This is the third in our series of talks about what the Bible says. The first two have been about God and Jesus. In this third one I want to talk about belief.
Jesus's friend John wrote the following:
John says that he wrote his book to bring people to a belief that would change their lives. He didn't write it just so that people would know about Jesus. He wrote it so that people would believe and be given life. But what does the Bible mean by "believe"?
Think about it this way. Just over 60 years ago at quarter past eight in the morning an American aircraft dropped a single nuclear bomb over a city called Hiroshima. When it exploded 140,000 people lost their lives. Now you can know about Hiroshima and believe it happened. There are plenty of books and Internet sites which will give you all the details. But it can still just remain something you know about. It doesn't affect your feelings or the way you live or the way you think. But what if you had driven through that city on the day before the bomb and then you had returned on the day after the bomb? You wouldn't just know about it, would you? Seeing the devastation caused and the state of the people, would leave you changed. The reality of the atomic bomb would flood upon you and affect all that you are.
When we talk about believing in Jesus, it means going beyond knowing information or accepting that certain ideas are true, to being utterly changed by it. However, in the case of believing in Jesus, it is something personal. It's not just an event affecting you; it's a relationship with someone. Let me tell you about another of Jesus's friends to try to clarify this. This man was called Thomas. He was a very careful person who liked to have some evidence before he accepted what others were telling him. So when the rumour passed around that Jesus had come back to life, Thomas was having none of it. He said this to the others, " Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
Then Jesus appeared to Thomas and he was overwhelmed. He immediately knew in every part of his being that Jesus was all he claimed to be. Thomas already knew all about Jesus. But he had not understood the full implications until Jesus stood in front of him and said "Here, see my hands". At that moment Thomas's knowledge about Jesus changed into passionate belief. We need that sort of belief.
But what is at the heart of this passionate belief? John says that he wants us to come to believe that Jesus is the Christ. Let me try to summarise some of what that means.
Firstly, when John refers to Jesus as the Christ he means he is the saviour whom God has sent. As Jesus's step-father Joseph was told before Jesus was born: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." The Bible states quite clearly that we need to be rescued. It says that we are in great danger. The danger is that we have rejected God and so become cut off from him, and the consequences of that, says the Bible, are devastating.
Now we see the immediate consequences all around us. Why is this world a place of dreadful conflict and war? Why is the world so scarred by torture, crime and cruelty towards others? Because we are cut off from God and so are left with trouble and disaster. As a result, we need a saviour. Somebody coming from outside who can rescue us from all that has descended upon us. The Bible says that as rebels against God we will continue to suffer the consequences of rejecting the one who designed and made us for ever, unless we are rescued.
Now you can see why that would be passionate belief can't you? Imagine you are trapped in a fire in an office block with no hope of escape. But then a fireman bursts in and pulls you from the building. How are you going to feel about that fireman? Are you going to drop a note through to the brigade later simply thanking them for a professional and timely job? He's saved you. You're grateful with your whole being to that man.
That's Jesus, says John. But he saves from something far worse than an office fire. He is the one who saves us from the consequences of our turning away from God. "I want you to believe that Jesus is the Saviour" says John. "I want you believe in him with all your strength realising that your whole life depends upon him."
Secondly, when John refers to Jesus as the Christ he means he is God's final priest. You see the Bible says that Jesus saves us and brings us to know God. This idea of Jesus as priest goes together with the first one of Saviour. The danger we are in comes from our turning away from God. The salvation Jesus gives, is to bring us back to God.
The role of a priest is to act on behalf of others. In Jesus's home country of Israel there were priests who worked at the great Temple and made sacrifices on behalf of individuals and the nation. They were the intermediaries between the people and God, and these priests had to perform certain rituals and ceremonies, particularly the offering of sacrificial animals, on behalf of people to make them acceptable to God.
But the Bible then tells us that Jesus is the final priest. After he had come and done all he needed to do, then the role of priests and this cycle of ritual was completed. The Bible says that Jesus made one great personal sacrifice which restored his people to God. One writer puts it like this when writing to some Christians: " when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son." Jesus has done everything necessary for a person to be fully restored to God for ever. Someone who believes in Jesus knows that there is no barrier now which sits between them and God. Nothing prevents them from knowing him.
Now let me just say what this clearly means. If Jesus is the final priest, then there is nobody you need to go to in order to reach God other than Jesus himself. Not a priest, bishop or pope. They are not necessary for a person to come to God. You don't need a guru, a holy person or an ayatollah. There is only one person who is the way to know God and that is God's final priest: Jesus.
"I want you to believe that Jesus is the final priest" says John. "I want you to believe in him with all that you are knowing that he is the one who can bring you back to God."
Thirdly, when John refers to Jesus as the Christ he means he is God's great king. The Bible says that God has appointed one final king whose authority will stretch not just across one country but over the entire world, and it will do so without ever ending. Here is a piece of Bible poetry where God is speaking to his king: " He said to me, You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession"
John wants us to believe that Jesus, the Son of God, is that king. Now the proper duty of a ruler is to create a kingdom of comfort, peace and justice for his subjects. Sadly, those who rule us often use their power for their own benefit; people are easily corrupted by the power given to them. But God has appointed Jesus as a different king. A king who does build the perfect kingdom where his subjects will love to live and never complain.
So where is this kingdom? It is already here, says the Bible. The subjects of Jesus are those who believe in him as King: putting themselves under his rule and his care. The kingdom is already here but it is also waiting for completion. The Bible says that Jesus will come back to finish off his kingdom and then it will last forever.
"I want you to believe that Jesus is God's king" says John. "I want you to believe in him with all that you are knowing that he is the one who will care for you forever."
The Bible tells us that we need to have a real belief in Jesus. Believing in him means knowing him personally now, today, as saviour, priest and king. A belief that is passionate, which affects all of your life. And the Bible says that those who have such belief, will be given the gift of eternal life by God.