Colossians: journey through joy

Paul's letter to the Colossians has to be one of my favourite books of the Bible. I remember being at New Word Alive in 2006, hearing a series of talks by different speakers through this short letter, and it really impacted my life about the centrality of the gospel in the Christian life. My church, Hill City, also went through the book last year with dynamic, practical teaching that resonated 'Christ in me' again and again. But more recently, I was reading Nancy Leigh de Moss's book 'Choosing Gratitude- your pathway to joy' and I was reminded of how much thanksgiving and joy are part of this New Testament letter. So I decided to read through it looking at all the sources of our joy as believers as found in the book. Here's what I found...

The most important joy in Colossians is joy in the gospel and the work of salvation of God the Father through Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the lives of people today. Paul describes how the gospel came to the Colossians and is 'bearing fruit and growing' all over the world (Col 1:6). Its message is one of salvation, of God qualifying the unqualified to 'share in the inheritance of the saints' by delivering them 'from the domain of darkness' and giving them 'redemption' and 'forgiveness of sins' in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, His Son (Col 1:11-14). How amazing it is to be in this kingdom! We, who 'once were alienated and hostile', are now 'reconciled', 'holy and blameless' before a holy God (Col 1:21-22). We were 'dead in... trespasses' and God made us 'alive together with Him', and cancelled 'the record of debt that stood against us... nailing it to the cross.' In doing so, Jesus 'disarmed the rulers of authorities' and truly triumphed over them once and for all. (Col 2:13-15) Our joy as believers, then, is fundamentally in Christ, 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' (Col 2:3). He is the key to everything, the way we can know God and please Him. It's possible for us to have a personal experiential relationship with the God of the universe through Jesus Christ! And it's not a one-off thing, it's a daily reality of walking in faith:

'Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.' (Colossians 2:6-7)

If we move away from Christ, we will lose our joy! We'll get bogged down and distracted by things that don't really matter. We'll lose our perspective. Listen to Paul:

'Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.' (Colossians 3:2-4)

Jesus gives us joy in the future, in the hope of our wonderful eternity which our human minds can hardly comprehend. And Jesus gives us joy in our new identity as children of God, no longer in the kingdom of darkness but in His kingdom of light. We are 100% accepted in Him - that's cause for celebration!

Jesus also gives us joy in lives on earth, as we seek to obey Him.

'Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. .. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self...Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.' (Col 3:5-17)

It sounds like a tall order, but with the help of the Holy Spirit we can truly get rid of the sinful practices of our past and live a joy-filled life of freedom in purity which pleases God.

We can also find joy in our mundane tasks, our work, because we are 'serving the Lord Christ' (Col 3:23-24). We can take joy in any ministry we may have, as Paul did, despite his suffering. He understood that he was carrying out a God-given mandate to 'make the word of God fully known', and he understood that the gospel of Jesus made known a 'mystery hidden for ages and generations'. The message he was preaching, of 'Christ in you, the hope of glory', was a message of transformation, and so completely worth all of the 'toil' and struggle to carry it out. Ultimately Paul knew that he was able to do his ministry because of 'His energy that He powerfully works within me'. (Col 1:24-29) God does not leave us unequipped for the things He calls us to do, so we can do all things with joy knowing that He is sufficient!

We can joy in prayer, because we know our Father hears us. 'Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.' (Col 4:2) We can joy in fellowship with other believers, just as Paul sends Tychicus to encourage the hearts of the Colossians (Col 4:8). And we can joy in the faith of others because the gospel is dynamic and spreading all the time, today as well as in Paul's day.

'We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints' (Col 1:3-4).

Understanding Revelation

The apocalyptic form of Revelation has often made it an off-putting choice for personal Bible reading and study. Yet it would be a mistake to assume that Revelation is only for theologians or the most academic of believers. Though its contents are sometimes obscure and confusing, the basic message of Revelation is the gospel, as Graeme Goldsworthy has argued. The whole book is about Christ being the conqueror: over Satan, death and all the forces of evil. Christ's victory is not something for the future; it is a present reality. John, the author, shows how the cosmic battle between Christ and Satan relates to the struggles of God's people on earth as they face persecution, and gives his readers the hope and assurance of final victory.

