"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me."
- Revelation 3:20
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
- John 14:6
But to all who receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
- John 1:12
Throughout the course of history, mankind has sought to cure or bring relief to what ails him. Whether it be physical, emotional, or spiritual, many are the paths we have chosen only to discover that along the way there remains an emptiness inside.
Perhaps your life is moving along just fine. In American culture, everything under the sun is available to fulfill every need. Why interrupt what you’re doing? It seems to be working, is it not? And why do I need the Bible and to hear about this ‘Jesus’? Have we not progressed beyond something so antiquated?
“The salvation provided in the Gospel is the need of everyone in the entire world,”
Pastor Alistair Begg states with unshakable resolve.
There is not a person I have encountered in my journey of America that has not heard of an historical Jesus. The issue to this current generation is that “Jesus is just a man who has no practical purpose or use for our lives”. So “Why do I need Jesus”?
What today’s culture in America reveals to us is that most people do not see or understand why we need Jesus. That leads us to the other issue: this generation lacks the knowledge of the origins of man, what he was created for, and why he has fallen away from his Creator. Twentieth century pastor and theologian A.W. Tozer expressed how God reaches out to man to provide what he lacks: a Savior.
“Before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man. Before a sinful man can think a right thought of God, there must have been a work of enlightenment done within him.”
Twentieth Century Pastor and Theologian, A.W. Tozer
The word of God states that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). It also tells us that through sin we became eternally separated from God, and through our iniquities, He has hidden his face from us (Isaiah 59:2). Yet, where we had sinned, God in His loving kindness extended us more grace and mercy that we could be restored to Him. That restoration is done through the person and work of Jesus.
But the pride of man says in his heart “I am a good person, so God will honor the good in me”. American culture will have you believe this is true. You hear it in eulogies: “She was a good person”, “He also tried to do what is right”, or “He was charitable, and always was generous to others.” But the fallenness of man from the days of Genesis reveal to us that there is a way that seems right to a man, but it will only bring him death. (Proverbs 14:12)
These are all human arguments that eliminate the work of God to restore man to Himself through faith in the Son of God. The Apostle Paul shared the work that brings us salvation. And here is the Good News: it is unmerited grace.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9
The word of God also tells us that faith in the Savior is credited to us as righteousness. (Romans 5:1) And that the Old Testament teachings and prophecy all pointed to a Savior that would take our place as a sacrifice for the sin of man. This is where we learn that Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Galatians 3:6)
Still, many will say, “How could God say that he loves me but demand that I accept Jesus? Does he not love me just as I am?”
This is an argument I’ve heard in many forms over the course of my life. And there is much to say about this. But this is the answer in short…
If God knew you were dead in your sins and eternally separated from him because of your sin nature and were incapable of reversing this condition by any means…
Then, if God Himself through The Son sends Him to walk among us, teach us the way to be restored to God, knowingly faces the most horrifying punishment possible in our place, and does it willingly knowing that your life could be eternally restored to God through Him that was without sin, could there be a more loving act in human history than this??!!
Jesus did, in fact, lay down his life, died a human death, and was raised up again to life that we may have life through Him. It was not merely symbolic. It was necessary for us as there is no other way we could be restored to God. (John 14:6, Acts 4:12)
So why do you need Jesus?
He is the embodiment of God that gave us life through the shedding of his blood, and his broken body. Many prophecies were presented to mankind throughout the Old Testament pointing to a Savior. God had always had a plan to restore us to him. (Isaiah 53:5,6)
We need Jesus to forgive us for our sins. But we must seek him. (1 John 1:9)
We need to accept that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. But we must pray and ask, and we will receive, and he will come into our lives. (Matthew 7:7,8; Revelation 3:20)
We need to follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24,25), trust him with all our heart (Proverbs 3:5,6), and study the word of God every day (2 Timothy 2:15, ) so that we can live the life he designed for us in advance (Ephesians 2:10)- that is, to share the truth with others (Matthew 28:18-20), to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40), and to fix our gaze each day on the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2) As we must never forget that we are justified by faith in Christ Jesus. (Romans 5:1)
May your faith in Him grow stronger each day. And may you find a church body in your community that you can worship the Savior with other believers, as he has instructed us to never cease doing.
May you be blessed. And when you are, please feel free to share here. Or, if you want to connect about your faith journey, please reach out through the “Contact” section in the home menu.
Stand & Kneel 