Why Jesus? Why church?
In today’s culture more and more people are asking the questions, “Why Jesus?” “Why church?” The truth is that many do not think that they need Jesus and that the church is this archaic thing of the past, no longer needed. Here at The Outpost Bible Church, we are passionate about answering those questions. We want to help people know the truth about God through the Bible, see their need for Jesus, know why they were created, and understand the role of the church in God’s plan of redemption. What we hope to do in the next few paragraphs is give you an overview of God’s plan in the Bible, show you how to have a restored relationship with God through Jesus, and explain how the church fits into all of it.
In the beginning, God created everything…and we mean everything. The cosmos, water, trees, insects, and even time all came into existence by the Word of God. Yet, the crown of His creation was humanity, and He made us with a very special and unique purpose, to have a relationship with Him. The Bible says that when God created us, he created us “in His image.” No other part of creation was given this gift. What this means is that even though we ourselves are not God or a god, we do share some of His attributes, we are like Him in some ways. God, after creating humanity, blessed them to be fruitful and multiply. Our first parents (Adam and Eve) had a perfect and deeply intimate relationship with God their Creator and with each other. Creation was united in a relationship that sang of love. Humanity was morally pure.
But then something tragic happened. Our first parents were deceived. A great lie was presented to them. Satan tempted them to rebel against God, to violate His commands, to seek to dethrone God and become gods themselves. This lie struck the very heart of Adam and Eve. No longer were they content to live in trust and dependence on God, they wanted the authority to decide right and wrong. So they bought into the lie. In that moment all creation broke. The perfect relationship between God and humanity was severed. God had warned Adam and Eve that to rebel against Him would result in death. Sin entered the world. Sin was a poison that now had entered into the heart of all humanity, into our very souls. God’s warning of death had now become a reality; humanity at that very moment became spiritually dead and physical death followed (Genesis 3).
According to the Bible, all of humanity is been enslaved to sin and sins willingly (John 8:34). This poison of sin has not only affected our relationship with God but with each other. Relationships between people are no longer morally pure. Humanity now struggles with shame, guilt, jealousy, deceit, lust, revenge, hatred, and an endless list of other evils.
But that is not the end of the story. God is a good and loving God. When Adam and Eve made that tragic decision and all creation was breaking, God made a promise. That promise was that He was going to fix the brokenness. God was going to send Someone who would heal humanity and all of creation from the poison of sin. This Person would restore our relationship with God. The whole of the Bible points to this coming Rescuer. In and through the various stories and books we are given shadows pointing to the coming reality. This Savior is Jesus Christ.
When Jesus came to earth on His rescue mission, it wasn’t in the manner that anyone expected. He was born by a virgin named Mary. By being born of a virgin woman Jesus was fully human and fully God, free of a sin nature. As the promised rescuer of humanity, the God of the universe, you would expect for His birth to take place in a palace, yet He was born in a feeding trough. Even His very name, Jesus, was chosen with intention, it means "God saves.” Jesus lived a perfect life, a life of no sin, a life of always loving God the Father perfectly, a life of obeying all of the commands of God perfectly, He was the only person in all of humanity to ever have done this. Jesus lived the life that we were commanded to live. However, this perfect life of Jesus, was leading to a dark and cruel death, a death that had been a part of God’s promise from the very beginning. It was through the death of Jesus that humanities relationship with God would be restored. Jesus was put to death on a cross.
Jesus Christ was crucified for the sins of those who would repent of their sin and believe in Him. However, once again this was not the end of the story. After being dead for three days, Jesus Christ rose from the dead victorious. Death had no power over Him, it was not powerful enough to hold Him. Through His rising from the dead, Jesus has put death to death, removed the debt of sin, and shown Himself to be exactly who He said He was, God. Jesus died in the place of those who would trust in Him by faith. s He hung upon the cross, Jesus took the full wrath of God the Father against sin that was intended for us. He has taken their full penalty and given them His perfect righteousness. It is because of what Jesus Christ has done that God the Father can look down at all those who have placed their faith and Jesus, and accept them as His children once again. The way back into a relationship with God has been provided to us through Jesus Christ alone. It is through faith in who Christ is and what Christ has done to remove the debt of sin, that this relationship is made possible. If one repents of their sins, confesses that Jesus is Lord, and believes in their heart that God raised them from the dead then they will be saved.
Once a person has trusted in Jesus Christ, they are adopted into God’s family. God the Father now looks upon that individual with the same exact love He has for Jesus and Jesus with the same exact love He has for God the Father. It is amazing to be so loved and it is out of God’s love for us that He has given us the church till His return.
People often ask, why do I need to go to church? Why can’t I just believe in Jesus on my own?
While God has given us the church for a variety of reasons, here are 6 that we hope will move you to attend church as a follower of Christ.
It is an expression of our love for God.
It is an act of obedience to God.
It brings us into a deeper relationship with God.
It allows us to build relationship with our spiritual family
It brings us into a community where we can be loved and cared for by the people of God and love and care for them as well.
It helps us grow in our knowledge of God’s Word.
It is our prayer that everyone would enter into a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ and receive His perfect and never ending love. If you would like to talk to someone about this message you can contact us HERE.