call on the Holy Spirit to give us strength, courage, perseverance, wisdom, whatever it is we need to bring honor and glory to Him!  Apostle Paul used running a race as a picture of the Christian life. In 1 Corinthians 9:24, he challenged us not just to run but to run to win, saying, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.”  In his final epistle, Paul again refers to the race metaphor, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). Having finished his race, Paul joyfully anticipated receiving the victory crown from the King of Kings!  A-men

So my question to you is…Do you get it?  Do you understand the Power and Freedom we have as Christians?  If “yes”, God Bless Ya!  If “no” call me, post a comment or if you’d prefer to learn more on your own, I would suggest a trip through Chapter 1 of Ephesians.  He spells it out throughout this entire Epistle.  Just like the Israelites in the wilderness, they were  already given the Promised Land.  All they had to do was take it.  Instead, they didn’t believe, so they wondered around in the wilderness for forty years.  Think about it?  Ya got 40 years to spare?

May God Bless Ya, and feel free to respond to this posting

Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)