The God of Revelation is the God of the whole of Scripture: righteous and true to judge the wicked and deliver His elect people. Revelation is a book of blood: the blood of the saints is shed by the wicked ('They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"' 6:10), the saints are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ ('by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation' 5:9), and the earth is punished through the transformation of water into blood (8:8, 11:6, 16:4). In the final victory of the Lord over all His enemies, the winepress image is used from Isa 63: 'and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.' (14:20) The wicked are not allowed to triumph; they may appear at times on earth to have won, but in the end they are all utterly destroyed. This is what the whole of creation has waited for since the Fall of man in Genesis 3.

As Goldsworthy explains, the first advent of Christ brought all time and history into crisis. The incarnation inaugurated the end time, and Jesus' death and resurrection defeated Satan and his time is now short (12:12). The cross guarantees God's final triumph and proclaims the presence of the future in the present age. Although it may seem paradoxical, Revelation announces the victory that is 'now' and yet also 'not now'. In chapter 1, John sees a vision of Jesus Christ which is unmistakably emphasising His lordship: 'the ruler of the kings of the earth' (1:5); 'the Alpha and the Omega' (1:8). He is the Son of man from Daniel 7, given authority over the nations. He proclaims: 'I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.' (1:17-18) There is no hint of doubt in Christ's ability to save those who come to Him. He has defeated death itself.

However, as the constant presence of martyrs in the book of Revelation reminds us, God's people must still face death whilst they are on earth. In fact, they must face brutal suffering, just as Jesus Himself did. Although we can say with confidence that our redemption is a finished work, there is undeniably a sense in which Revelation shows us a future completion of that redemption, in the new creation (see chapter 21). The vision of heaven in chapter 4-5 is an elaborate drama where John is reduced to weeping because there is no one worthy to open the sealed scroll. But then he is told that there IS one: 'the lion of the tribe of Judah... has conquered' (5:5). When he looks up, he sees 'a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain' (5:6). Here then is what Barnett describes as 'the crowning paradox of the gospel': Jesus is the Lion of Judah precisely because He is the Lamb who was slain. The fact that only He can open the scroll symbolises the fact that He is the key to the truth about the kingdom of God (Goldsworthy). Christ is the meaning of creation, and what God achieved in Christ is the goal of all His purposes as expressed in the Old Testament and the New. Therefore Goldworthy argues:

'The structure and message of Revelation is not based on a few spectacular events immediately preceding the second coming of Christ, but rather upon the historic facts of the gospel, the person and work of Jesus Christ.'

What, then, does Revelation teach us about the future? The answer is mainly that Christ's victory is secure, and therefore so is the future of the saints. In Jesus' messages to the seven churches in chapters 2-3, He makes seven different promises to 'the one who conquers' or 'overcomes'. Because He has already overcome, He will establish His faithful ones in Paradise. But in the present time, Jesus urges them to persevere (note that four of the churches are specifically commended for endurance or not denying the faith). As Goldsworthy argues, Jesus wills to extend His conquest into the lives of men and women through the preaching of the gospel, and this puts the church in the midst of the apocalyptic war. The struggles of the local churches to live out the gospel, to resist the impact of non-Christian values and ideas, and to stay true to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, are all part of the conquest of the world through the gospel. Christians are not onlookers while a cosmic conflict rages in spiritual realms, but rather they are participants. Christ's 'mopping-up' campaign against Satan is actually being worked out in the front-line trenches of local church evangelism, pastoral care, teaching and preaching.

