What We Believe

What is your life? That is a question asked by God in the New Testament book of James. His answer is comparing life to something on the order of a mist appearing briefly, frail and then our life is done.

“Where did all the time go?” is a thoughtful question that many older people ask. We resist and flee and try to block life’s brevity out of our mind. We try running, walking, take this pill and go on that diet to delay the inevitable.

Surely our culture’s fascination with health, health care and squeezing everything out of life is a sign that they don’t want to die. Yet, one good look at a newspaper will reveal to us how frail life is.

Have you ever asked yourself this question: Why do I grow old? God’s answer from His Word is sin. When sin came into the world, it changed everything so that right now all of us here are not really living – we’re dying. The Book of Common Prayer rightly states, “In the midst of life, we are in death.” Death is the punishment for sin.

We know this: all of us will come to end. When we are 30, we get sick, we hope we’ll get better – most do, but as every decade goes by, the certainty of recovery grows dimmer. Why is this so? Surely it is death’s reality. Everyday two and a half million people die in America. Death is real and none of us will be able to avoid it. In light of that truth, isn’t this a great question and a question everyone of us should ask ourselves:

“What do I expect will happen to me after I die, and what makes me sure it will happen the way I hope?” The good news is that while others have all kinds of answers to this question, the Word of God has just one. It is in the person of Christ Jesus.

There is, for everyone, an appointment with God. That is what the Word of God says concerning our post-death experience. There is a certainty of judgment from God over us.

It is appointed for mankind once to die, after that, to face judgment.  Hebrews 9:27

God has chosen a day in which He will judge the whole world.  Acts 17:31

For two thousand years, Christians have always known this truth. We are all moving towards an appointment with God. This certainty has never changed. God who gives life and breath to everything has established this day, a day where all accounts will be settled with God.

So far, we have stated that life is brief, death is real and a judgment from God is certain. This would lead us to consider the serious need for every person to be rescued from these certainties if they are prepared to be honest. The rescuer is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said this, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word, and believes in Him who sent me has eternal life, and will not be condemned, he has crossed over from death to life.”  John 5:24

Again Jesus said, “I am the bread of life, he who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:35

These statements by Jesus would make one ask the question, “Why is Jesus making so much of Himself? And, “Why am I (the writer) trying to make so much of Jesus?”

The answer is this: the very righteousness of God required to enter life in heaven is something Christ has achieved by His suffering and death on a cross in the place of sinners. We are given that righteousness if we repent, admit our disobedience and ask Christ to save us. He turns no one down, no matter what.

The Bible teaches that only Christ can save us from the penalty of our sin. Only Christ can, and has, defeated death by the fact of His resurrection from the dead.

Christ alone is our only comfort in life and death; everything else, in time, will run its course and perish, including us. We cannot forget this.

Without the Lord Jesus Christ, we are nothing, and time will prove that we have no comfort in life, and sadly in death, without a genuine commitment to Him.

Let us say we were desperately in need of money and we determined theft was our only way out. We steal, we get caught, and we then stand before a judge. It is clear we are guilty. The judge says, “I hereby sentence you to 100 years in prison with no possibility of parole.” Just then, Christ walks into the courtroom. Christ says, “Your Honor, I would like to take the place of the defendant. Your Honor, I would like to pay his debt and spend 100 years in jail for him.” The judge agrees and you go free! What do you think of Jesus now? And what do you think Jesus thinks of sin? What do you think that Jesus thinks about you?

Please listen. We are guilty; we cannot save ourselves from judgment’s certainty. And since it is very clear that life is so brief and death is certain, only a real relationship with Christ, that begins with repentance of sin and calling out for His mercy, can save you.

If God has shown you your need and given you this desire, then you must forsake everything and trust Christ NOW! There’s a time coming when it will be too late.

So here is the most crucial question you will ever face: “Do you receive this Savior?”

If your answer is “yes,” then let me prompt you to deal with the matter immediately. You may want to find a quiet place to seal your commitment. God is not so concerned with your ability to articulate your thoughts as He is aware of the sincerity of the response of your heart. A simple prayer such as the following may be of help to you in marking the moment. This is a unique occasion; make note of this somehow.

“Lord Jesus Christ, I confess that I am a guilty, lost and helpless sinner. I want you to save me, to take your rightful place as Lord of my life. I want to turn from my sin and trust only in your atoning sacrifice. I give my life to you. Take charge of it all and help me by the power of the Holy Spirit to follow after you.”

If you have received Christ today, we want to hear and help. Please call the church office at 218-999-9030. We will be glad to welcome you into His church at West Cohasset Chapel and send you material that will help you in your new life in Christ.