What do Christians actually believe?
Jesus and being a Christian isn't about being trapped by rules and regulations. Being a Christian is about agreeing with God that we are to blame for turning our back on Him, and trusting God to forgive us completely because Jesus has paid the price for our self-centeredness. And being a Christian is about choosing to follow Jesus and having eternity with Him to live in freedom of who you were made to be.
In February 2006, the CU put on a week of events, collectively called "FREEDOM". The logo for the week summed up the beliefs about Jesus Christ that are central to Christianity and each denomination therein, and is explained in more detail below:
The logo from 2006's "Freedom" Mission Week hoodies
LIFE without Jesus means that we are carrying sin and its consequences which separate us from God.
Christians believe that God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice. But with choice, there comes the opportunity to choose to do wrong things.
If we look at the world around us we can see it's not perfect - there is war, crimes, anger, hatred and selfishness. But if we look at ourselves too, we can also see that we're not perfect. We all prefer to go our own way instead of God's; we may openly disobey God who made us, or simply ignore him. It's this self-centered attitude that the Bible calls sin. Sin is simply choosing to live for ourselves rather than God.
The Bible says...
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23
Now God is a perfect, holy and pure God and cannot have any contact with sin, because that would mean He would no longer be perfect, holy or pure.
So the problem is, that each person in the human race is sinful - we all carry our sin, and that sin separates us from God, our creator who loves us and desires a relationship with us. We may try to feel better through work, relationships, money or religion, but all of our attempts ultimately fail, because we have ignored the real problem - we have turned our back on God.
The Bible says…
"…your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." - Isaiah 59:2
And the consequence of sin is death, because if we carry the penalty of our sin and are separated from God, then we will spend eternity without God - eternity without true love, goodness, and happiness.
The Bible says….
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23
GRACE - because Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sin, we can be forgiven and have a relationship with God.
God has provided a way for us to know Him….
Around 2000 years ago, He sent down to earth His perfect Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is unique - "I am the way the truth and the life!" Jesus said. "Without me, no-one can go to the father." - John 14:6
Jesus took the consequences of our self-centredness by giving up his life on the cross.
And Jesus has the power to put things right "While we were his enemies, Christ reconciled us to God by dying for us." - Colossians 1:21,22
The penalty for sin is death. We've all sinned and we all deserve to die. But God, who is full of mercy, loved you so much that He sent Jesus to come and die on the cross in your place. And, three days later, Jesus proved that he had broken sin's destructive power by rising from the dead.
So, if we accept Jesus into our lives, we can leave the penalty of sin and death, which we all deserve to die for, at the foot of the Cross. And the bridge back to a relationship with God is formed.
FREEDOM - if we believe in Jesus and accept His forgiveness, we are set free from the hold sin has on us.
If we decide to accept Jesus as our King, we are set free from being trapped by sin and its consequences and we have the freedom to have a relationship with our creator - God - for eternity.
The Bible says…
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." - Galations 5:1
Jesus said, "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free indeed." John 8:36
This leaves everyone with a choice: we can either reject God and choose our own way, or we can accept Jesus' forgiveness and enjoy a life with Him in eternal paradise.
If you're interested in finding out more about Jesus, visit our "find out more" page.