'Here is a call for the endurance of the saints' (14:12) John writes, and the vivid imagery of Satan as the dragon in chapter 12, and the terrifying beasts from the sea and from the earth in chapter 13, shows how God's people will be beset by the powers of evil in this present age. But the visions of the seven seals and seven trumpets and seven plagues, and finally the ruin of Babylon, show that God's judgement will be final and severe. All rebellion will be eliminated as the beast and Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire (ch19-20), and the new creation will be a return to the state of Eden with access given to the tree of life. 'They will see His face,and His Name will be on their foreheads' (22:4). Jesus declares, 'I am coming soon' (22:7), and though we do not know the day or the hour, we need to be ready for Him.

Bread and wine

Two simple ingredients.
One very controversial meal.

Why is it that communion, or the Lord's Supper, or the Eucharist, has caused so much division between Christians over the past centuries?

Does it matter what we believe about the bread and the wine?

I've been thinking this through recently and I've come to the conclusion that it DOES matter. In fact, it is a crucial gospel issue.

Before Jesus Christ came, God had given His people the Law. The Law outlined God's requirements, and what the people were to do when they failed to keep those requirements. Through a priesthood and sacrificial system, the people could express their repentance and be accepted in God's sight.

'on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins.' (Leviticus 16:30)

The Day of Atonement was an annual occasion which involved several rites and rituals:
-A bull and a ram were offered as a sin offering and a burnt offering respectively for the High Priest's sins
- The High Priest would wear a sacred tunic
- A goat would be sacrificed for the sins of the Israelites
- A different goat would have the sins of the Israelites confessed over it and then sent away into the wilderness (as a scapegoat)

If you read Leviticus 16 you will see there is minute detail given for where blood must be sprinkled over the atonement seat and the altar, and the washing rituals after the sacrifices take place.

When Jesus Christ came, everything changed. The Old Testament shows an awareness that the sacrificial system was not a permanent feature in God's plan. God was really interested in the attitude of the heart that made the sacrifice, which is why the prophets often criticise the people for sinning and then simply making a sacrifice without really repenting:

'"The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.' Isaiah 1:11

Isaiah 53 wonderfully prophesies of a day when the Lord's Servant will come and die for the sins of His people:

'But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all' (Isaiah 53:5-6)

Jesus was the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). In dying on the cross, a completely innocent death, He was the ultimate sacrifice. He took upon Himself the punishment for our sins. And so the gospel message is this:

You either pay for your sins yourself

or

You let Jesus pay for them for you on the cross.

Just before His death, Jesus shared a "Last Supper" with His disciples. In it, He used the bread and wine to visually demonstrate to them what was going to happen to Him and why:

'And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.' (Luke 22:19-20)

After His death, Jesus appeared, resurrected, before two of His followers on the road to Emmaus. They did not recognise Him until He 'took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them' (Luke 24:30). Their eyes were opened and they realised the significance of what Jesus had done. It seems that the early church re-enacted Christ's Last Supper as Acts 2:42 says 'They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.'

The sharing of communion together, then, serves to remind us exactly what Jesus did for us on the cross. Its primary function is so that we remember the gospel: that 'Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God (1 Peter 3:18).

The New Testament letter to the Hebrews makes it clear that Jesus was not instigating another ritual or perpetuating the Jewish temple-priesthood-sacrificial system. That system had ended decisively with His death. The writer vividly contrasts the old system with the new way through Jesus:

'Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

"This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds." Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more."

And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water'. (Hebrews 10:11-22)

Jesus' death was enough to pay for all sins past, present and future. No other sacrifice needs to be made. And that sacrifice never needs to be repeated. It is done forever, and Christ is now exalted in heaven, worshipped by all the angels.

This means we can have utter confidence in approaching God, because we don't approach Him through our own merits, but through Christ's perfection. We can have assurance that we are accepted before Him through our assurance that Christ's sacrifice was accepted: this is shown because God raised Him from the dead (Acts 2:24).

So any theology of the Lord's Supper which suggests that it is a sacrifice we make to God, or that it is Christ's sacrifice repeated, goes fundamentally against the gospel. It's not about what we can bring to God; it is about trusting in what He has done for us.

