Thursday, October 2, 2008
John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.
BELIEF
When Christians talk about believing in Jesus, we aren't just talking about believing that He once existed. There are plenty of people who believe that Jesus was a man but don't believe anything that Jesus says in the Bible. These people aren't followers of Jesus. They aren't believers in Jesus.
When Christians talk about believing in Jesus, what we mean is that we believe in what Jesus said. Jesus said, "I am the Son of God." Jesus said, "I am the Savior who takes away your sins." Jesus said, "I have suffered the punishment for your bad words and bad actions, and now you are forgiven." To believe in Jesus means to trust what He says is true.
Belief is only as strong as what you believe in. I might believe that an umbrella is going to keep me dry. But if my umbrella has holes in it, then my belief in my no-good umbrella is also no-good.
People all over believe in a lot of different gods. Some believe in a god named Allah. Some believe in a god named Buddha. Some believe in a god named money. Some believe in a god named self. But all of these gods are like umbrellas with holes in them. People may trust in them, but they're no-good because these gods can't keep God's anger over sins from falling on sinners.
But Jesus is the true Son of God, and he is like an umbrella with no holes in it. When Jesus died on the cross, God's anger fell on Jesus like rain on an umbrella. All who trust in Jesus are protected under Him and will live forever, just like our passage says, ". . . whoever believes in the Son has eternal life . . ."
