The Explanation (11)

¹Before the universe began to be,
and all that it consists of and contains,
the Word already was. He is the Power,
the Explanation, and the Reason for
all things. He was before all things with God,
and He was God. ²Yes, He was with God when
the universe and all that is began
to be, ³and He created everything.
Apart from Him, without His will and power,
not anything that has been made was made.
⁴In Him was life, eternal life, the light
of men, ⁵which shines into the darkness to
expose unrighteousness with grace and truth,
and show the way to life. And darkness has
not overcome it, no, nor ever shall.

⁶God sent a man named John. ⁷He came to be
a witness to the Light, that all who heard
him might renounce unrighteous ways, and through
the Light believe. ⁸This John was not the Light;
he came to testify about the Light
and to prepare the way before Him. ⁹For
the True Light, Who gives light to everyone,
was coming to the world. ¹⁰And He was in
the world – which He created – yet the world
did not acknowledge Him. ¹¹The Light came to
His own, but they did not receive Him. ¹²But
to all who did receive Him, and believed
in Him as Word and Light and Life, to them
He gave the privilege of becoming God’s
own children, ¹³born of God by grace alone,
and not by any works of flesh or will.

-        John 1.1-12 

The question
But the question remains: Why Jesus?

Why should I believe in Him? Or why should believing in Him make my life the full and abundant adventure I’m hoping it will be? Or why should I believe that what He promises is the “good life” that I’m presently seeking by other means?

These are excellent questions, and if you’re asking them, it shows a level of receptivity to Jesus which is commendable. Many people who regard themselves as “thinking people” never get this far in receiving Jesus. They dismiss such questions as irrelevant, not because they are, but because they have already dismissed Jesus as irrelevant, and therefore no more questions regarding Him are worth examining.

But the question remains anyway, doesn’t it? Because through the centuries of human history since the days of Jesus, untold, multiplied millions of people have believed in Jesus, and have found Him to be everything He claimed and to provide all that He promised.

Billions – yes, billions – of people in our own day believe in Jesus. Can they all be naïve or stupid? Are they all backwoods hicks, clutching their guns and Bibles against the fearsome world of pagan unbelief? Don’t we find many of them – very many, in fact – working in respectable jobs, living in nice neighborhoods, raising families, making solid contributions to society and culture, and even making your own day a bit more enjoyable from time to time?

In fact, we do.

So why do these people believe in Jesus? Why do they organize their lives around Him, make Him the focus of their thoughts and affections, and follow in His footsteps as best they can in their everyday lives?

Why should people believe in Jesus?

Look at it this way
Let’s try this: Ask yourself, “Why do more people today not believe in Hitler?” There was a period of time, after all, when millions of people did believe in Hitler, organized their lives around his words and teaching, obeyed him in whatever he required, and insisted he was the hope of the world.

But you will be hard pressed to find many people today who believe in Hitler in the way people did then, or in the way Christians believe in Jesus. Why is this so?

Because Hitler’s words proved to be false, and his works turned out to be not edifying and ennobling – as he claimed – but ruinous, degrading, dehumanizing, and deadly.

And it took a long war for the world to see that, though his words remain and the historical record of his works is readily available, Hitler is not the sort of person you want to make the object of your strongest convictions and beliefs.

At the same time, the words of Jesus are still available – preserved in thousands of manuscripts dating from very close to the time of His life.

And the record of His words and works is annually published in the best-selling book of all time, and every year, the Bible.

With the result that, as in every age since His own day, multiplied millions of people believe in Jesus and find in Him the way out of their confusion and uncertainty, the truth concerning the meaning and purpose of life, and the life of fullness, happiness, peace, and joy they have sought for all their lives.

The verdict on Hitler and Jesus is in: One is utterly rejected, while the Other continues to be received, believed, loved, obeyed, followed, and enjoyed, more and more, year after year.

Yes, but why?
But should you believe in Jesus not just because “everybody else” is?

Of course not. You should believe because of Who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He promises concerning the good life.

Jesus is the Explanation of all things, as I have been arguing from the beginning of this conversation. Apart from Jesus, things don’t make sense; life is “silly” unless Jesus, the Word and Son of God, and God Himself, comes to show us the reason, explanation, and meaning of life. Jesus is the true “Genius” who fixes the broken things in our lives and makes sense out of the many hurtful, painful, and troubling experiences we must endure. He’s also the One Who enables us to understand what the good life truly is and what makes it so good. He is the Explanation we seek, for every question we can think to ask.

Jesus has revealed God to us. He shows us what God is really like, and as God’s Agent of restoration for the World, Jesus accomplished a work of salvation which means that we can be restored to God as well. Jesus lived a perfect life, morally and spiritually. Thus, His life was at all times pleasing to God. He did everything that accords with the will of God and nothing that offends Him, and He could only do this because He was God come to earth in the Person of Jesus, a Man from Nazareth in Galilee.

But this same Jesus died on a cross, not because He was guilty of anything, but because it pleased Him to die for the sins of others – including yours and mine – and it pleased God the Father to accept His sacrifice in lieu of exercising His wrath against humankind. Those who receive and believe in Jesus receive His righteousness and sacrifice as for them, and believe that He has accomplished everything necessary to restore them to fellowship with God as His sons and daughters.

And, believing, they find it’s true – that they do come to know God as Father, they do enjoy the promises of peace and joy which Jesus offers, and their lives do take on new meaning and purpose, expressed in terms of love for God and their neighbors.

We should believe in Jesus because He is Who He claimed, did what only He could do, and provides everything we really want in life.

I should add that many who have not believed in Jesus have dismissed such claims and pooh-poohed the reports of His life and work, or they have tried to disprove, deny, denigrate, or deride them.

And still, the millions continue to believe.

Let’s try this: Try thinking about what it would mean for you to believe in Jesus. Would your life change? Would you begin to develop new priorities, to embrace new practices, and acquire a new outlook on life? If you don’t know, ask some Christian friends to help you think about this?

T. M. Moore

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