WHAT IS ‘FAITH IN JESUS' (AND WHY SHOULD I CARE)? : Exploring hard questions about knowing God and living life in close relationship with Him.

INTRODUCTION
Faith in Jesus. 

• What is ‘faith’ all about?  ‘Faith’ is something we all demonstrate in one way or another.
  • For example, Google maps directions.  We don’t know how to reach our destination on our own.  We’ve never been there before.  Maybe we placed our faith in our own limited knowledge, only to get lost.  We need help from a source that has the answers we need. SO we enter the address in our maps app and select “Get Directions”. 

We PUT FAITH in Siri, or Alexa, or Outback Man on our I-phone app to know the right way, the fastest way, where the slow-downs are, how to avoid them, warn us of speed traps—law enforcement lying in wait to ticket the law-breakers. Not only does the app get us to our destination, it WARNS us of pitfalls and guides us through.

• • ​We have ‘faith’ that a chair will be solid enough to hold us, so we sit down.
  • We have ‘faith’ that a bank will take care of our funds, so we open an account and deposit our hard-earned money, and that the balance in our account will reflect the difference between what we put in, and what we take out to pay our bills.
  • We cannot just SAY we trust these things—the app, the chair, the bank (etc.).  Action is required on our part to take a risk and DO something.  Follow the directions, open the bank account, sit in the chair.

 
So, ‘Faith’ is a ‘concept’ with which we are quite familiar. We just don’t call it FAITH. By faith we try (or test) an idea. If the idea holds true each time we test it, we come to BELIEVE, or TRUST in it.   If NOT, we stop testing it and move on.
But the first ‘try’ was an act of faith.

BIG QUESTIONS
When believers share their faith-- explain their beliefs and why they believe them-- most (like me) follow a template presentation that provides, in a nutshell, Biblical answers to important questions, like:

• Who is Jesus?
• Who are we?
• Why do I need Jesus?
• How do I get to know Jesus?
• What did He do for me?
• What does He want from me?
• What difference will faith in Jesus make?

The ‘template’ answers those questions. A typical outline for ‘witnessing’ to an unbeliever goes like this:

1. If you died today, do you know for certain that you would go to heaven? (The Bible says we CAN know for certain: 1 John 5:11-13)
2. Say you are standing before Jesus, and he asked you, “Why should I let you into Heaven?”  What would you say? (Matthew 7:21-23, John 3:16)
3. We have a problem: sin.  The Bible says we are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2), and that any righteousness we might have is like filthy rags compared to the holiness of God. (Isaiah 64: 5b-9)  So, our sinful state keeps us from being rightly in fellowship with our holy Creator.
4. Nothing we can do can be enough to cancel the effects of sin on a life. Romans 3:23—ALL have sinned.
5. BUT God.  God made a way for us to deal with that sin so that we CAN enjoy fellowship with our holy Creator.  Jesus.

• Jesus was God’s plan from the very beginning.
• Jesus- God with skin on, walked on earth to show the way to the Father.
• Jesus- took our punishment for sin in our place, even though he never sinned himself.  He was crucified for the sins of everyone who would ever live.
• Jesus- overcame death (the end result of sin) by resurrecting 3 days after his death on the cross.
• Jesus- the God/Man.  The second person of the triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) 

   6. What is OUR part?

• Admit we are sinful, our sin separated us from God. We deserve to be punished. (1 John 1:8-9)
• Believe that Jesus took our punishment for us. (Romans 5:8)
• Believe that Jesus and God are one. (Colossians 1)
• With a grateful and repentant heart, receive the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. (Eph. 2:8-9) Talk to God. Tell Him anything on your mind.
• Put steps to confession.  Let the Holy Spirit guide you—be transformed in your thinking and your living, into the image of Christ.
  1. Get to know God by reading his Word.
  2. Get to know God in prayer.
  3. Become part of a Church family for support in your ‘becoming’ as well as being a part of the ‘becoming’ of others.

And then what? Trusting in Jesus means a lifetime of learning more about God’s design and the adventure of Kingdom living (Jeremiah 29:11-12, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 1:8).  Don’t miss out!
***Read scripture texts on Becoming a Child of God here

When we can't make that shift. . .
Okay, so that is the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  And believers everywhere will say, “It is real.  It is overwhelming. It is Truth.  And God is so good.”

