Christians believe that through the Bible, God reveals himself to us. The Bible tells us about a man who lived, died, and came back to life, nearly 2000 years ago. His name was Jesus Christ. The word ‘Christ’ means ‘king’. The Bible tells us Jesus never did anything wrong. (1 Peter 2:22)
The Bible tells us that ‘God was in Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:19). The Bible speaks of Jesus as ‘the Son of God’ (eg 1 John 4:15). The first part of the Bible, the part written before Jesus came, promised that one day God would come into the world (eg Zechariah 14:9). The second part of the Bible, the part written after Jesus came, explains that in Jesus, this promise was fulfilled.
The Bible tells us that God created everything we see (Genesis 1:1). Science can help us understand how, and when, God did this, but the Bible explains why ‘there is something rather than nothing’.
God created everything, and yet, we live in a world full of pain, and suffering, and evil. This can be hard to understand. And yet the Bible tells us that Jesus, the Son of God, was betrayed, tortured, and died a dreadful and agonising death (eg Matthew 27). God shares in our suffering. God, in Christ, has experienced human pain and the consequences of evil.
The heart of Christianity, what Jesus is all about, is why God chose to suffer and die, in Christ. The Bible tells us that we all ‘sin’ (eg Romans 3:23). Sin can be understood in various ways, it is failing to honor God as we should, it is failing to obey God as we should, it is failing to love God as we should, and it is failing to love others as we should. (Matthew 22:37-40)
Sometimes sin is obvious, when great evil occurs. Sometimes it is subtle, like when we go through life never thinking about God at all. But we all sin. (Romans 3:10).
When someone commits a terrible and awful crime, we feel very angry. It would be dreadful if we did not feel angry. We should not be surprised then, to learn that God feels great anger at human sin (eg Romans 1:18). What a strange God he would be if he felt no anger at human evil!
But here is the incredible thing. The Bible tells us that at the crucifixion of Jesus, God’s anger at human sin landed squarely on Jesus (Romans 3:25). The Bible tells us that ‘Christ died for our sins’ (1 Corinthians 15:3). This is why God suffered and died, in Jesus Christ. God directed his anger, his anger at human sin, at himself.
The Bible says ‘the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 6:23). In Jesus, God not only offers forgiveness to all who trust in Christ, he offers us the greatest gift in the universe; being with him, forever (Revelation 21:1-4).
If you have further questions, please contact us! We’d love to help you learn more about what it means to be a Christian.