The pages of linksplayers.com are full of conversation about Jesus Christ: why he came, what he did, how he prepared us to live. The archives of the Links Daily Devotional give you many hundred insights into who Jesus is and why his person and work are compelling. We encourage you to read and watch and listen to our many resources—particularly the Spiritual Due Diligence series and the “Jesus: Savior, Lord, Treasure” Bible study.
But it is helpful as well to gather in a nutshell why Jesus captivates us and gives us true hope even now, 2000 years after his earthly life. Here are those reasons:
The human propensity toward sin
Both the pages of Scripture and the pages of any modern newspaper or internet news site paint stark pictures of the propensity of humankind to harm itself through self-serving and often wicked actions. Even when these stories do not make it into the headlines, they work themselves out in domestic strife, divorce, estranged family relationships, substance abuse, petty theft, embezzlement, lies, fits of anger, and more. The Bible calls all these actions, big and small, sin. And it is our sin (a condition) and our sins (unrighteous actions) that separate us from a holy God.
The gap between us and God
Both the pages of Scripture and our innate definition of God cast him with one overarching characteristic: perfection. A God capable of falsehood or favoritism or sexual impurity—as we often see among the gods of mythology—would be no better than we are. Therefore, God, if he is to be worshipped and obeyed at all, must be perfect. And indeed, the God of the Bible—known as Yahweh to the ancient Jewish people (and many of their neighbors) and called “Father” by Jesus—is perfect. This presents a grave problem for human beings. We are nowhere near perfect. Committing just one small sin a day, the average person would accumulate roughly 30,000 sins in their life. We cannot under this circumstance present ourselves to God at the end of our lives as “good enough.” There is a wide gap between us and the God who made us.
The universe is governed by God
Whatever you think about the age of the earth (and we do recognize that this is a question of great significance for many who study the matter), the Bible makes an unwavering case for the creation of the earth at the hands of God. Additionally, the creation all around us, from the smallest microbe to the grandest distant star, bears witness to the work of this Creator. Because of his preeminence as Creator and his perfection as Lord, God thereby has full rights to governing the universe. He has established the moral economy and placed it in the midst of the eternal progression. If we are to ride out this progression in his grace, we must play by his rules. However, because the standard is perfection, our best efforts at following these rules leave us at the mercy of this God who is also Judge. We can not find our own way out of our sins or into God’s presence. Because the Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death,” the end does not look good for us.
God made a way for us
The good news is that God loves his creation, and “he wants no one to perish.” But because he is bound by the just demands of his own economy, God had to include a way out for us, by his own provision. Indeed, he did this from the moment the first humans rebelled against his design and sinned. At that point, God began to foreshadow in the historical accounts of the Old Testament and then unfold through the prophets of old that a savior (Messiah) would come and provide salvation for the people. By the time the Caesars ruled the Roman Empire, reaching into the regions on the Eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, the Jewish people’s eyes were eagerly open for this Messiah, hoping that he would rescue them from the oppression of the Romans in their sacred homeland.
The way is Jesus
At this point in history, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the very town around which shepherds specially reared the unblemished lambs that would be used to make atoning sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem. He was, by angelic announcement, “Immanuel, God with us,” or God in the flesh. The full story of Jesus’ life, including his miracles and teaching, is told in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, culminating with three remarkable acts at the end of his ministry—his death, his resurrection, and his ascension into heaven. The best explanation of the significance of these acts is unfolded in the New Testament letter called Hebrews, which connects the dots between the Old Testament histories and prophecies and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Briefly here, we can state that Jesus’ bloodshed on the cross at Calvary was the sacrifice of a spotless lamb for the sins of the world, that his resurrection gave hope for all who believe that we can live an eternal life in the presence of God, and that his ascension means we will spend that eternity with Jesus where he rules enduringly.
The righteousness that comes by faith
According to Scripture, the only righteousness that counts before God is the perfect righteousness of Jesus, who is the promised Messiah called “the Christ” (meaning anointed one). If we are to enter God’s presence for eternity, we will do so only by placing our faith in Jesus in the same way that Abraham placed his faith in God’s promise and “it was credited to him as righteousness.” Many people, some of them Christians, will offer you a formula for getting to God, whether to perform the right acts or say the right words. But the Bible speaks of only one certain formula, which is to place your trust in Jesus. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).