By TONY HOSS
Not long ago I was asked the question, “What does Jesus mean to you”? The question is a sobering and a very important one. Our perception of Jesus is paramount in our personal relationship with the Saviour. So, I ask, what does Jesus mean to you? If we misunderstand Jesus and who He is, our ability to share Him with others becomes hindered. Consider the following points about Jesus and how we should relate to Him.
First, Jesus should and must be at the forefront of our lives. Paul said. “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” Philippians 1:21 KJV. Paul makes the point of how important Jesus is to him; not only in the world to come but in the present world. He told the Corinthians, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” 2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV. It is evident that for us to live the life that God expects of us we must become a new creature. This can only be accomplished when we get into Jesus. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:1 that when we are in Christ our sins and trespasses have been done away with and we appear spiritually alive in the eyes of God. This alone is a point which any Christian would want to share with the world about us.
We need to remind people that though we all have sin in our lives Romans 3:10 & 23, Jesus came into the world to deliver to us pardon from God. Realizing we have sin is the first step to coming to God. Unless our sins are real to us we will never see the need to respond the invitation of Christ. There is no doubt that the Apostle Paul came to the realization that he had sin in his life thus he obeyed God (Acts 9 & 22) and went on to be one of the most influential apostles and member of the first century Church. (See Romans 7:24). We read in 1 Jn 1:7 KJV, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Also, we find these words in (Eph. 1:7 KJV) “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” Knowing that God forgives us of our sines removes from us the guilt, fear and condemnation that is associated with our sins.
Next, we can and should tell people that the result of our obedience and subsequent pardon from our sins can bring us a sense of peace that those outside of God cannot have. First, we receive peace with God because the sins and offenses no longer separate us from God. In Isaiah God said, “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. (4) And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:3-4 KJV). See (Romans 5:1, 14; 14:17; John 14:27).
Finally, we should remind people that those in Christ have provisions from God. In the 23rd Psalm, we see the total reliance that David has in God. The same can be true for each of us. Paul said, But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Php 4:19 KJV). Paul understood this and his statement in Philippians 4:13 shows his reliance in God. There Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Friends, if you know God these things should be evident to you. If they are true in your life then you should share the message of Christ with your fellow man.
(Tony Hoss is minister at Centerview Church of Christ, Elizabethton. He can be contacted at 737-2287 or by email at: tmagho1@comcast.net)