Alright. I say that I am a Christian. What does that mean? Is it something scary? Is it boring? Mythological? Dumb? As square as the main characters from "Revenge Of The Nerds"?
Nope. It's something wonderful - and something very real. At the risk of sounding like Sister Maria commencing on a rendition of "Do Re Mi", let's start at the very beginning.
God created the Universe(Genesis 1 and 2). He made the all the planets, including Earth. He made all the plants, animals, water, people... everything. When He made all this, everything was perfect. There were no "bad" things. No-one did anything wrong, there was no sickness, no tragedies... Even all the animals were plant eaters and didn't hurt each other.
Then, Satan brought sin into the world. I believe Satan is a real being. As real as God. He came to Eve in the Garden of Eden and tempted her to disobey God by eating the fruit from a tree that God commanded her not to eat. It is beside the point as to WHY God didn't want that fruit eaten. The fact is He said "No". Eve ate the fruit, gave some to Adam and he ate as well. They had sinned against God, and sin was now in the world. Nothing would be perfect on Earth ever again.
Romans 3:23 says that, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'. That means that whoever sins (does things wrong) deserves to go to Hell. There is a Hell and there is a Heaven. Hell is for sinners and Heaven is for perfect people.
But, there is a problem there. There are no perfect people. Every person who ever lived, and every person who will live, are sinners. Therefore, we are all heading for Hell.
But stop. No. God doesn't want that. He loves us. I mean he LOVES us. Loves us more than we can possibly imagine... He doesn't want us to go to Hell. He wants us to be with Him when we die. But how can we, if we are sinners?
Well, God sent His son to Earth (found in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Jesus Christ was the only perfect human being to ever live. He was born through a humble lady called Mary. He came to take our punishment. He did many wonderful things while He was on Earth, but eventually, He was taken away and murdered, hung on a cross. All our sins, all the sins of anyone who had ever lived and anyone who was going to, was put on Him. He took the punishment for us. God deserted Him, like He should have deserted us.
But, because of this, our sins can't keep us out of Heaven anymore. They've already been delt with by Jesus. He was punished for us. Ephesians 2: 8-9 says "For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it". Best of all, Jesus came back to life three days later. He was then taken up to Heaven to be with His Father and is still there now. And He is also here with us. We can't see Him, but He is here, always ready to help us and guide us...
But, it's not all that simple. Not everyone is going to Heaven. Why? Well, say you were given a gift and you didn't open it, or didn't accept it. You wouldn't be able to benefit from it, would you? You couldn't enjoy it. Well, it's the same with God's gift. We must accept it, we must believe what He has done for us if we want to be with Him forever. Only if we believe that Jesus Christ died for us can we go to Heaven.
This is no fairytale. This is fact. Everyone must ask Jesus into their lives, believe in what He did for us, if we want to go to Heaven. No-one is exempt. Not Alexander The Great, not Mother Theresa, not JFK... not even the stars of "Revenge Of The Nerds"! Everyone... Doing "nice" things doesn't cut it. Certainly "nice" things are good to do, but they won't get you to Heaven. It seems strange and nonsensical sometimes, but it just doesn't work that way.
Alright, how do I know all this? What makes me believe it? Well, as far as what makes me believe it, I could give you countless personal experiences that have proven to me without a doubt that there is a God who loves me. But, to know all this, you just have to look in The Bible.
Many people scoff at the Bible, calling it outdated, unbelievable, etc. But I believe it to be totally true and totally believable. Amongst other things, it is the biggest selling book in the history of the world, with daylight following. How could a book be so successful if all it spoke was rubbish? And saying, "Yes, I'm sure some of The Bible is true, but not all of it" doesn't ring true either. How can a book be partly factual and partly fiction? And if it is like that, how could such a book be so successful?
I believe The Bible is true. All of it.
We are sinners. We deserve to go to Hell. Jesus died for us so we can go to Heaven. But we can only benefit from this if we believe it and ask Him to be the Boss of our lives. I believe this...
Jesus is coming back, but no one knows when. Matthew 24: 36 says, "No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come - neither the angels in Heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows". There are many Christians who try to work out when our Lord will return, but not only is this ill-advised, I believe it is a serious sin. We are elevating outselves above God (and Jesus, when He was on Earth) and going against what that passage so obviously says. But Jesus will return, whether it be tomorrow or in 5000 years time, and it is our job to get ourselves, and others, ready.
If you have questions about any of this, please write to me, or find a Christian friend you might know. Or maybe the pastor of a nearby church. This is the most important factor on the face of this Earth.
God bless you.
