Christianity is unique among all religions in that only Christianity has the answer to the question, "How can I have a personal relationship with the one true God?" Dear friend, the first thing you need to understand as you search for the true meaning of life is that God loves you and He wants to have a personal relationship with you. It's His desire that you have an abundant life here and now, and when this life is over, life with Him for all eternity. We know this to be true, for God says in the Bible," For God so loved the world (all of mankind) that He gave His only begotten Son (Jesus), that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son (Jesus) into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:16 & 17). Jesus said," I have come (into the world) that they (all of mankind) may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John10:10b). The abundant life Jesus was speaking of, is a life of hope in the present, and eternal life with God in the future. Abundant life is a life lived on a higher spiritual plane; a life lived close to God. Unfortunately, most of mankind is not experiencing this type of life. There's hope, however! The reason most of mankind is not experiencing abundant and eternal life is that they are separated from God due to disobedience; they have chosen to walk a path in life apart from God; they have chosen their desires, sinful though they may be, above God's desire. Accordingly, as the Bible says, the consequence of this choice is death ( both physical death and spiritual death which ultimately leads to separation from God for all eternity in the place we know as hell) (Romans 3:23, 6:23a; Revelation 20:11-15). There's hope, however, for the Bible says, "...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23b). Christ Jesus (God's one and only Son) is the only answer to our problem of separation due to sin (choosing to walk a path in life apart from God, choosing wrong over right.) What Jesus did on the cross of Calvary when the sin of the world was judged by God, was to redeem sinful mankind (He paid our sin debt due to our sin). As the Bible says, " For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just (Jesus, who is sinless) for the unjust (you and me), that He might bring us to God..." (1Peter 3:18). Jesus opened the door to a personal relationship with God for all eternity. By His sacrificial death as the perfect Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world, Jesus removed the barrier between God and mankind due to sin. He bridged the terrible gap which had been created between us. No longer would we have to fear death, for Christ Jesus conquered death, and He showed it by His resurrection from the grave three days later. Because Jesus lives, we have hope for tomorrow, and for today! God, through Jesus, has provided the way back to Him but there's something we must do. In response to all that God has done for us, we must receive (take hold of) God's gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus bridged the gap between God and man and we must respond. Jesus reaches out to us, and when we respond to Him by reaching out to Him in faith, believing in Him, believing that He did for us what He said He did on the cross of Calvary when sin was judged, God, at that time, adopts us into His family as His children (John 1:12, 10:27-29.) He also declares of us that there is now no condemnation (Romans 8:1). Is Jesus knocking at the door to your heart, today? Will you open it to Him? If you do, He will enter into your life and all that would hinder you from having a personal relationship with God is forever removed (Revelation 3:20; Romans 8:1). Not only will He give you eternal life, but you will also begin to experience a truly rewarding and meaningful life. Is there any good reason why you cannot receive Jesus at this time? Is there any good reason why you cannot turn to Him in faith? If so, you might want to review what we've just gone over If you would like to do so, however, you can receive Jesus at this time. Remember, abundant and eternal life is found only in a relationship with God's son Jesus; there's no other way. As Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) If you've done this, if you've received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, let me assure you that you have a home with God in heaven. Also, as a young child of God, you need to begin to grow in your faith (this is just the beginning of a wonderful new life in Christ Jesus.) To deepen this relationship, you should begin to read your Bible everyday to know Christ better. You should also talk to God daily in prayer which is just laying your heart before Him. It is also important that you tell others about Jesus and find a church where you can worship, fellowship, and serve with other Christians. This needs to be a church where Jesus is preached and the Bible is taught. Finally, you need to be baptized. It's Jesus and our Heavenly Father who ask us to do this. When we are baptized, we are declaring to the world, that we were in Christ Jesus on the cross of Calvary when sin was judged, that we died with Him, that we were buried with Him, and just as He arose from the dead, we also have arisen from the dead to a new life in Him. May God bless you!
Where in the
Bible does it say that Jesus is God the Son? If there is only one
God (God the Father), then how can Jesus also be God? As to Jesus, the only begotten Son of
God, being God the Son, the following is written in the New Testament
of the Bible: "But about the Son (Jesus) he
(God the Father) says, "Your throne, O God, will
last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your
kingdom." (Hebrews 1:8 NIV words
in parenthesis are mine) We see in the above verse God the
Father calling His one and only son Jesus, God. In fact, the
first chapter of the New Testament book of Hebrews speaks to the
divinity of Christ Jesus. The same is true of the following
verses (John 1:1-3; 1 John 1:1-2; Colossians 1:15-17; Hebrews 1:3,
8-12; Philippians 2:5-6). In (Genesis 1:26) we see the first
reference to the plurality of God (the Trinity). God said "Let Us
(plural) make man in Our (plural) image, in Our (plural)
likeness..." The Bible goes on to say that "God
created man in His own image; in the image of God He created
him; male and female He created them." (Genesis 1:27)
Mankind was created by God alone; mankind was not created by angels or
any other created being. God has revealed Himself as God the
Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. As it has
been written: There is only one true and eternal God, but in
the unity of the Godhead there are three coeternal and coequal
Persons, the same in spiritual substance, or essence, but distinct
in subsistence. In other words, there is unity between God the
Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit in that they
are of the same spiritual substance, however, they are distinct
in their Personhood.