A system of priesthood is also unhelpful, for in the Hebrews passage the role of High Priest is taken by Jesus. In the New Testament, the term 'priesthood' is applied to all believers (1 Peter 2:9)- unlike the Old Testament there is no separate strand of priests from the rest of the people.

Finally, I am not convinced that the celebration of communion in a ritualised setting is helpful either. It seems that Jesus designed the Last Supper to remind people of His death for them whenever they ate or drank- bread and wine were the staple of every meal. In the New Testament, the breaking of bread would have taken place in people's homes, around their table. Their fellowship was such that they ate together and remembered the Lord's death together.

The Lord's Supper is designed so that we are reminded to feed on Christ and receive Him. This is why Jesus said:
"I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53)

It is no use believing in an abstract way that Jesus died for you. You need to actually receive Him and trust in Him, and that's why communion is aimed at believers. It is a vivid reminder that we need to keep on receiving Christ, keep on reading His Word and allow it to change us. We struggle with sin and we need to continually bring our sins to the cross, and leave them there.

There is a solemn warning for us in 1 Corinthians 11:27:
'Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.'

We can't go through the motions of receiving communion if, in our hearts, we are harbouring sin against God, or even worse, we have never really given our lives over to Him. Therefore communion was instigated by Jesus to remind us of our need to commit ourselves to Him, and to renew that commitment every time we eat physical food ie. all the time!

Unashamed- the London Women's Convention

Yesterday I went to the London Women's Convention at ExCel in the Docklands. The theme of the day was 'Unashamed'- how we, as Christians, can overcome our fear of sharing the gospel with others.

Di Warren spoke very engagingly on why we can sometimes feel ashamed of the gospel. Showing the famous X-Factor clip of Susan Boyle, she drew the lesson that looks can be deceiving! The gospel looks powerless to the world. It looks irrelevant- God seems a million miles away. It looks weird- Jesus is not the modern idea of a hero. It's offensive- the gospel tells us we are wrong. It doesn't make people feel good about themselves. And the gospel is intolerant- it says boldly that only Jesus can make us right with God.

However, Di then encouraged us wonderfully that the gospel is dynamite! (This is the Greek word for 'power' used in Romans 1:16 when Paul describes the gospel as the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes). The gospel, simply put, is that Jesus died for you so that God would not be ashamed of you. It's not irrelevant- it shows us God's purpose throughout history- to redeem men and women- and it opens our eyes to the perspective of eternity. It's not weird- Jesus is a shameful hero because He takes OUR shame upon Himself. It's not offensive, it gives a message of hope. It's not intolerant, because there is no discrimination: the gospel is relevant for everyone.

As Christians, we are like the manager of Susan Boyle: we need to create opportunities for the gospel to sing! We mustn't lose our nerve, thinking that our friend is a 'lost cause' or that the message needs to be made more palatable. The problem is not with the message, but with people's hearts.

Di reminded us that the gospel will be rejected. WE will be rejected. This makes evangelism the hardest task in the world. And yet the gospel will be ACCEPTED, too. Not who we choose, not in our timing, but God is at work all around us.

The third session at the conference showed inspiring testimonies from women who had taken the initiative to start up a discussion group with their friends, and seen them come to Christ. Then finally, Rico Tice addressed us with Colossians 4 and told us to devote ourselves to prayer, serve others, and cross the 'pain line'- in other words, get out there and do it! He challenged us to carry around a short passage (eg. Psalm 103) and ask people 'Would you like to look at the Bible with me?'

The conference was very well run with long breaks to chat and look at the bookstore. I was particularly chuffed with buying 'A Taste for Life'- an evangelistic recipe book with gorgeous pictures and very well presented- for a dear friend of mine. They were selling like hotcakes!

