Coming Home to God

WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?

Becoming a Christian is as simple as 'coming home' to the heavenly Father who loves you.  No one is excluded from God's invitation to come to Him, but the unique respect He gives to human beings is the choice as to whether or not we accept that invitation.

Jesus said 'come to me all you who are weary of carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest'.  Jesus declared Himself to be the 'Son of God' - God's expression of Himself to the world.  That means that we only have to look at Jesus to know what God is like.  He also said 'I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me'. 

Jesus claimed to be the bridge back to God and countless people for generations have found this to be true - that trusting Jesus has brought them into a real knowledge of God's love.

Putting it simply, a Christian is someone who can call God 'Father' because they have come into a living and meaningful relationship with Him through believing in Jesus.

WHY IS THE DEATH OF JESUS SO IMPORTANT?

Because God is holy we cannot come into His presence as we are - every one of us is tainted with 'sin' (wrongdoing) since our earliest ancestors chose to go their own way instead of God's.  Our sins may be great or small, but they still separate us from God.

Because Jesus was the only truly perfect human being who has ever lived, He alone could pay the price for the sin of the world.  The idea of 'sacrifice for sins' may be alien to our thinking but sacrifice has been a part of human religious culture since history began, suggesting that it has spiritual significance.  The religious leaders of Jesus' time had Him arrested and put to death by Roman crucifixion.  This was not a mistake but part of God's plan - the very reason Jesus came to the earth.

The Bible records that darkness fell for three hours in the middle of the day while Jesus was dying on the cross.  It was as if creation itself was acknowledging the awesome event that was taking place.  During that time, Jesus took the punishment for every evil thought, word or deed that has ever been committed - He literally 'became sin' for us. 

Three days later His resurrection proved that His victory over sin and death was fully accomplished!  From then until now people have tried to disprove that Jesus rose from the dead, but by far the greatest evidence for the resurrection is the transforming power that this message of love and forgiveness has brought to whole communities and nations as well as individual people for the last 2000 years.  Even our calendar dates from His birth!  Can we really ignore Him?

Like the Christmas angels announced, this is 'good news of great joy for all people!'

HOW DO I BECOME A CHRISTIAN?

Jesus' death on the cross has dealt with sin forever.  All we have to do is accept this free gift of 'salvation' and be willing for God to give us a new heart and desire to please Him - this is what we were created for and is the only thing that will truly fulfil us - without Him in our lives there will always be 'something missing'. 

Most of the world's religions encourage us to do something that will make us acceptable to God.  The difference is that Jesus asks us to acknowledge that there is nothing we can do by ourselves - He only asks us to believe in Him and accept the gift He offers. 

Religious rituals and 'good works' can lead to pride in our own achievements, but God wants us to humble ourselves and simply acknowledge our need of Him.  That is why the gospel of Jesus Christ is the best news ever, accessible even to a small child.

If you would like to receive this wonderful gift of salvation you could pray a prayer like this:-

Thank you Father that You love me, thank You for sending Jesus to die for me.  Please forgive me for living my life without You, wash me clean from every sin and give me a new start.  I come to You now with all of my heart and ask You to come into my life by Your Holy Spirit and help me to live the rest of my life for You.