Jesus' meaning for us today
Many people today feel that they have everything they need thanks to technological advances, material comfort, convenience and economic prosperity. The rapid development of technology has facilitated access to resources and enabled improvements in various areas of life. Many enjoy a high standard of living with comfortable homes, plentiful food and modern conveniences such as online shopping and digital entertainment. Economic growth has led to higher incomes and a sense of security for many.
Do we need anything more than that? Have we reached the peak of contentment? Are we truly fulfilled and happy as people? Who needs the church or God today? Who is this Jesus and is he relevant in our current lives? Do we relegate him to times when life is difficult or we find ourselves in a dead end? Do we turn to him when we cannot solve our current problems? In this article I want to emphasize how important Jesus is to us today and how much we need him in our hectic everyday lives.
God is the creator of the entire universe; he spoke, and everything was created: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (Joh 1,1-3).
Everything was created in and through Jesus Christ, who was with God and who is the God who also sustains everything that was created on earth and in the cosmos: “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” (Kol 1,16-17).
Human beings, created in God's image and out of love, are destined for eternal communion with Him. We know this because the Bible tells us that God is love: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1. Joh 4,8)His essence and his attitude towards humanity is love; that is who and what God is, God is love.
After Adam and Eve sinned by believing the devil's lie - the delusion that man could exist without God and create his own destiny - and was thereby separated from an intimate relationship with God, humanity was in desperate need of salvation and reconciliation with God. Man chose death instead of life. God had created humanity for eternal fellowship with Himself, but the path they had chosen made this no longer possible. Only a perfect and sinless human being could meet the requirements to save humanity.
Because God is love and his plan is to live alongside us, his love for us never ends. God's love is boundless, unlike anything we know from our own experience. God is an eternal God, without the limits of space and time. This alone should make us realize how little we know about this unconditional and perfect love he feels for us. It should also inspire us and awaken the desire to learn more about this love and this being who loves us so much: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (Joh 3,16).
God's unfailing love for humanity is revealed in and through Jesus Christ, who came to earth as God in the form of a human child. He lived a perfect life and died for you and me on the cross. This is why Jesus came into the world: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebr 4,15).
Jesus Christ is the perfect man who had to atone for our sins. He is the only one who could save humanity and the only one who offered the sacrifice on the altar to free us from our own corruption. But wait a minute: Isn't Jesus God? How then could He be the atoning sacrifice that wipes away humanity's sins and meets the justice requirements for breaking God's law?
This is the miracle we celebrate at Christmas. We celebrate Jesus Christ in human form. The angel Gabriel was sent by God to the town of Nazareth in Galilee and said to Mary: “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Lk 1,30-33).
The embodiment of God in the flesh, divinity becoming one with humanity. Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” (Lk 1,34-35).
Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. She gave birth to a son who is both true man and true God - the Son of God. Jesus is God and man in a perfect and harmonious unity. Jesus is the only way we can be saved, redeemed and reconciled. We find loving fellowship with God only through Jesus Christ. This means believing and trusting that Jesus is the begotten Son of God who died for us on the cross, was raised by God on the third day and was taken up into heaven. Now Jesus reigns at the right hand of the glory of God. We should believe and live our lives trusting in this truth and prepare for his return.
We need Jesus because he took our sins upon himself and died in our place. Everything Christ did, he did for humanity; he did it for you and me. Jesus was born a human child, conceived by the Spirit; he lived a perfect life, was baptized for us, was crucified for us, and died for us. God raised him from the dead, and he ascended into heaven for us. Christ gave us the Holy Spirit to empower us, to fill us with himself, and to guide us into all truth. Jesus fills us with his Spirit so that we can live lives worthy of his calling: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (Joh 14,16-17).
God gives us the task of loving one another and proclaiming the gospel in his name. We need Jesus because only by knowing and understanding him can we find eternal life. Only when we truly know him can we be reconciled with the Father and experience the eternal relationship that God has planned for humanity since the beginning of time.
A car needs gasoline to run. Why? Because it was designed to work that way. Likewise, we need God to be fully human. That is why Christ is essential to us as Christians. Because Jesus brings God's presence back into our lives - that is the only way we get moving again. We are spiritually reborn when our soul is brought to life by God's Spirit. This can only happen on God's terms and restores us to the state He created us for - a state in which we can only truly exist and live through His presence within us. For the truly fulfilled person, God is essential.
by Caleb Makhela
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