Will you be happy?
“When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
Tony Campolo
How certain are you in your belief? If you are an atheist or a non-Christian are you certain that what you believe is true.
What Christians believe is simple. We believe Jesus as Martha did in John’s gospel.
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,”
John 11:25,26
We believe Jesus when speaking about himself he said,
“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.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
We believe the apostle John when he wrote this about Jesus,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
John 1:12,13.
The Gospel of Luke records a conversation that happened between Jesus and the two criminals He was crucified with. Luke records,
"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’”
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:39-43.
The one criminal rejected Jesus and did not believe Jesus was the Son of God the Saviour of the world.
The other believed that Jesus was who He said He was. He admitted that he was a criminal deserving of his punishment. Or as Christians say, he confessed his sins to Jesus.
As a result Jesus forgave the man and told the man that, that day he would be with Jesus in paradise.
Telling a person they would be in paradise or heaven was something only God could do and Jesus did it.
It is because of the above statements and more throughout the New Testament that we Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God who came to save each and every person on the earth.
C. S. Lewis wrote about Jesus saying,
“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”
C.S. Lewis.
Christians do not believe that if your good out weighs your bad you will get to heaven. Christians believe it is impossible for man to live a life good enough to stand before a holy God. That is why God in the form of His One and Only Son Jesus entered the world.
To quote C. S. Lewis Again.
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”
C.S. Lewis
The Apostle John writes,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
1John 1:9-10.
Christians believe getting to heaven is a simple act of faith and confession.
As I quoted above the apostle John said if we confess our sin to Jesus He will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness.
And the apostle Paul tells us,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9.
Faith defined by the writer of Hebrews who said,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1.
The writer of Hebrews also telling us,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6.
This is what Christians believe.
So the question I ask are you sure in your beliefs?
If you were to die today are you certain where you will spend eternity?
As Tony Campolo asked,
“...when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
Tony Campolo
Please think about it.
“When you were born, you cried and everybody else was happy. The only question that matters is this - when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
Tony Campolo
How certain are you in your belief? If you are an atheist or a non-Christian are you certain that what you believe is true.
What Christians believe is simple. We believe Jesus as Martha did in John’s gospel.
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes Lord” she told Him, “I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world,”
John 11:25,26
We believe Jesus when speaking about himself he said,
“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.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son”.
John 3:16-18.
We believe the apostle John when he wrote this about Jesus,
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
John 1:12,13.
The Gospel of Luke records a conversation that happened between Jesus and the two criminals He was crucified with. Luke records,
"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’”
Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:39-43.
The one criminal rejected Jesus and did not believe Jesus was the Son of God the Saviour of the world.
The other believed that Jesus was who He said He was. He admitted that he was a criminal deserving of his punishment. Or as Christians say, he confessed his sins to Jesus.
As a result Jesus forgave the man and told the man that, that day he would be with Jesus in paradise.
Telling a person they would be in paradise or heaven was something only God could do and Jesus did it.
It is because of the above statements and more throughout the New Testament that we Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God who came to save each and every person on the earth.
C. S. Lewis wrote about Jesus saying,
“He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”
C.S. Lewis.
Christians do not believe that if your good out weighs your bad you will get to heaven. Christians believe it is impossible for man to live a life good enough to stand before a holy God. That is why God in the form of His One and Only Son Jesus entered the world.
To quote C. S. Lewis Again.
“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”
C.S. Lewis
The Apostle John writes,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
1John 1:9-10.
Christians believe getting to heaven is a simple act of faith and confession.
As I quoted above the apostle John said if we confess our sin to Jesus He will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness.
And the apostle Paul tells us,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8,9.
Faith defined by the writer of Hebrews who said,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Hebrews 11:1.
The writer of Hebrews also telling us,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6.
This is what Christians believe.
So the question I ask are you sure in your beliefs?
If you were to die today are you certain where you will spend eternity?
As Tony Campolo asked,
“...when you die, will you be happy when everybody else is crying?”
Tony Campolo
Please think about it.
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