If there's one thing that I felt the day missed, it was an emphasis upon community. I don't think the New Testament gives us any warrant for church being a once/twice-a-week meeting, and then we all disperse and live out our lives individually or as families doing our evangelism separately. The picture of the early church is one of community (Acts 4:32). We don't have to live in a commune, but there is a sense of the church being local. Christians who live in the same area, coming together regularly- not just for a formal Sunday service, but in and out of each other's lives. In 1 Thessalonians 2:8 Paul writes:

'We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.'

If we as Christians live as a community, transformed by the Holy Spirit, then our 'evangelism' simply becomes introducing outsiders into that community. It is less about setting up a formal course (which is quite middle-class), and more about integrating the different spheres of our life: work, church, family etc. Evangelism wasn't really meant to be a solo pursuit- Jesus sent out His disciples in pairs in Luke 10, and that was for a special mission. Most of the time Jesus and His followers lived in community, eating together with outsiders (often the outcasts of their society like the tax collectors and prostitutes), and those outsiders were drawn in because they saw Jesus, they heard the gospel, and they saw it lived out in all its power and attraction.

There is nothing more attractive to people today than the idea of a community where they can be accepted whoever they are. Why do you think people are drawn to the local pub? Or the golf club? Or the boules network? Yes, they may enjoy drinking, golfing, etc, but it offers them community. It is unfortunate that church today makes many outsiders think of judgmental people, cold people, unwelcoming people, rather than a warm community infused with the love of Jesus.

So what can we do? Well, there's one simple suggestion that isn't a very popular one:
Move to live in the surrounding area of your church!
So many people 'commute' to church, which is incredibly destructive to the outreach of that church into the local community. If the Christians are not naturally a part of that local community, why should the people pay any attention to leaflets or posters or even those who come door-to-door? Having recently moved into the estate of our local church, my husband and I can testify of the incredible difference it has made to live in the community which, as a church, we are trying to reach. People know us. People trust us. We are able to show that we care for people on a daily basis, and we are able to live out our Christian lives in front of them.

It involves sacrifice. It involves being ready to have an open door and for people to see you when you're not on top form. But it involves the amazing privilege of sharing the gospel with people- through words and actions as well.

I'm not promoting a social gospel- that we should just love people and not bother with speaking the gospel to them- because Romans 10 makes it clear that people aren't saved by simply seeing actions. They need to hear the gospel and understand it! But as James argues, if we do not accompany our gospel-sharing with gospel-living, then our witness is often weakened if not totally ineffective. You could be a very sincere Christian in all aspects of your life, but if Mrs X never sees you in any other context than when you are witnessing to her door-to-door, she has no reason to believe in what you tell her.

I want to recommend Joshua Harris' 'Stop Dating the Church'. In it, he points out that we are so often willing to move house for a new job, or for a new school for our children. Why are we not willing to move for our church, which is so much more important in terms of eternity???

Encouragement to keep going

I don't know about you, but I often find it hard to keep sharing the gospel. Many of my friends and family reject Jesus, and it's hard to keep praying for them and keep hoping that God will save them. Well I had a huge encouragement this week that I wanted to share, to help you to keep going too.

I help to run a Christian Union in the school where I teach, and since the exam year groups have left school there have been a core of about 4 students attending. We've been doing an 'exploring the basics of Christianity' course as most of these students come from non-Christian families. A few weeks ago, I asked them how you get to heaven. One boy said that you had to be a good person. Since then we have looked at various Bible passages which show that only through Jesus you can be saved. Yesterday, at the meeting, this boy said outright that you can't be good enough, only through Jesus can you be righteous in God's sight. Hallelujah!

This was really encouraging because it shows that there will always be people who are just waiting to hear the full gospel. When they hear it, they respond in faith through God working in their hearts. I think I spend too much time telling God who to save, and not enough responding to the people in my life that He IS working in, and rejoicing in that.

'Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.' James 1:12

Is Christianity about being good? Part 1

This question brings us to the heart of the gospel message. How can people be set right with God? How can people get into heaven? Is it through the things they do? Is a Christian simply a synonym for a 'good' person? Is that what Christianity is all about: loving your neighbour as you love yourself?

