Jesus
The Bible is all about the good news of Jesus and the incredible offer that God makes us through him. Although we have said no to God and turned our own way, God sent his own son Jesus to live, die on the cross and rise again for us. God offers us forgiveness and new life in Jesus if we receive this gift by trusting him. We can see this good news through three big parts of Jesus’ life.Manger
The story of Jesus’ birth is not quite as cute and cuddly as we imagine. Jesus’ family was so poor and ostracised, that he was born in a stinky stable and placed in an animals’ feeding trough.
But this is all part of the good news of Jesus. This little baby in the manger is actually God. Jesus is God’s own Son, who has been with God for all eternity and who helped make the world. And yet he was born as a helpless baby. A real human baby with elbows and a snotty nose and lungs to cry with. And he did it to serve us.
When Jesus is born, we see that God is willing to get his hands dirty to clean up the mess that we’ve made of the world. Jesus humbles himself to serve us.
‘And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”‘
Cross
But Jesus didn’t stay a baby. He grew up into a man. A real man with flesh and blood, skin and bones, friends and family. He was a tradie, working as a carpenter until he was about thirty when he began to travel around the country to tell people the good news. That God’s promised king was finally here and that God was going to save his people. He demonstrated the good news of God’s rule by healing people, calming storms, driving out demons and raising the dead.
But then Jesus does something really surprising. He dies on a cross. Not by accident, but on purpose. He planned it. Jesus dies for us.
The Bible says that all of us have sinned. We have all done wrong things. We haven’t done the good things that we should have. We’ve said no to God by ruling our own lives our own way. The Bible calls this sin. Because we’ve disobeyed God and said ‘no’ to him, God says that he will say ‘no’ to us in death and in eternal judgment.
But God sent Jesus, his own son, into our mess to save us. Jesus dies to take the ‘No’ that we deserve from God on himself. Jesus dies so that if we trust him we can get God’s ‘Yes’ because of him. Jesus comes into our mess, all the way.
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Crown
But the truly amazing thing about Jesus is that he doesn’t stay dead. He was killed on a cross by professional Roman executioners. He was buried in a guarded tomb. But on the third day, he rose again. By rising from the dead Jesus showed that he is the victorious king who has defeated death itself.
By rising from the dead, Jesus shows that he is going to clean up the mess that we have made of the world, once and for all. One day, the world is going to be made new. Suffering, sickness, death and evil will be undone and Jesus will make all things right.
Right now, the risen King Jesus sits in heaven and rules the world. But one day, he will return to set all things right. On that day, those who have received his offer of forgiveness and new life will hear God’s ‘Yes’ because of Jesus. They will go to be with Jesus forever in a perfectly renewed world. But those who have refused God’s offer will hear God’s ‘No’ and be separated from God forever.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
The good news is that God makes an offer to each of us to accept the gift of forgiveness and new life which Jesus bought for us by his death and resurrection. We don’t have to work for it. We don’t have to impress God by doing good. We simply need to trust God and accept his gift through Jesus. This means turning away from our sin, including our desire to say ‘no’ to God by ruling our own life, and turning to God in faith. The Bible calls this ‘repentance.’
We don’t have to wait until Jesus comes back to have this new life in Jesus. God gives us new life now. We are forgiven our sins now. God works in us now to transform us to be more like Jesus. And we have hope for the future now. Now that’s good news.
8 Weeks
Christianity Explored is an eight-week opportunity to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed environment with others who are also exploring Christianity.
Each week, a different topic is presented by video followed by an opportunity for discussion and questions or to simply sit back and listen.
At St. John’s on Geddes we run this course once or twice a year. Please let us know you’re interested here:
Read It For Yourself
The best way to find out about Jesus is to read about him in the Bible.
We’d love to read with you.
Let us know you’re interested and we’ll contact you to read some of the book of John from the Bible.
No obligation and the coffee (or tea) is on us.