Some who hear the good news are open to it already—maybe they grew up in families where the God of the Bible was acknowledged, honored and/or worshipped. 

Maybe, as a child, someone told them about Jesus and how to be ‘saved.’ That was me.  When I was eight years old, my teenage half-sister asked if she could “practice” her gospel presentation on me.  At the end of it, she asked if I would like to ask Jesus into my life to be my savior.  And I did. 

I had no questions.  I did not need to know “How do I know the Bible is true?”  “How do we know God exists?”  “Where did God come from?”

In child-like faith, I said “Yes” to God’s gift.  Jesus even notes that childlike faith is necessary to take that first step into God’s family.  In childlike faith, before I was old enough to ‘doubt,’ before I had questions, God reached my heart.

And I changed.  I didn’t understand much.  But I knew I was saved.  I knew I needed to read my Bible.  I knew other people needed to know about Jesus.  For most of my elementary school upbringing, I was “that goody-two shoes Christian weirdo.” I shared the gospel with two of my childhood friends.  One came to faith in Jesus right away.  The other believed later in life, but remembered that I was the first to tell her about Jesus.  I had the privilege of witnessing her baptism about 50 years AFTER that day.

 Faith in God has always been a priority in my life.  But that doesn’t mean I never wandered from God’s ways.

Fast-forward to my mid-twenties when, after 4 years of marriage, I made the decision to divorce my first husband.  There was no abuse. Though there was evidence of some ‘wild oats’ that were still being sown, I never suspected infidelity.  I just wasn’t happy.  I wanted what I wanted, and this was not what I wanted.

A couple of years after the divorce, I went through a moral and spiritual crisis.  “Who-am-I? How-could-I-have-walked-away-so-easily? I-presumed-on-God’s-grace! Am-I-even-a-Christian?” 

One evening, alone in my apartment, sitting on my couch, I cried and asked God, “How could I have done that?  Do I even know You, Lord?”

Immediately, I heard God speak into my spirit, “Kay, if you had not welcomed me in when you were eight, you would not be here, right now, calling out to Me.” 

Ba-bamm!
Full of wonder, I understood those words to mean, “You became mine then.  And you are still mine.  I have always been with you.” 
God is faithful to keep us, even if we stray.
BUT, WHAT IF?
What if I had NOT grown up in a Christian home? What if I grew up in a solid family, but with no spiritual formation?  What if I had grown up in a dysfunctional home with lots of anger, maybe violent? How can someone believe in a good God after such hurtful experiences?
OR what if I had a bad experience with “Christians” that helped me build my argument against Christianity?
What if any of those were my back-story, and in adulthood as a bitter unbeliever, someone shared the good news of salvation with me?

• Would I be quick to receive the gospel? Probably not.
• Or would I be angry with God?  Probably.
• Would I doubt the existence of God?  Likely, or at least doubt that any one person or group had the “Truth” about Him
• What would help break down defenses enough to give Jesus a chance to show me who He is and how much He loves me? 

 
BIGGER QUESTIONS
What about the “BIG” questions that blow our minds to even contemplate, like:

• Why are we here?
• How did we even come to exist?
• Is there a Creator? If so,
• How did he come to exist?
  • What is the character of the Creator? (angry? Loving? Like a genie? Is he fair? Etc.)
  • Can we know our Creator?  How?
  • Is the Creator involved with his creation?
• What happens when we die?  Anything?’
• Is there really an “unseen” world? A ‘spirit’ realm? If so, can anyone have a ‘Divine encounter’ or a “supernatural experience”?  

I believe that these unaddressed questions deserve plausible answers— reasons we believe what we believe. 
It’s in the Bible, AND. . .    

SO . . .  These questions to be explored in Part II of “What is Faith in Jesus (and why should I care)?”( Coming soon)
This is a BIG project not to be carelessly or flippantly dealt with. I’m intimidated by it.  But with God, all things are possible. I BELIEVE it!
For your inspiration and encouragement.  Happy New Year!

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