Well, to start with, Christianity is really all about how none of us are intrinsically 'good' as people. In fact, we're all naturally born into darkness, a spiritual ignorance and defiance of God. We want to make the rules ourselves (this is what Adam and Eve did when they took the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3). And this dislocates us from God, and puts us under His righteous judgement. You can't commit a crime and get away with it in God's universe. And the ultimate crime in God's universe is this: rejecting God as the King of that universe.

As humans our standards of goodness are very different to God's. We may define a 'good' person as someone who gives to charity, who loves their family and friends, who seeks to care for those around them. They may even devote their entire life to philanthropic work in developing countries. But, as the Bible reveals, the litmus test of true goodness is how a person responds to God. Loving the people around you but still ignoring God is like trying to live in a household where you love your siblings but ignore your parents. It's ludicrous! God wants us to love Him with our whole heart, soul and mind (Deut 6:5), and if we're honest, none of us have done that perfectly for every moment of our lives. If we're really honest, the only person we have ever loved that perfectly is ourselves.

I don't want to seem scathing of charity work and helping others -far from it!- but what I want to convey is how paltry these things are compared with God's absolute purity and holiness. Can you imagine if someone asked Obama 'Why should you be president of the US?', and he replied, 'Well, I can count to 10 and I know my ABC.' How ridiculous would that be? But that's what our 'good works' are like to God- utter childish simplicity compared with Him.

The truth is that the whole world is chained up and locked into a vicious cycle of sin and rebellion against God. Jesus said 'everyone who sins is a slave to sin' (Jn 8:34) and if you don't believe this, try going for one whole day without sinning at all. It's impossible! Even if you never rob a bank or kill someone, you probably still lie, and think corrupt thoughts, and in your heart want to rule your own life instead of worshipping God and letting Him call the shots.

The good news is that God did not just sit in heaven passively watching human history unfold. He had an action plan to bring about restoration and reconciliation between Himself and mankind. That's what the Bible is all about: Genesis shows God creating a perfect world, man rejecting God and falling into sin, and then the rest of Scripture shows what God did to 'undo' the cycle of degeneration.

God sent Jesus into the world, as His own Son, to be God-in-flesh (John 1:14). Perfectly human, perfectly divine, Jesus lived life as we never could: free from sin. He died as a pure sacrifice, taking on Himself the punishment that should have been ours, so that if we believe and trust in Him, we can be forgiven (John 3:16).

Therefore, Christianity is not primarily about being good; it's about accepting that you're NOT good in God's eyes, and that you need Jesus.

Helping people to find Jesus

It could be your best friend. It could be your spouse. It could be your Mum or Dad.

Most Christians know at least one person, whom they love very much, who doesn't know Jesus.

How do we reach out to them? How do we help them to come to know who Jesus is and what He has done for them? How can we make sure that they're going to be in heaven too?

1. Remember it's God who saves.
Whenever someone becomes a Christian, it is a miracle. It may not always happen as dramatically as Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), but it is always a work of God's Holy Spirit: to convict people that they're going in the wrong direction and that they need to turn and go God's way. That's what happens when someone becomes a Christian. They turn away from sin and from ruling their own life, and they turn to God and ask Him to be Lord of their heart. On the ground level, it may seem like we're making the decision. But actually, it's God who enables us to make that decision. 'This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.' 1 John 4:10 The reality is that we're way too depraved and sinful to muster up love for God completely of our own accord. It comes from Him!

This means that we shouldn't get too hung up on thinking up amazing arguments to convince people why they should believe in Jesus. Yes, it's important to be able to answer people's questions, but ultimately you cannot talk someone into believing. It has to be a step of faith they take from God's Spirit working in them.

