Christianity is believing in Jesus Christ and obeying his teachings.
Who is Jesus?
There is one God, and he exists eternally as three persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son of God came to earth and lived as a human being for about 33 years. This man’s human name was Jesus. We call him Jesus Christ because he was “the Christ”, or “the Messiah.” Israel had been promised a Messiah (a savior) by God through the prophets. Jesus was the fulfillment of those promises.
Jesus was fully God and fully man at the same time. Although all humans have sinned, Jesus never sinned. The Bible tells us he was a Jewish man, poor, itinerant and not particularly attractive. His birth, life and death fulfilled over 300 prophecies concerning the Jewish Messiah. At about the age of 30, Jesus began his ministry, travelling around teaching his disciples and the crowds that gathered to listen. He also performed many miracles like healing the sick and raising the dead. This greatly upset the religious leaders of the time who didn’t realize that the Messiah would not be the political leader and warrior they had expected.
Eventually, at the time God had already set, Jesus was arrested, put on trial and executed with a brutal and torturous form of execution known as crucifixion. He had not broken any Roman laws (Israel was occupied by the Romans at the time), but the Jewish leaders demanded his death, saying that he claimed to be the King of the Jews. Jesus went willingly to his death, without resistance, for us all.
Jesus died on the Jewish feast of Passover, an important holy day commemorating the night that God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. On that night, hundreds of years before, Israelites were instructed to kill a perfect lamb and paint its blood on the doorposts of their homes in order that their firstborn sons would not die in the plague of the firstborn, sent to punish Egypt. Jesus’ death occurred on this special day to show that he was the Lamb of God, a perfect sacrifice for all our sins. His death saved us from having to be punished for our sin.
After his death, Jesus’ body was wrapped in cloths and placed in a tomb. On the third day, he came back to life and began appearing to his friends and disciples. His resurrection from the dead defeated death forever. Those who put their faith in Jesus have eternal life in him. Even if their bodies experience a physical death, their souls will live on with God for eternity.
After several weeks, he ascended into heaven telling his disciples that they would be the ones to spread the word about him wherever they went throughout the world. This would not begin until he sent the Holy Spirit to them to be with them forever. And he did. While the disciples were waiting together, the Holy Spirit came into them with amazing power. They immediately began to preach the new of Jesus (the gospel). As thousands of people heard this news and believed, Christianity began. Christianity is the fulfillment of the Jewish faith.
In the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible, Jesus’ birth, life, teachings and death are described in full. The book of Acts tells what happened next and how the gospel spread throughout the whole Mediterranean region.
What did Jesus teach?
During the 3 years Jesus taught and healed people, he taught more about God than what Jewish people already understood from the Jewish Bible. He had no intention of doing away with Judaism or the holy scriptures of Israel. Instead, he came to fulfill them and clarify their meaning.
LOVE: Jesus taught us to love God with our whole being, to love other believers, to love every person we come across, even to love our enemies. If we hate a person, we don’t love God.
FOLLOW: Jesus loved every person he encountered, even those considered to be the most sinful in society. When they came to him, he met them and understood their hearts and their needs. If they were sick or injured, he often healed them. He forgave their sin. Then he invited them to follow him. For some, like the disciples, this was literal. The disciples left everything they had been doing before and travelled with him learning from him as students of a Rabbi. For others, following Jesus meant following his teachings and his example. But for every person, then and now, following Jesus means turning from sin.
FORGIVE: Jesus taught us to forgive anyone who hurts or offends us, just as God forgives us. He explained that forgiving our enemies has a tremendous impact on them. When someone deserves revenge, Jesus taught that we should love them all the more. He also assured us that when we fail and wander away from him, that he is a loving father, who is eagerly waiting for us to return. He is ready to forgive and embrace us.
CARE: Jesus cared for people that were not considered very important, like children, women, foreigners, the poor, the disabled, widows, and people who had led a life full of sin. In doing so, he made all people of equal importance, with equal access to forgiveness and grace. Jesus warned us to be very careful with those who are young, weak or susceptible to deception. He commanded that we should care and provide for widows and orphans.
SHARE: Jesus wanted us to know that our Father in heaven was able to provide for all our needs, so we could go ahead and give generously to meet the needs of people around us. Generosity was measured by the attitude of the heart, not just in the amount of money. We are meant to treasure what is eternal, not what is physical in this world.
TRUST: Jesus encouraged us not to get caught up in worry and fear, but rather to trust our Heavenly Father to provide for our needs and help us endure hardship.
REST: Jesus reminded us that the Sabbath Day is a gift from God, not an oppressive rule. We can rest one day a week, trusting that God will provide.
PRAY: Jesus told us to pray with gratitude, praise, and confession of sin, while we ask him to help us in our troubles and provide for our needs.
SHINE: Jesus wanted believers to share the good news that God was offering forgiveness of sin to everyone everywhere through faith in Jesus. He compared this good news to a priceless treasure, and again to a seed that grows and produces fruit. He instructed us to shine the light of Jesus to everyone.
