What Does It Mean to be a Christian?

What does it mean to be a Christian? The world has a lot of ideas about Christians, but the title simply means “follower of Christ.” Those of us who believe what the Bible says about Jesus Christ want to follow him, to be in relationship with him, because we understand he is the one our loving Creator sent to rescue us from Satan.

From the beginning of humankind, when the first humans disobeyed God, every human being has sinned except Jesus Christ. We are unable to live sinless lives because Satan has captured humanity. But Jesus, the Son of the only true Living God, who is fully divine and also fully human, came to this earth from Heaven to set the captives free. When Jesus died on the cross and then rose again, he broke the padlock on our prison.

Now we have the choice. We can stay in that stinky prison and just exist, or we can follow him out of the prison and experience the peace and joy of forgiveness and have a purpose that makes life worth living even when circumstances are difficult. When we follow him, we may stumble at times. We may not always act the way he teaches us to act. But if we believe he is who he says he is in the Bible, then he will help us in our weaknesses, forgive all our sins, and teach us how to live the way God intended us to live when he created us. He forgives us and cleanses us if we admit our sin to him and ask his forgiveness.

God is good, holy, pure, merciful, everywhere present, all-knowing, all-powerful, three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one God. He created us and all that exists including the vast universe and everything Science has discovered and much that has not yet been discovered or properly understood.

Everything was good when God created it, but then Lucifer, one of the most glorious angels he created, became prideful and rebelled against his Creator. God cast him and the angels who followed him to earth. Here they tempted people to disobey, deceiving them to fall into his trap. Lucifer’s rebellion and the resultant disobedience of all humankind is the reason for the mess in the world (evil, sickness, heartache and pain.)

God has given us a way out of that mess. The way is Jesus Christ.

God loves us and wants us to follow his son, Jesus. But he won’t force us. He has given us the choice to believe or not. If we do believe and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, accepting his forgiveness for our sins, we are adopted into God’s family and allowed the privilege of working in his family business. The benefits are wonderful, both now and eternally. We have the peace of knowing we are forgiven and accepted by God, we are given the ability to live in love with Jesus and through him to love others, and we don’t have to live in constant fear or remain trapped in bitterness or addictions. We often experience his healing power or other miracles. His Holy Spirit guides us to live a life pleasing to our Lord.

If you have any questions or comments, I will be happy to answer if you enter them below or send by email. Thanks for reading.

Copyright 1-11-17 by Judith Vander Wege

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