WHY? It’s the simplest question in the world …and the most difficult to answer. Perhaps that’s because it gets at the very core of what life is about, what the real purpose is behind what we do. Whatever we do, we should have a good reason, and it should be done with intention.
For followers of Christ, it’s no different. We are encouraged in the Bible, “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” We believe that we have been created in the image of God, to reflect God’s love and goodness in the world; and as followers of Jesus, whatever we say or do should reflect the One we follow. That’s our purpose, that’s our “why.”
But there are more things about which people want to know “why,” so in the coming weeks we’ll try to look at those and answer them the best we can. We don’t claim to know all the answers (if anyone does, they’re not being honest with you or with themselves), but we’ll try our best to give a reason for the hope we share.
The first questions is, “WHY BELIEVE IN JESUS?” He says that he is living water and the bread of life. What does he mean by that? Jesus is the answer to what we are hungering and thirsting for. Psalm 63 says, “My soul thirsts for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
So, the question is not, “Why would a relationship with Jesus Christ be a good thing to have in your life?” It is not, “Do you want to go to heaven or hell when you die?” The question is, “Why do people need Jesus?” In his great book, Beyond the Walls, Adam Hamilton answers this question in perhaps the best way it can be said:
Jesus Christ is the answer to the deepest longings of the human heart. He is the answer to the most serious problems that plague our society. When Jesus is Lord and the Holy Spirit enters the heart of the believer, we find the empty places filled, and the dark sides of our soul transformed. …Why do people need Christ? Because without him we will always be lost and our lives will never realize their God-given potential. He opens the door to a whole new world for us.
So, that’s our answer to why we should believe in Jesus. Next week: “Why do people need the church?”