Introduction
During this Advent season, Pastor Scott and I presented a series of messages titled, “Questions About the Birth of Jesus.”
Of the many questions about the birth of Jesus we could have addressed, we only dealt with the following four questions:
• “Why did God become man?”
• “Why did Jesus come when he did?”
• “Why did Jesus come?” and,
• “Why must Jesus come again?”
I want to answer the final question: “Why do I need to believe in Jesus?”
Lesson
The Bible teaches us that there are several reasons for believing in Jesus.
I. Jesus Demonstrates God’s Love
First, I believe in Jesus because Jesus demonstrates God’s love.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
When his parents learned that King Herod wanted to kill him, Jesus and his parents fled to Egypt, where they lived for some time.
After King Herod’s death, Jesus and his parents went to Nazareth, where Jesus was raised.
Jesus was the oldest of at least seven children. There were four brothers and two sisters.
It seems that Joseph died, perhaps when Jesus was a young man because he was never heard of again once Jesus began his ministry.
Joseph was a carpenter who taught Jesus how to be one, too. It is possible that Jesus’ brothers also became carpenters.
When Jesus was about thirty years old, he began his public ministry. At that point, Jesus’ brothers may have been able to manage the family business and take care of their mother, Mary.
Jesus’ public ministry lasted almost three years.
When he started preaching and teaching, he caused a sensation. People said that no one spoke with authority like Jesus.
People were attracted to Jesus because of his ability to perform miracles and heal people of all kinds of diseases.
In Jesus’ day, people were longing for a deliverer. They were yearning for God to send his Messiah—his anointed One—to deliver his people.
Of course, the people wanted to be delivered from political oppression. They wanted the Roman government overthrown.
Instead, God sent them a spiritual deliverer who would deliver them from their sins.
How did God deliver his people from their sins?
The Apostle Paul told the Romans, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Jesus was the demonstration of God’s love for his people.
Jesus said to Nicodemus, “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).
In his book What’s So Amazing About Grace? Philip Yancey writes:
During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. “What’s the rumpus about?” he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions. Lewis responded, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”
After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God’s love coming to us free of charge, with no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, the Jewish covenant, and the Muslim code of law—each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God’s love unconditional (Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace? (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008).
I believe in Jesus because Jesus demonstrates God’s love.
II. Jesus Offers Rest for the Weary
Second, I believe in Jesus because Jesus offers rest for the weary.
Jesus came to a world where men and women, boys and girls, struggled with the issues that we still struggle with today.
When Jesus was engaged in his public ministry, he found people dealing with emptiness, loneliness, guilt, fear of death, and a search for something to believe in.
Friends, people today still struggle with similar issues as did the people in Jesus’ day.
People today struggle with emptiness, loneliness, guilt, fear of death, and a search for something to believe in.
Jesus said to the people of his day, and his words still apply today, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
My struggle as a young man was fear of death.
As a teenager, I attended a wonderful church. There, I heard about Jesus, heaven, and hell.
I thought that there was probably something to life after death, either in heaven or in hell.
But, I thought I would live my life for myself, doing all the things I wanted to do, and then when I was about 60 (when I was a teenager, I thought 60 was old!), I would get serious about eternity.
However, I was sent off to war in northern Namibia at nineteen years of age.
On Christmas Eve, 49 years ago tonight, I was hanging Christmas lights in the bar in the middle of the bush where we were based in the war.
We were a bunch of young men in the prime of our lives celebrating the birth of Jesus, even though we were not Christians.
Two days later, one of my friends who was hanging Christmas tree lights was shot and killed by friendly fire.
I helped carry his body off the plane.
I realized then that I could die at any time.
I was terrified.
I knew that if I died, I would most likely go to hell.
God used my fear of death to cry out to Jesus.
And the one who said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” gave me rest for my soul so that I now have an assurance that I will be with Jesus forever.
As you are here tonight, what are you struggling with?
Are you struggling with emptiness, loneliness, guilt, fear of death, and a search for something to believe in?
Believe in Jesus because Jesus offers rest for the weary.
III. Jesus Is the Only Way to God
Third, I believe in Jesus because Jesus is the only way to God.
Jesus once said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Later, the Apostle Paul said, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
According to estimates, there are four thousand religions in the world today.
In 3,999 religions, you must do something to find, earn, or merit your way to God.
In only one religion, Christianity, did God come to us.
God came to us in the person of Jesus.
Jesus was born 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem.
He lived a perfect, sinless life.
He then died on the cross to pay the penalty for sinners like you and me.
Jesus connects me to God by paying for my sins and crediting me with his perfect obedience.
A few years ago, the three top contenders in the Bangalore Half Marathon were following their pace car when the car missed a turn and led the runners 2.5 miles in the wrong direction.
The mistake occurred about nine miles into the 13.1-mile course, and the runners didn’t realize immediately that the crowd had disappeared.
They had to borrow money from morning joggers in a Bangalore neighborhood so they could buy train tickets to the finish line.
Even though they were running with complete sincerity, they were running the wrong way.
There is only one route in a race, and they missed it.
Though people may believe something with all sincerity, the Bible is clear that Jesus is the only way to God (Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell, “Running the Wrong Course in the Bangalore Marathon,” in 300 Illustrations for Preachers, ed. Elliot Ritzema [Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015]).
Conclusion
Friends, there are many other reasons to believe in Jesus.
However, I hope these three reasons will help you believe in Jesus on Christmas Eve in 2024. Amen.
