“People wish one another a ‘merry’ Christmas and a ‘happy” New Year. But how can one be really happy?”
“Only God’s mercy in Jesus Christ can make a person really happy. Human efforts are sure to
disappoint.
That’s why the message of Christmas is so important.
“What is grace? It has always been a bit of airy-fairy mist to me.”
Don’t allow the mist to hide the sunshine from you. God’s grace is not hidden; it is real beyond all other realities. You can see Him in everything He created; He is also found on every page of the Bible; He came to live with us in Jesus Christ, his Son. That’s why his name is Immanuel.
“How can I get through the mist into the sunshine.”
God made it simple and clear. What God wants us to know about Himself, ourselves and salvation is written in the Bible.
“Surely, there must be obstacles on the way to find God!”
In one sense, a thousand; in another, none. Jesus said, ‘Come to Me, and I will give you rest.’ One can go to Him on this invitation; the rest He promises is freely available.
“I’m not sure about that!”
Jesus once said to a seeking sinner, ‘If you would have asked, He would have given the living water?’ (John 4:10). It was a matter of asking and the Lord would give. The receiving follows the asking. The whole transaction can be settled on the spot.
“But what about sin? That surely is an obstacle.”
That’s the point; Christ really only saves sinners.
“Is being a sinner, then, no barrier to being saved?”
No. Being thirsty is no hindrance to drink water. In fact, when you’re thirsty, you need water.
“True, but I am not all that thirsty right now. I can get by for the moment.”
If Christ came for those who were only almost thirsty, it means they can do something for themselves. But He did not come for DIY self-righteous people. The water is available for those who are thirsty, lost in the desert of life. In any case, halfway sinners don’t exist.
“A complete sinner! Is that really who I am?”
None of us can escape that fact. All of us are sinners; but there is a difference between saved sinn
ers and lost sinners. You don’t need a doctor when you are healthy, do you?
“A complete sinner, wow! I think I should start living a better life before I can expect grace from God!”
No! The man stuck in quicksand does not need to brush his hair and wipe the mud off his face to be saved, does he? Sinful deeds don’t make us sinners: sinfulness causes us sin. We therefore need a new heart and mind. Christ does not help you to save yourself, nor do you help Him to save you. He does not accept any BYO righteousness.
“Then I must be changed before He will look at me.”
We all deserve God’s wrath to die an eternal death, but Jesus died in our place to take away God’s judgement from us, although He never sinned.
God’s mercy is calling you to follow Him, irrespective of your past or background. Christ came on Christmas as Immanuel—which means ‘God is with us.’
“I still do not believe that I really need his forgiveness of sins.”
We can’t be judge and jury of our lives. God is the Judge. He knows there is no person who can claim to be without sin. It is precisely for this reason that He gave his only Son to rescue sinners from eternal death.
In the settlement of the great question between the sinner and God, there is no bargaining
and no price of any kind other than what God stipulates. The basis of settlement was laid two thousand years ago when Christ paid the complete price. That mighty transaction on the cross did all that was needed to restore our relationship with God.
‘It is finished,’ is God’s message to all sinners. This completed transferred transaction supersedes all man’s efforts to justify himself, or to assist God in justifying him. God in Christ reconciles those who believe in Christ to Himself, not accounting to them their sins; and this non-accounting is based on what Jesus did on the cross on their behalf. There the sinners’ guilt was transferred onto Christ; He took our sin to become God’s Divine Guarantor to receive eternal life as His gift.
This transaction is “good news,”and all who believe it inherit of all the riches secured by this transaction. At the cross that we meet the forgiving God to receive His mercy. Not only does Christ’s atoning blood cleanse, his righteousness also removes our guilt. God treats us as if Christ’s righteousness is actually ours.
Every person needs salvation, and needs to go to God for it. Every person needs forgiveness; God gives it freely.
This is grace. He loved us, even when we were dead in sins. He loved us, not because we were rich in goodness, but because He was rich in mercy. His welcomes us because of his grace, not because we are loveable.
CHRIST-mas was when God entered into our world with the good tidings of grace.
You ask how you can be happy? Call on the Name of Christ, and follow Him! Put your trust in Him only. Receive from Him the assurance that you may from now on live as his child, and also enter eterinty by the merits of
His finished work. Surrender the rights of you life to Him who paid the full price to save you.
“Is this really true? I don’t believe the Bible is the truth!”
I suppose you have read the Bible. It is very unwise to reject something you know little about. I beg you not to reject it’s message before you have read it!
Ultimate Standards 