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The Invitation of Jesus
Jesus' call to his disciples can be summed up with just two simple words: 'Follow me!' Two thousand years later his basic invitation remains the same. Yet all too often the baggage of organised religion has weighed down the stark simplicity of his call.
Many people today would describe themselves, loosely, as 'Christian'. But what do they actually mean by the term?
There may be all kinds of reasons for using this label. For some it might mean living in a 'Christian' country. For some it might mean believing in the existence of God. For others it might mean talking with him in prayer, reading the Bible or attending church.
But can any of these really do justice to what being a 'Christian' involves?
By way of comparison, suppose I asked you to prove that you are married to someone. Could you establish this beyond reasonable doubt by telling me that you both live in the same country, that you believe in their existence, that you talk to them regularly on the phone, that you read their letters, or that you visit them from time to time?
Not at all! You are married to them because at some definite stage you committed your whole life to them, ‘for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part’, as the old marriage service puts it.
In fact, I have not chosen illustration at random. Jesus did not come to offer a religion but a relationship. The New Testament sees true Christian believers as those who are ‘married’ to Christ, having pledged themselves in a lifelong commitment to him. They have left behind an old way of life, an old state of independence and old ways of thinking. They have embraced a new identity, a new purpose and a new destiny.
So absolute is this break with the past that the New Testament describes it as a completely new kind of existence. As the apostle Paul writes, ‘Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new’ (2 Cor. 5.17 CEV).
The effect of this is profound, since it is not merely our status which changes but our very nature. At the moment of being united with Christ, God exchanges our old nature for a new one. It is no longer earthly but heavenly. It is no longer mortal but immortal. It is no longer perishable but imperishable. This new nature alone can inherit eternal life. Our mortal, earthly nature simply could not survive for a moment in the presence of an Almighty God.
Let us reflect on this for a moment. Imagine you or I were to be plunged into the centre of the sun, whose temperature is a staggering fourteen million degrees centigrade. We would be burned up instantly! Simply to stare at the sun for more than a few minutes would probably blind us. Yet we depend on it for our very existence!
There are billions and billions of similar stars in the universe. Some years ago, scientists discovered a star that shines ten million times brighter still! Yet God made them all and is greater than all of them.
How much less, therefore, can we expect in our weak and sinful state to survive in the presence of an almighty and holy God, the Creator of all the galaxies of stars in the universe, without our nature being fundamentally changed? As Paul puts it, our mortality must be ‘clothed with immortality’.
How is this possible? It can be achieved only through being united with Christ. As fully God and yet fully man, he reconciled the weakness of our human nature with the holiness of Almighty God.
The need for a response
This explains the urgency of the Bible's message. Many believe that when we die, we automatically cross from an earthly to a heavenly state. Perhaps, at that moment, our relationship with Christ might begin!
The Bible is clear that by then it is much too late. We must establish that relationship here, while we are still able to choose. Only through being united with him now can we remain united with him forever, and survive in the full radiance of God’s presence in heaven. Jesus himself left us in no uncertain terms: ‘Unless anyone is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3). We cannot afford to put off such a decision.
Have you discovered Jesus Christ for yourself? The Bible tells us that each one of us was created with a specific purpose and destiny that can only be fulfilled through a relationship with Jesus. Some suggest that this is an escape from reality! But to know Jesus is actually to enter into a deeper reality, so that our lives can be brought into their true focus as vital parts of God’s overall plan. Without such a personal relationship our original reason for our existence has been lost and our lives are effectively wasted.
Are we ready for a divine encounter at this level? To do so involves being completely changed! The Bible describes this not as a revision or improvement of our personality, but a complete transformation of our inner being. To some, this may seem a little frightening! Yet a seed that never becomes a plant, or a caterpillar that never becomes a butterfly, has lost the best part of its life and the very purpose for which it was made.
Our natural lives are mere shadows of what has been intended for us. Eternal life is available to each one of us today! Are we ready now to step forward and grasp the gift Jesus offers us? He made this available at great personal cost by dying on the cross for us to pay the penalty of our sin! Can we really afford to live another day without the purpose of our lives being made complete?
Today Jesus is calling each one of us into a living relationship with him, so that he can forgive, affirm and empower us for a new life. Then we will experience the infinite power of his Life that bursts through death and lasts into eternity, and so achieve our true destiny as children of God.
|Discovering Jesus|The Invitation of Jesus|Jesus and Eternal Life|
|Jesus and Human Destiny|Jesus for Sceptics|Jesus: Debunking the Myths|
|Jesus and Other Religions|Jesus for the Despairing|A Reflection and a Prayer|