Why am I a Christian?

 

There are many in the world today that cannot understand why anyone would want to be Christian because all they can see is restrictions in the way a Christian must live their lives. They would say they all the joys of life would be taken away if they became Christian. People who think this way are focused in on themselves and how they can  enjoy the pleasure of life no matter how short lived they may be. It should be no surprise to us that people think this way because God’s Word warns us that people will be like this.

 

2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,  4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

 

We will encounter people like this many times during our lives as a Christians and occasionally we will be asked by the individuals why in the world are you a Christian? Now the Word of God tells us that at faithful Christians we must ready to give answer to this very question?

 

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;  16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

 

You see this is our opportunity to talk to this person about the wonderful life of a Christian showing them the hope that we have in Christianity. The first thing I would do is tell this person about the great love of God and his plan to redeem humankind. Now there are different ways to talk to people about God and we see that Peter tells us that we must do with meekness and fear. So its important for us to prepare before hand on how we will talk to people about God. Paul also offers this advice in:

 

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.

 

Not only should we speak with kindness it will also help if we try to get down at their level and use something they can relate to so that you can get them to see the love of God more clearly. A great of example of what I am talking about is how Paul used one of the idols at Athens to teach the people about God. First lets look at:

 

Acts 17:16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.

 

Now when Paul first arrived at Athens and saw all those idols it tore him up inside. Now he had choice on how he could handle this situation. He could of just let his emotions consume him and started pushing over the idols or yelling at the people  and telling them how wrong they were and how they are going to burn in hell but he didn’t do this. Apparently he gave himself time think about how he would teach these people about God. Notice how the events unfold as we continue on in:

 

Acts 17:17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.  18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.  19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?  20 "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean."  21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.  22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;  23 "for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:  24 "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.  25 "Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.  26 "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,  27 "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;  28 "for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'  29 "Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising.  30 "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,  31 "because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."  32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter."  33 So Paul departed from among them.

 

Paul here uses a wonder approach to teach the people of Athens about the one and true God. First he gets there attention by appealing to what they know by referring to this idol they had to the unknown God. This made them listen very carefully as Paul. Then second thing Paul does is to make a reference to their own poets and he uses this to teach them that God is not made with man hands but that is a living God that always existed. Another thing to point out is that Paul wasn’t that successfully at Athens however because of his carefully chosen words some did become Christians. This something we need to keep in mind is that we are just told give a defense for the hope that is in us. Sometimes we might be successful in leading people to Christ this way and sometimes we wont. We simply need to rejoice in the fact that we have done our part and we then must allow the seed we planted to do its part because we have no control on the condition of the heart of that person.

 

Let us always be thinking of ways that we might reach those who ask us why are you a Christian. One thing you might try before you every start quoting scriptures or talking about the Bible itself to some who does not believe in God is to start asking them questions along these lines.

 

What if there is person who existed today that had the power to change your life in such a way that you would have peace in your life. What if this same person  could promise you that after your body dies that you live forever and that you will never have sadness, pain or hunger every again? Would want to know this person and how they could do this for you?

 

Now I think most people would answer yes if that were possible I would want to know that person and what I would have to do. It is at this point that I would tell them that this person does exist and this person is God almighty. Then I would go on from there explaining how God created the universe and how he loves ever single one us and how from the beginning of time he put a plan in place so that everyone who willing could be saved from their sins and have hope in eternal life. I would point scriptures such

 

Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

 

This shows that OT scriptures were written to give us hope in Jesus Christ. You see the OT is witness in the fact that it prophesies about out the savior of the world over 300 times.

 

Galatians 3:24  Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

 

So I would point out that the OT points to Christ and NT tells about the life of our wonderful savior and why he came to the earth to die in our place.

 

John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

Now I would also point that are several reason why Christ came to the earth and died for human kind.

 

1. He did it to fulfill the OT prophecies and to show that God keeps his promises. After Jesus had been raised to the dead he talks to his disciples and tells them this:

 

Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me."

 

Not only did Jesus fulfill those things that were written about him he lived his life perfectly without sin.

 

2. Another reason he came is stated by Jesus himself in:

 

Luke 19:10 "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

 

Now the way Jesus did this was by creating a new covenant which would give us the power over sin. However this came at a great cost for Jesus as he died on the cross and bore the sins of the world. But He was willing to do this for us because he loves us. Notice the words of Paul.

 

Romans 5: 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.  10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

 

You see Jesus did all of this so that we could be reconciled with God and so that we can rejoice in the great love of God and the grace we have received through Jesus Christ.

 

3. Another reason Jesus came to the earth was to experience what it was like to be human and to go through same temptation that we do so that He would know the best way to help us in our time of temptation. That’s what  the writer of Hebrews tells us in:

 

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

Because of what Jesus has done he has given every Christian full access to the thrown of Grace so that they can pray and ask God for help in their time in need. Because of what Jesus did Christians have God watching out for them and He doesn’t allow them be tempted beyond their means and always provides away of escape.

 

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

 

This is what is so wonderful about being Christians knowing in our hearts that Jesus did all the things for us even though we did not deserve them. No wonder Paul tells us.

 

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

 

Another thing we learn about Jesus is found:

 

John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

 

You see after Jesus was raised from the dead overcoming power of sin He makes a promise to those who will choose to follow after him and that promise is that He will come back one day and he will take all the faithful Christians to that place called heaven where we are promised to receive a crown that doesn’t fade away. This is place were there will be no more sorrow, death or pain and we will be in the very presence of God himself. This is why we want to be Christians so the we can have the hope in Christ Jesus. Notice Paul tells the Roman Christians.

 

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

 

You see every faithful Christian has the hope and because of this hope we can have a great peace in our life. It makes is so much easier to deal with death and sorrow when we know what the finally outcome will be. Paul encouraged some Christians dealing with this topic in.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.  15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

 

Again this only a hope that a Christian can have and it can only come through Jesus Christ.

 

Then finally I would point out how God always keeps his promises and how he never stops loving us.

 

Romans 8: 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."  37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

You see no other person or creature can separate from Gods love. However, since God has given us a free will we be willing to accept his love and to have an obedient faith.

 

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

 

God is patiently waiting for sinners to love him enough to obey his perfect will but he will not wait forever and that is why it is important that we tell the unbeliever that today is the day of salvation and if want to have life of peace and the hope of eternal life in heaven then must obey the gospel call today but there are no guarantees in life and you may run out time and die a sinner separated from God and you don’t want to be found in this condition because notice what happens to those who do not obey the gospel call.

 

2 Thessalonians 1:7 when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,  8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,  10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

 

I hope this lesson has encouraged on why it is we want to be Christians and hope it helps you to be more prepared the next time ask why you want to be a Christian. Everything about being a Christian in the long run is positive but everything is negative in the long run for those who are not Christians because it is a fact that they will be separated from God for eternity in lake of fire which never stops burning.