GRACE: Jesus taught us not to judge one another harshly or be hypocritical.
FAITHFULNESS: Jesus taught us to be faithful in our marriages and in our commitments.
INTEGRITY: Jesus affirmed God’s commandment to be truthful and emphasized that God sees our hearts, our attitudes and our motivations, and that these matter more than outward actions.
HUMILITY: Jesus saw people with God’s eyes, not as humans see people. He was not impressed with wealth, power, prestige or status. He taught that the last shall be first and the first shall be last, that whoever wanted to be great must humbly serve others, and that even acts of worship are sometimes best done in secret with no possibility of getting any credit for them from others. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as an example of how we should humble ourselves to serve one another.
What is the Gospel?
The Gospel is more than just what Jesus taught about moral behavior and attitudes. It is what Jesus accomplished for us through his life, death and resurrection.
God is holy. That means he is perfect. In order to come into relationship with him we have to be perfect too. But we aren’t. Every person’s life is full of sin and no can attain perfection by effort or by changing their behavior. There is nothing we can do to reconcile with God. That is why we need God’s help.
Jesus was holy, perfect and without sin. When he was crucified, he went willingly to his death because he knew that God the Father was providing him as the perfect and final sacrifice for all our sin. His death paid the penalty for every sin we have ever committed. When Jesus rose from the dead, he also defeated death, the punishment for our sin.
When we put our faith in Jesus, we are not simply signing up to try harder to behave better. We are accepting that we can do nothing to save ourselves and that Jesus paid our entire debt to bring us into relationship with God, forgiven, cleansed and made new. When we surrender our sin and ask for help, the Holy Spirit of God enters us and begins the work of transforming us to be more like Jesus, obeying his teachings, following the pattern of his life.
How do I know if I’m a Christian?
The Bible says that whoever believes in their hearts that Jesus is God and that his death paid the debt for our sin, that God would completely forgive them and cleanse them. If you believe in Jesus and have repented of your sin and asked for his forgiveness, you are a Christian. The Holy Spirit will be with you always, gradually transforming you and making you more and more like Jesus.
How do I grow as a Christian?
We grow in our faith and give God more opportunity to transform us by reading the Bible, by praying regularly, by meeting with other Christians for fellowship, and by finding ways to serve others. If you would like to know more about following Jesus and growing by the power of the Holy Spirit, contact Pastor Justin.
How do I start reading the Bible?
The Bible is a long book with a lot of parts. If you have never read it before, it can be daunting to figure out where to begin.
Begin by reading the book of John or Matthew and then Acts. Then try the letters (all the books of the Bible that come after Acts and before Revelation), starting with James. Then begin reading the Jewish Bible so you can understand the Jewish context for Christianity. For practical wisdom for life, read the Proverbs and go from there…
Here is a basic outline of the structure of the Bible:
The Jewish Bible (sometimes called the Old Testament)
- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy tell the story of Israel beginning with the creation of the world, how sin entered the world, how God called Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants, and how God renewed that covenant with Isaac and Jacob. They describe how the Hebrew people (Abraham’s descendants through Jacob) were enslaved in Egypt and brought out of slavery by God. Now called the Israelites, the people were led into the wilderness and wandered until God brought them into the land he had promised to Abraham. God gave them the Law (commandments for life and godliness).
- Joshua, Judges, Ruth tell the story of how God led the Israelites into the promised land and set up judges as the leaders of the people under God’s authority.
- 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles tell the story of when Israel, rejecting God as their only king and judges as their leaders, asked for a human king instead. Samuel anoints a king over Israel. Then as king after king rules, Israel vacillates between times of faithful obedience to God and times of rebellion. After the death of King Solomon, Israel is divided into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah.
- Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther tell the story of the Israelites in captivity by other nations after their rebellion caused them to lose God’s protection from their enemies. While the people are in exile, God does some amazing things through certain faithful people.
- Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs are wisdom literature. Rather than chronicling events, their main function is to convey wisdom about God, sin, worthwhile endeavor and love.
- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel are the major books of prophecy. They tell of how God spoke to Israel and Judah through prophets.
- Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi are the minor prophets (shorter books).
The New Testament
- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the gospels (written accounts of the life of Jesus).
- Acts tells the story of what happened after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. Believers received the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem and began to preach the good news. Thousands of people put their faith in Jesus. Persecution broke out when Stephen was killed for his faith and Christians began to spread out from Jerusalem, spreading the news of Jesus wherever they went. God calls Saul, changes his name to Paul, and sends him to preach the gospel to non-Jewish people. He travels to many countries around the Mediterranean area, preaching and starting churches. He is eventually arrested and kept in house-arrest in Rome until his death.
- Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1st and 2nd Peter, 1st, 2nd and 3rd John and Jude are all “epistles” (letters) written by Paul, Peter, John, James and others to house churches and individual Christians in the first century of Christianity.
- Revelation was written by John (one of Jesus’ disciples) when he was given a vision by God. It contains letters to certain churches and describes the events that will occur in the end times.
Learn more about the Gospel here.
