Know Jesus
John 3:3, the bible says…
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Basically what this means is that if you are not born again (baptised), you cannot enter the kingdom of God.
“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flowers fall away: But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
– I Peter 1:24-25
…and pay close attention, for
He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day. -John 12:48
So let us not allow the traditions of men to come before the Word of God as revealed in the scriptures. Christ spoke of this inclination of people…
“-making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”
–Mark 7:13
and He condemned it.
Let us remember instead that those who are blessed are those that obey and KEEP God’s Word:
But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God,
and keep it.” – Luke 11:28
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
—John 8:31-32
If you want a personal relationship with someone you need to know who that person is. So lets talk about who Jesus is.
Jesus is God, one of the trinity. The trinity is something that we humans sometimes have a hard time getting our brains around. It is God in three persons, the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. The important part to remember is that they are all God. God has always been, He has no beginning and will never end, therefore Jesus has no beginning and no end. See what I mean about it being hard to really understand? Well what is important is that you believe it, not that you totally understand it.
Jesus came to earth as a baby, born to a virgin (Mary). How could this happen? Well the Holy Spirit caused it to happen. After His birth, Jesus was still God, but He was also a human. Unlike us who are born as sinners, Jesus was born sinless. He lived a sinless life here on earth. That does not mean that his life was different from ours, He was affected by sickness, pain (physical and emotional) and He was tempted by Satan to do things which would have been sinful had He done them.
Jesus was a Jew. The old testament of the Bible is the history of the Jews up to the birth of Jesus. It foretold His coming. The problem was that the Jews thought that when He came He would set up His Kingdom on earth and rule from then on. Jesus did not do that, He came as a man and taught the people His Father’s will. Many Jews rejected Him because of this, and finally they put Him to death on a cross like a common criminal.
“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” 1 Timothy 1:15
Why would Jesus allow Himself to be killed? Well after God created man (Adam and Eve) they sinned. The punishment for sin is always death. Until man sinned there was no death in all of creation. Before Jesus came to earth, people had to receive forgiveness from God with the blood of an animal sacrifice (death). When Jesus allowed Himself to be killed He became the sacrifice for our sins. His blood can cover our sins from God’s eyes. So through His death we are forgiven.
All that you have to do is believe that Jesus is God, and that He came to earth as a man and died for your sins. And that God the Father raised Him back to physical life. Once you believe that just ask Him to forgive you, to come into your heart as your Lord and Savior, and to cover your sins with His blood. That’s all there is to it.
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 1 John 4:15
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:9-10
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
You need to understand what making Jesus your Lord and Savior means. It means that you are going to follow Him. This is what He commanded us. He will help you, but you have to be willing to follow Him.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24
