God loves to humble the proud and so often makes the greatest of sinners, his friends. I am such a one as this.
The big question
Of what significance is Jesus Christ? My life has been characterized by how I have answered this question.
Growing up
I grew up in a non-Christian family. From the age of 15 I began a lifestyle of binge drinking, clubbing, drug-taking, sex and self-centered relationships. Though I didn’t grow up in a Christian family, or have any Christian friends, I had gone to a "Christian school" and thought that I knew what Jesus was all about, and I had dismissed him as irrelevant, for I considered Jesus of no significance to me. I considered myself a pretty good bloke so what need would I have for Jesus? My ignorance of Jesus overflowed in a hostility towards him. In chapel, I used to sing out of tune, and on a school camp a maligned a boy whom I heard was reading the bible each day.
The moment that changed my life
About 12 years ago, I was hit with a sense of thankfulness for all I have been given, but I wasn't sure how to express it or who I should express my thankfulness to. And as I was reflecting on this, an older lady who I was serving at work, told me about Jesus and encouraged me to go to church to find out more. What a bold woman! I figured, why not? So, I started going along and reading the bible as an adult.
God revealed himself
As I read the bible I realized I didn’t know Jesus at all. Through reading the bible, I came to see that it wasn’t just a collection of random moral stories, but one story (God’s story) written by one Author (God) about one Savior (Jesus Christ). All of God’s promises in the Old Testament were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. I had thought Jesus was just another religious guru, who has some wise sayings that helped people live more moral lives. I quickly realized that Jesus wasn't just another religious guru.
Coming to understand who Jesus was, helped me to understand who God was. Through reading the bible I became convinced that everything I had to be thankful for, was from God, our Creator. Though he had made me for a loving relationship with him, I came to see that had lived every moment up until that point in total rejection of him. I had attempted to assasinate God from his rightful place as ruler of my life. Every act of rebellion, no matter how seeimingly insignificant, was an act of rebellion against the God who rules over me and had given me every good gift for my enjoyment. As such, my sin was effectively an act of treason against the cosmic King. Because I had committed "cosmic treason" I was deserving of God's wrath in Hell.
Coming to understand who Jesus was, helped me to understand who God was. Through reading the bible I became convinced that everything I had to be thankful for, was from God, our Creator. Though he had made me for a loving relationship with him, I came to see that had lived every moment up until that point in total rejection of him. I had attempted to assasinate God from his rightful place as ruler of my life. Every act of rebellion, no matter how seeimingly insignificant, was an act of rebellion against the God who rules over me and had given me every good gift for my enjoyment. As such, my sin was effectively an act of treason against the cosmic King. Because I had committed "cosmic treason" I was deserving of God's wrath in Hell.
I was blind but now I see
I remember being in a night club one night (the good old Greenwood Hotel), and then all of a sudden, it was as if the lights had been turned on, and I could see things clearly for the first time. As Romans 1:18-25 says, God had given me every good gift for my enjoyment, things like sex, relationships, alcohol and money. But rather than giving thanks to him, I had totally ignored him and abused his gifts by using them for my own selfish desires. And every night, as I went to bed, I had felt empty. None of these things had truly satisfied. I became convinced of how utterly sinful I really was. Every time we had the Lord Supper at Church, I was filled with a conviction of my sin, and a desire to change. It was as if all the sins of my whole life were flashing before me on a big projector screen and my conscience could not be cleansed of my guilt, and I started to feel my need for a Saviour.
Understanding God's grace in Christ
I started reading the bible with a guy at uni named Ed. And his first question to me was, “Do you know why Jesus had to die?” My response was, “um.. no, not really.” He then went on to explain from the bible that God sent Jesus into the world to live a perfect life, and to die on the cross to take the penalty for the sins of his people, and he rose that we might have new life and the hope of a future resurrection of our bodies. We receive all that Christ has done through turning away from our sinful way of life (repentance) and trusting in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. As I grew to understand what Jesus had done, I came to be over-awed at how amazing God’s grace really is! Ephesians 2:8-10 crystillised this for me:
"by grace you have been saved athrough faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."
There was nothing that I had ever done that could merit God’s favour, nothing I had done, that God should love me so much! Through simply trusting in Jesus, his perfect life was credited to me, and my sin credited to him. I learnt that Jesus had made a way for us to talk to God anytime in prayer. So I prayed to him, and I placed my faith in Christ my Saviour. Rather than seeing Christianity as a crutch, or as a dampener to all the fun stuff I could be doing instead, I came to see that true life, lasting joy, eternal security, enduring hope, real comfort, the deepest inner peace and the full forgiveness of sins all become ours through knowing Christ as Lord. I know knew who it was that I should be thankful to, Jesus! And I know knew how I was to express my thankfulness, trusting in him. As I read the bible, I began to see obedience to God’s word as a joy, as an expression of thankfulness. If God was my creator, he knew what was best for me, and I saw how obeying his word brought reconciliation to relationships and made so much sense of all of life.
"by grace you have been saved athrough faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."
There was nothing that I had ever done that could merit God’s favour, nothing I had done, that God should love me so much! Through simply trusting in Jesus, his perfect life was credited to me, and my sin credited to him. I learnt that Jesus had made a way for us to talk to God anytime in prayer. So I prayed to him, and I placed my faith in Christ my Saviour. Rather than seeing Christianity as a crutch, or as a dampener to all the fun stuff I could be doing instead, I came to see that true life, lasting joy, eternal security, enduring hope, real comfort, the deepest inner peace and the full forgiveness of sins all become ours through knowing Christ as Lord. I know knew who it was that I should be thankful to, Jesus! And I know knew how I was to express my thankfulness, trusting in him. As I read the bible, I began to see obedience to God’s word as a joy, as an expression of thankfulness. If God was my creator, he knew what was best for me, and I saw how obeying his word brought reconciliation to relationships and made so much sense of all of life.
Transformed suffering
One way I have changed through knowing Christ, is how I understand and talk about my weaknesses. For example, I used to be so ashamed that I had experienced depression. I never told anyone about it, In fact, I refused to acknowledge, that I even had depression. My worth and Identity was all bound up in how others viewed me. However, Christ showed me by his death on the cross how valuable I really was to God, and that his opinion was all that mattered. Jesus death on the cross showed me how God is at work in the world. For when God seemed most absent, and Jesus seemed most defeated and most weak, that was when God was most present, and most active and most victorious. For it was in that moment that God defeated sin and death!
So now I freely admit my sinfulness and the ways I fail to love people as I should. I now openly share my struggle with depression and our battle with infertility. Why? Because God is good and I know that He loves me. How do I know this? I know this because Christ died for me. That proves it. And he has promised to work all things for my good, to make me more like Christ! (Rom. 8:28-32) So, I can now boast in my weaknesses for Jesus said: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)
Of what significance is Christ to you?
Jesus is either of infinite significance or of no significance. He cannot just be of some significance. So the question is, how significant is Jesus to you?
Christ offers this same forgiveness to all who turn to him. No matter who you are or what you have done. As John Calvin said:
"No man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is set open unto all men: neither is there any other thing which keeps us back from entering in, save only our own unbelief."[1]
[1] Calvin John, Calvin’s Complete Commentary, Volume 7: Acts to Ephesians (Delmarva Publications, Inc.), 37.
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