Why Christianity?
The world is a big melting pot, and there are lots of good things which come from that. We share ideas, customs, and food with people from around the globe. These things enrich our lives.
Yet because of this mix of cultures, Christian views of God and His plans are being challenged. It’s more important than ever for each person to know what they believe – and why they believe it.
If you claim to be a Christian, is it because you’ve had an experience with Jesus, or because your Mama was a Christian?
If you’re a Christian because of tradition, you might not really be a Christian at all.
I can hear it now. “Are you crazy? How can you say that? What do you mean?”
Let me explain. We’ll start with some basic questions:
- What does it mean to be a Christian?
- How is Christianity different from other religions?
- What does it mean to receive Jesus as your Savior and your Lord?
- What is salvation, and is it available for everyone?
Let me tell you about Susan…
The Story of Susan
The Story of SusanSusan had been raised in a Christian home. Her parents were believers and faithful followers of Jesus. Susan went to church with her family every Sunday (most American families did at that time).
Susan was content with her life and what she knew. But when Susan went to college, she encountered lots of different philosophies, including some erroneous teaching which questioned the very existence of God and denied the authority of the Bible. Wanting to be seen as an intellectual, Susan began to doubt her faith.
As the years went by, Susan came to believe that there were many paths to God. In fact, she couldn’t understand the significance of Jesus.
After college, Susan got married and started a family. Her husband was financially successful, and for a season, she settled into a worldly lifestyle. Her concerns were about the size of her house, her social life, and the best schools for her children.
Throughout these years, Susan considered herself a “Christian,” and attended a traditional church. To her, this identity meant that she believed in Christian values of kindness and charity. She thought living by these values and “being a good person” was good enough.
But then…
But then…Problems arose on the horizon. Susan’s worldly, self-centered lifestyle began to take its toll. And, after some sordid details were revealed, Susan and her husband divorced.
Things changed overnight. Susan now had three beautiful children to care for– alone. She had to provide financial support, as well as fulfill all the other expectations of motherhood– a mission which she found exhausting. She was lonely, and increasingly depressed.
About two years into this scenario, Susan came to the end of herself. The overwhelm was just too much! One night, as the children were asleep, the house was quiet except for the sound of Susan sobbing.
Lying face down on her bedroom floor, Susan cried out: “Jesus, if you are real, I need you – and I want you!” It wasn’t the usual “sinner’s prayer” you hear about. It was a sincere and earnest call for help. It was Susan’s heart desperately crying out for a Savior to enter her life.
What happened next was remarkable. Jesus proved that He was real. He responded. There was no vision, yet there might as well have been. Susan could feel a warmth surround her – as if a liquid love had been poured out.
In a moment’s time, she went from profound sadness to inexpressible joy!
Suddenly her heart was so full she could hardly contain it! From that moment she knew in the very core of her being that Jesus was real, and He was her Savior.
Somehow, at that moment, Susan knew that her life would never be the same. She had encountered the risen Savior, and though she didn’t yet know the phrase, Susan was now born again.
Things did indeed change for Susan and her children.
Susan began to have a hunger for the Bible, for prayer, and for fellowship with other believers. She moved to a church which truly believed in the Word of God, and began to grow in her faith as she received anointed teaching.
Susan’s life truly has never been the same, and it all began when she received Christ as her Savior and was born again.
What Is This “Born Again” Business?
What Is This “Born Again” Business?But what does that mean exactly?
The phrase comes from an account in the New Testament. A Pharisee named Nicodemus had heard of the wonderful works and words of Jesus, and he came to Jesus by night to see if what he had heard was true. Was Jesus truly the Son of God?
Jesus answered him, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Nicodemus reacted the way many do today. “How can someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Nicodemus failed to comprehend what Jesus was saying, but a little trek through the Bible can help us to understand this.
In Genesis 2, we see that God created man from the dust of the earth. Then He breathed His life into him, and man became a living being.
Man was three parts. He had a spirit, a soul (his mind, his will, and his emotions) and a body. All three parts were working together. When God breathed His breath into man, God’s Spirit was now empowering man’s spirit. He was a living soul. Living by the breath of God.
But something happened which changed all of that.
Everything man needed and could ever have wanted was in the Garden of Eden, where God had placed him. He had full reign over it. The Garden was full of every fruit, flower, and animal imaginable. It was a place of abundance and beauty. And all he had to do was to guard that garden and to cultivate it.
But there were two trees in the Garden which were significant: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
God told man that he could eat anything he wanted– except for the second tree. If he were to eat of that tree, he would die.
That was the only restriction God made to Adam and Eve. They only had one rule to follow.
God created mankind with free will. They could choose which way they wanted to live their lives. They could live God’s way or their own way.
I’m guessing you already know the end of the story.
The End Of The Story Isn’t The End Of The Story
The End Of The Story Isn’t The End Of The StoryThe second tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, represents living a life without God’s empowerment, living based on one’s own ideas of right and wrong. Yet without God’s empowerment, a person is self-centered and self-righteous and full of pride.
Isn’t this what happened to Satan? He started out as an angel, gifted and beautiful, living in heaven with God Himself. But then he wanted to separate himself from God and live by his own strength and his own rules. Pride overtook him, and he was thrown out of Heaven, forbidden to ever return.
It was after this that Eve was tempted. The devil came to her in the Garden and said, “For God knows that when you eat fruit from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So Eve
- saw that the tree was good for food
- saw that it was pleasing to the eye
- saw that it would make her wise
— and she yielded to temptation and ate of it. Eve then gave it to Adam, and he ate also.
Eve chose to live her life with her own knowledge of good and evil, rather than a life with God and His wisdom empowering her. And Adam did the same.
Before you condemn Adam and Eve, let’s acknowledge the truth: we face the same temptation today.
I John 2:15-16 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world…For everything in the world–
- the lust of the flesh – (the tree was good for food)
- the lust of the eye – (the tree was pleasing to the eye)
- the pride of life – (the tree would make her wise)
–comes not from the Father, but from the world.”
Do you see? The same temptations Eve had are with us today, trying to draw us away from God.
Adam and Eve chose to live their lives their way, not God’s way – and their spirits were disconnected from God’s powerful Spirit.
Then all of mankind fell under the same stigma. Because they chose to live their lives without God’s Spirit, all of mankind would be doomed in that way.
This is what we call “the fall of man.”
Man was never designed to live separate from God. When we do, there may seem to be successful moments, and moments of happiness. But there is never the true, abiding happiness which comes from having God with you and in you.
Satan thought he had won in the Garden of Eden. He had separated God from what He loved the most– mankind.
But God in His mercy did not give up on us. He sought out a people who could be trusted with His Word, and He promised those people that He would one day send a Messiah, a Savior, to deliver them from their sorrow.
His name was Jesus.
He became the sacrifice for all sin, for all mankind. His death on the cross made a way for us to be reunited with our Father God. That’s the gift of salvation. Just like any gift, it’s given freely and doesn’t have to be earned. And just like in the Garden, we can choose to receive that gift – or not.
On the cross, Jesus paid the price for my sinful nature – and for yours. Without Him, all of us have a sinful nature– pride, selfishness, that me-first mentality which rules us all before we know God.
When we receive Jesus and His sacrifice, we then become born again, and God’s Holy Spirit comes alive in our human spirit.
Second Corinthians 5:17-18 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone; the new is here! All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.”
As a born again believer, you are new. Your old man– that sinful nature– has died. You have a new identity in Christ, and lots of great things are in store for you.
No other religion can offer you this new life.
That’s what’s so special about Christianity.
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