2. Pray!
If it's God's Spirit who does the work, we should pray for certain individuals we know. And it's great to pray specific prayers, because specific prayers bring specific answers. If we just pray 'Lord please save Joe', that is a valid prayer but we may never see the answer in our lifetime (Note- George Muller prayed for 5 friends every day of his life. They all became Christians- but some after he had died!). But if we pray 'Lord please give me an opportunity to talk about You to Joe at lunch today', we are more likely to see an obvious answer to prayer, which fills us with hope and joy and fuels our further praying and witness.

Use Scripture to help you pray, such as Acts 26:18 'to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Jesus].' Keep persevering, because God is 'not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.' (2 Peter 3:9)

3. Be bold!
Time and again I'm struck, when reading Acts, of the boldness of the apostles. They went into religious places and secular meeting points, they adapted the way of preaching their message but never altered the truth of the gospel, and they saw God's blessing on their work. They weren't always successful in human terms -sometimes the gospel was rejected and so were they- but they were obedient to Jesus' commission to them to 'go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.' (Matthew 28:19-20)

We too need to take seriously the urgency of Jesus' command to be disciple-makers. That involves telling people the gospel, living the gospel out in our own lives, and being intimately involved with others to show them how to live in the way that God wants. In her book 'Out of the Saltshaker', Rebecca Manly-Pippert makes some great points about how we don't have to change our personalities or take a hit-and-run approach to sharing the gospel, but instead we need to develop meaningful relationships with non-Christians and take every opportunity we have to explain why they need Jesus.

And it is a need. We need to remind ourselves of the destination of those who reject God: hell. 'If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.' (Revelation 20:15) It's a sobering thought. Your friends and family are not going to thank you in eternity for failing to tell them the truth.

4. Be prepared!
You need to know the gospel in order to explain it to others. There are some really helpful ready-made simplified explanations of the gospel, such as 'Two Ways to Live' www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/, or you can use five coloured squares of card to explain the different stages of the Bible's story:
Green- Creation
Black- Sin and death enter the world
Red- Jesus blood was shed so we could be forgiven
White- If we believe we are cleansed from sin
Gold- We have a future in heaven with God forever.

Think about how to simply explain your own story of how you became a Christian. Testimonies are often really effective to show how the gospel has power in people's lives today.

It also really helps to read books or websites with answers to common questions people have, such as 'Why does God allow suffering'? UCCF's www.bethinking.org/ is great for this, as well as the book 'If You Could Ask God One Question' (see http://www.christianityexplored.org/resources/books/cxpq/).

5. Be clear!
I'm really conscious of the fact that I've used loads of Christian jargon words in this blog-post, like 'sin' and 'gospel'. Argh it's so hard to 'talk Christian' without using these words which, to the majority of the population, mean very little -or worse, they mean something different. Just be aware when you're talking to people that when you say 'sin', they're probably thinking 'breaking rules' rather than 'living your own way, not God's way'. When you say 'faith', they may be thinking Buddhist-style believe-whatever-you-want-to-believe faith, rather than believing in Jesus and trusting in Him. Try to explain things as simply as possible, using things from our culture to help. In Acts 17 Paul did exactly that- he used a altar to an 'unknown God' and a poem to explain to the people of Athens who the real God was. If we read the papers and keep aware of what's going on in the media, we will find ways of engaging with people and helping them to understand why Jesus is relevant to their lives.

6. Genuinely love people.
Don't make people projects. They are individuals beloved by God. Treat them with respect and don't force yourself upon them. Give them space to think and respond and space to say 'not now' or to walk away from God. You have to accept that God works in His time, not yours, and you jumping up and down and screaming isn't going to help. You being there and listening and caring WILL help.

If churches welcome non-believers into the community, that is a huge witness and a big draw for people in our culture which is very individualistic and very lonely. People want to be loved and people want intimacy- that's why we love snooping at celebrities. The church should be the one place in this world of selfishness where people are loved for who they are, and not for what they can give.


I could go on and on but I'll end with encouraging you to keep going, keep praying, keep hoping, and keep praising God, for He is very very gracious and good.