Many times the question is asked, "What's next? What's it like when we die and what's it like after we die?" The answer to this question is, "It depends." It depends on which gate you choose to enter the next life through. Look what Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life (eternal life), and only a few find it" (Matthew 7:13-14). What it's like for a person to enter through the narrow gate is best described in a true story told by Peter Marshall. In his story, he speaks of a young boy who was ill with an incurable disease. Month after month his mother tenderly nursed him, read to him, and played with him, hoping to keep him from the dreadful finality of the doctors diagnosis, which was, that he was going to die. As the weeks went on, he gradually began to understand that he would never be like the other boys he saw playing outside his window. Small as he was, he began to understand the meaning of the term death, and he too knew that he was going to die. One day his mother had been reading to him the stirring tale of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, of Lancelot and Elaine the lily maid of Astelot, and about that last glorious battle where so many fair knights met their death. As her little son sat silent for an instant, deeply stirred, she closed the book and then he asked the question weighing on his young heart, "Mama, what is it like to die? Mama, does it hurt? " Quick tears sprang to her eyes and she fled to the kitchen, supposedly, to tend to something on the stove. She knew it was a question with deep significance. She knew it must be answered satisfactorily. She leaned for an instant against the smooth surface and breathed a hurried prayer that the Lord would keep her from breaking down before the boy and that she would be able to tell him the answer. The Lord did tell her; immediately she knew how to explain it to him. "Bobby," she said to her son, "do you remember when you were a tiny boy how you used to play so hard all day that when night came you were too tired even to undress and you would tumble into your mother's bed and fall asleep? That was not your bed, it was not where you belonged; you would only stay there for a little while. Much to your surprise, you would wake up and find yourself in your own bed in your own room. You were there because someone had loved you and taken care of you. Your father had come with big strong arms and carried you away. ' Bobby, darling, death is just like that. We just wake up some morning to find ourselves in the other room. Our room where we belong, because the Lord Jesus loved us and died for us.'" The
lad's shinning face looking up into hers told her that the point had gone home
and there would be no more fear, only love and trust in his little heart as he
went to meet his Heavenly Father. He never questioned again. Several
weeks later he fell asleep (in death) and just as she had said, his Heavenly
Father's big, strong, arms carried him to his own room (in heaven). Jesus comforted His disciples with these words after He had told them that He would be leaving them to return to heaven: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house (in heaven) are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-3) The Bible tells us that when one of God's children fall asleep in death, their soul and spirit immediately goes to be with the Lord in heaven. At a future point in time, the soul and spirit of those who have gone to be with the Lord in heaven will once more be reunited with their body. This is known as the "Resurrection." One day, a friend of Jesus' by the name of Lazarus had died. The apostle John was there and this is his story as recorded in the Bible. "Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, ' Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.' Jesus said to her, ' Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to Him,' I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.' Jesus said to her, ' I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.'" (John 11:18-26a) The Bible goes on to tell us what happened next; when Jesus came to the tomb where Lazarus lay. " Jesus said, ' Take away the stone.' Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, ' Lord by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.' Jesus said to her, ' Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?' Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was laying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ' Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.' Now
when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, ' Lazarus, come
forth!' And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes,
and his face was wrapped with a cloth.' Jesus said to them, ' Loose
him, and let him go.'" (John 11:39-44)
" But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep (died), lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep (dead). For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) It's not uncommon to wonder what heaven will be like. The Bible does not give us a complete picture of heaven, but one small glimpse which I cherish much, is recorded in the book of " The Revelation of Jesus Christ." Here's what it says: " Therefore they (God's children) are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb (Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world) who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:15-17) Many ask the question," Where will God's children spend eternity?" The Bible tells us that seven years after the resurrection, Jesus and the children of God will return to earth, at which time, Jesus will set up His earthly kingdom for 1000 years (God's children will also reign upon the earth with Him.) It will be a glorious time; even the animals will be at peace with one another. The Bible describes it this way: "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand in the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My (God's) holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord (Jesus) as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:6-9) At the end of the 1000 years, this heaven and this earth will be done away with and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The Bible says this: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying,' Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; for the former things have passed away.' Then He who sat on the throne said,' Behold, I make all things new.'" (Revelation 21:1-5) The Bible goes on to describe this beautiful city this way: "But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb (Jesus) are its temple. And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb (Jesus) is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there.) And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and the Lamb (Jesus). In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree where for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb (Jesus) shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 21:22-22:5)
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