Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
Jesus is our friend, even if we have messed-up lives (Matthew 11:19). Jesus is our brother (Matthew 12:50). Jesus is Peace, the One who breaks down the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus is the Healer (Matthew 4:23). Jesus is so many things, they cannot all be listed here! (Not a new problem… check out John 21:25.)
But most of all, Jesus is our Savior, God Himself who was crucified to save us (1 Corinthians 1:23-24)… but to save us from what?
We each have something from which we want to be saved. Whether you are lonely, your family is splintering, your bank account doesn't ever seem to keep up with your expenses, you or a loved one are fighting sickness (physical, mental, or otherwise), or any number of myriad sorrows and pains–there is something that we know is wrong in our lives. We want to be saved, either by someone else or by our own gumption.
All these painful, wicked, or maybe even just annoying things in our lives can be traced back to one source: sin. Sin separates us from God, and we are all born with it (Psalm 51:5). When we sin, we turn away from God and we rebel against our Creator. When the human race first sinned, we brought punishment on ourselves and all creation, and sorrow and pain first entered the world (Genesis 3:17-19). Because we turned (and continue to turn) against the One who made us, we deserve to get eternal death, eternal and painful separation from God (Romans 3:23).
In short, we need to be saved from ourselves.
…and God did save us from ourselves! God is a merciful God who does not give us what we deserve, but because He loves us with such a great love, He sent His Son Jesus to suffer, die, and rise again for us, so that even though we may also suffer and die, we can also be sure that we also have eternal life with Him! (Romans 3:24; 6:3-5)
So what now?
- Talk with our pastor to learn and share more.
- Find out more on your own by clicking here.