Jesus

Jesus invites us to an experience that is out of this world. Here are four ways your life can be impacted by Christ Jesus.

I. Jesus offers grace upon grace. John 1:16, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” I remember when I was a boy my brother and I used to play catch in the front yard. We used the family car as the backstop for game of catch. Needless to say, this did not make my father real happy. However, no matter how upset he got at us he never stopped loving and providing for us. I call this grace. Christians have a great God who shows grace when we make mistakes. In life a man has two choices. He can choose to live a life of unbelief destined to be condemned for eternity. The Bible says in John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Or, he can choose to receive Christ and experience grace upon grace instead of condemnation.

II. Jesus forgives the sins of man. John 1:29, “The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Everyone of us have made mistakes before. We have sinned against God and our conscience bears the scars of such decisions. There is the nagging guilt and shame that never seems to go away no matter how hard we try. We cannot baptize it away or overcome it with our pursuits of possessions and pleasure. At the end of the day we go to bed and it is still there. Handling our sin the way I just mentioned is purely a selfish pursuit. However, God has offered a different way. God has provided Jesus as the sacrificial lamb who took upon Himself our sins. He now offers forgiveness to all who will come to trust Jesus as Savior. Revelation 1:5 tells us that Christ loves us and released us from our sins by His blood. Through Christ we are released from our past mistakes.

III. Jesus imparts the Holy Spirit to His children. John 1:33, “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’” Have you ever burned a pot of chili? If so, you know how hard it is to cover the scorched burnt taste that seems to take over the chili. You can try to mask it or cover it up but it seems to always remain. The best thing to do to get rid of the burnt taste is to throw out the burnt chili and start over. We have all been burnt before. We have been burnt by bad sinful decisions. We would like to have a redo or start over or some how be made new. The good news is that through Jesus we can be made new. Christ Jesus gives the Holy Spirit of God to those who receive Him as Savior. The Holy Spirit of God creates new life in those who are dead in sin. In John 3 a man by the name of Nicodemus came to Jesus. Jesus replied to him with these words, ““Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus was talking of a Spiritual rebirth. When we come to Jesus and receive Him the old sinful man is done away with and God by His Spirit creates in us new life. All things become new in us.

IV. Jesus invites you to come and see. John 1:39a, “ He said to them, ‘Come, and you will see.’” If you asked me where I live I could respond with this phrase, “come and see.” However, I don’t have a lot to show you. All I could show you would be my house on the north side of town. Jesus has much more to show us then His residence on earth when He says, “come and see.” Jesus invites us to come and see. When we take Jesus up on His invitation to follow Him as Savior and Lord we will be saved for eternity. He will bring us to Heaven and we will see truly where our Savior resides.