Faith.

I don't know, I think it's weird when people say that religion is all about rules, that they don't want to be 'tied down' or feel like they're not in control over their lives. They don't want to be pressured, they don't want to be restricted.

But isn't that why God gave us free will in the first place?

As a Christian, I choose to be the way I am. I don't have to do all the things I do. I don't have to save sex for marriage, I don't have to respect my parents, I don't have to 'say no to drugs' or not get drunk. I don't have to do all these things because I'm forced not to - I don't do them because I choose not to.

I mean, you think 'religious people' are tied down to rules and that they have to be a certain way? I'm pretty sure you can think of people who are rooted in their faith, who are religious, and don't follow the Bible word for word. 

And that's because we're human.

We accept the fact that hey, I don't always want to have to be the 'good guy'. I don't want to wait that long to have sex, I don't want to love my enemies, I don't want to fail this test I'm about to write so I'm going to cheat. I mean, just like everyone else, Christians have free will.

What sets us apart from other religions, what makes Christianity so different is that we don't have to do anything to earn God's favour because there's nothing we can do. And this isn't to say that God hates everyone and there's no way that man and God can ever be relational. There's nothing we can do because we are imperfect, we aren't good. 

But there was this one guy, a pretty cool guy that I wish I could have met, who seemed slightly crazy and really weird. I mean, he chilled with hookers, the outcasts, and tax collectors (seriously, no one likes tax collectors). He told people that he was Son of God and as crazy as it sounded, it was true. This man lived a spotless life, not once did he ever sin. He loved, both sacrificially and selflessly. But people got fed up with hearing that this guy was telling people he was the king and that he was the people's 'saviour' - I mean, if he was their saviour, why weren't they all rich by then? Why didn't he do anything that benefited them financially? So they killed him. They nailed him to a cross and crucified him with thieves; they mocked him, spat on him, threw whatever they could at him, all that kinda stuff. And God poured out his wrath on him, his own son. 

And that was it. It was people who trusted in Jesus, had faith that he was the Son of God, whom God worked through and redeemed. They were called his people because they chose to believe and follow despite seeing their object of faith die a cruel undeserving death. And that's pretty much the gospel. Jesus came to save.

God could have been like,

Oh. I'm just gonna make a bunch of people and make them love me forever and ever and evaaaaarr with no choice but to love me forevaarr!

But he didn't. He gave us free will. And hearing a story about an innocent man willingly dying for a bunch of people who probably hated him, taking all of God's wrath upon himself, doesn't that make you wonder why? Why would someone do that? Why would that even happen? Who in their right mind does that? 

People make sacrifices for people they love.

Hey, if someone were to take a bullet for me, I'd do everything I could to make it up to them. But there's nothing I could ever do to repay them for saving my life - that's called grace.

The reason I follow God and why I believe in Jesus, the reason why I try - to love my enemies, to remain an honest person, to respect my parents, to keep my mind pure, the reason why I go to church, lead the worship ministry - is because I love God and I love Jesus Christ. And my life is merely my response to his sacrifice for me. I do these things because I want to, not because I have to. 

And maybe this all sounds really supernatural and kind of like a lame made up story. But my life proves that God works. No, I'm not just giving him credit because I refuse to give credit to myself. Humans are very well capable of accomplishing things on their own, I believe that. But I don't trust myself enough to have such strong faith in my own mind and strength. I mean, really? I'm only human. But it's through the Holy Spirit that I have experienced the life-changing power of the love of Jesus Christ, of the Cross. 

I have faith in God, I have hope in Christ who willingly died to save me, a weak and frail human. He deserves my life, he deserves my all, not because I need to earn anything, but because I want to gain him even more. I want to experience more and more of Jesus. If you know who Jesus is, if you really understand how gracious, marvellous, wonderful, and loving he really is, wouldn't you want to know him even more? 

And even hearing this story, whether or not you even believe in any of this stuff... it's historically proven that Jesus Christ died on a cross, the manuscripts are there, the proof is all out there, and if it's some made up story, then Paul and all the writers of the Bible were some imaginative people. But if it isn't a made up story, what do you really have to lose by believing in any of this? 

Living as if someone died for you, someone so perfect, pure, holy, trying to do everything that would please them if they were still alive really wouldn't hurt. 

The best part is that Jesus is alive. He rose again, He isn't dead. Three days after being buried he came back to life, not like some vampire zombie nonsense, but people saw him face-to-face, in the flesh. God raised him from the dead and he's coming back again to bring his people to be seated at the right hand of God, right next to him. And living in light of that day, counting down to that day that no one really knows the date of, I mean how can you not be excited?! 

Christianity is more than religion and it's more than rules - it's all about Christ and having faith in him.