Letters to My Grandchildren: Belief in Jesus

My Dear Grandchildren,

In my last letter I wrote to you about God's attitude toward our sin. I used words like hate, destroy and abhor. Those are some very strong words. But we don't have to give up hope. Jesus has come, and He has brought us the Gospel. This what I would like to write about in this letter.

One passage of Scripture that gives a good summary of the Gospel basic that I want to write about is the familiar John 3.16.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

So, the sinful world that God abhors is also the sinful world that He loves. (That touches on the mystery that is God.) As a result of that love, He gave Jesus. In giving His Son, God is telling the world that there is a way to avoid His wrath for sin - which is what death or ‘perishing’ is - and instead to thrive and flourish - which is what ‘life’ is. The key to gaining this life is captured by the words 'believes in him'. It's important to be clear about what that means so that we can be sure to gain the life that God offers.

There are two elements to this believing. Here’s the first. There are things that we need to know. Who, exactly, is this Jesus? What is it that He offers to do? A common word used here is to say that Jesus is the Savior, and, of course, that's true. But it's one of those church words that people use but don't really understand. So, let's use some different words to describe what it means that Jesus is a savior. He is a protector, a comforter, a provider, a consoler, a leader, a friend. There are more words that could be added to the list, but I think that these make the point clearly enough. So, if someone is going to believe in Jesus, he needs to know about the words that describe Him. And when you hear someone say that Jesus is our Savior, connect that to our list of words and any other appropriate words that you want to add to it.

Now, knowing these things about Jesus is important, but it isn't enough. A person needs to do something with what he knows about Jesus. A person needs to entrust himself to Jesus as Savior, with all that that means. This is the second element to believing.

Now, this entrusting yourself isn't all that strange. Actually, it's something that you do quite a bit with your parents. When your dad told you to do something, you trusted him that he knew what he was doing in telling you what to do. You trusted him as your leader. And those times when you were hurt, you went to your mother. You entrusted yourself to her care so that she could be your comforter. As you were confronted by different situations, you entrusted yourselves to your parents.

It's the same with Jesus. As you are confronted by different situations you are to entrust yourselves to Him as your Savior. (Remember our list of words.) So, there are times when you entrust yourselves to Him as your leader. 'Lord Jesus, what do You want me to do now?' Or times when you entrusted yourselves to Him as your comforter. 'Lord, help me deal with this disappointment.' And, of course, you entrust yourselves to Him when it comes to your rebellious sin. 'Lord Jesus, forgive me.' As you can tell, believing in Jesus isn't a once in a lifetime act. It isn't even a once every so often act. Believing in Jesus, entrusting yourselves to Him as you deal with life, is an everyday act.

Now, what are the results of believing in Jesus? The verse refers to 'eternal life'. The word ‘eternal’, at least here, isn't about how long but about what kind. God promises a kind of life, one where you flourish and thrive. That starts now, but it grows as your believing in Jesus grows. And it is made perfect after Jesus returns. So, entrusting yourselves to Jesus as your protector will result in great peace. What could anyone do to harm you if Jesus is right there protecting you? Entrusting yourself to Jesus as your leader means that your future is bright. What could happen that would ruin things if Jesus is leading you each day? It is as we learn more and more how to believe in Jesus that we really live; we flourish and thrive. There is great peace in this.

There is one particular about what Jesus has done that needs some special attention. It lies behind Jesus as protector and provider and all the rest. As our Savior, Jesus deals with God's just anger at our sin. For all who believe in Jesus, God no longer hates, destroys or abhors. God isn't angry at us for our sin. Now, His anger doesn't just disappear. No, all that abhorring and all the rest, that each one of us deserves, was directed at Jesus when He was on the Cross. All of God's anger for all of our sins, even the sins we haven't even committed yet, is gone. We will never experience even the least of it. And that's because Jesus experienced it all. That is a great comfort to us, especially as we come to see how much we actually sin. God's anger is completely gone. (I think that a lifetime of gratitude toward Jesus who made that happen makes a lot of sense.)

So, believing in Jesus is about knowing some things about who He is and then, entrusting yourselves to Him accordingly.

I hope that this is helpful to you. Next time I think that I'll write about what it means to be Jesus’ disciple.

With my love,

Grandpa B