Why We Need Jesus
Man is a very intelligent being, but his intelligence and wisdom are greatly limited. That limitation is indicated by the fact that very often he does not realize his greatest needs, I am sure that heaven’s greatest grief is the fact that the average person has little consciousness of his need of God. And the greatest task of all God’s servants is to bring to human consciousness man’s great need of Christ. The average man feels that his own capabilities and wisdom are sufficient to meet all of life’s emergencies; and yet man is undoubtedly an unhappy being. Like the troubled sea which cannot rest, man is a restless and disturbed soul. The Alcoholic is one who is totally unable to resist the urge to drink of the cup that brings misery and ruins his life. It is only when he is persuaded to accept the belief that there is a higher power that will give him strength to resist this terrible craving, that he is able to resist his craving and become a sober man. The suicide leaping from a bridge to the cold waters below does so in the conviction that life is unbearable and meaningless. He would not take such a rash step if he could be persuaded to accept the guidance of that divine Friend whose wise guidance can direct us safely over the tempestuous ways of life.
Modern nations have reached the highest scale of living the human race has ever known, yet they are in a frantic race of wax armaments of unbelievable destructive power, and a third World war would lead to a holocaust of destruction too great for the human mind to contemplate. Educated, intelligent man seems bent on self-destruction. Mental institutions are filled to overflowing with the feeble-minded who find modern life just too hard for them. Thousands of individuals can find no peace of mind except through tranquilizing drugs which will eventually destroy them. All of this and much more we could reveal is impressive proof that man is not sufficient for his own needs. Man needs Christ! Why is this so? We will cite three reasons.
- Man came from Christ. He is the product of God’s wisdom, power and love. For this reason, he always will be dependent on God and Christ for his physical, mental and moral wellbeing. The prophet once asked, “Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us?”—Malachi 2:10. God through Christ made man in his own image, after his own likeness, and therefore, man cannot live a truly normal life except in close relationship with Christ, his Creator. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being”—Acts 17:28. As the newborn babe is utterly dependent on its mother, even so man is dependent on God for all of Life’s blessings. “Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights”— James 1:17. Therefore, man is dependent on God for all that is needed to make life pleasant, happy, and meaningful. Even as man physically is adapted only to this earth and could not live on any other planet except by artificial means, even so man -spiritually and mentally is adapted to a life that is lived in communion with God. It is only when man’s nature is warped by sin, that man will live independent of God. The very nature of man’s being requires a companionship with that divine Being who brought him into existence.
- Man needs Christ because he is separated from God through sin. The universal condemnation is; “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”—Romans 3:23. “The Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save; neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear; but your sins have separated between you and your God, and your iniquities have hid his face that he will not hear”—Isaiah 59:1-3. The prodigal son found no real happiness in that far land of dissipation—(Luke 15:11-20). It was only when he returned home, humbled and penitent, that he found happiness through his father’s compassion and forgiveness: even so, we cannot find true happiness while astray from God. “The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked”—Isaiah 57:20, 21. It is, only when a man’s heart is surrendered to the will of God that he can know that “peace of God which passeth all understanding.” Truly a man’s need is great when he must go down into death’s dark valley, “having no hope, and without God in the world”—Ephesians 2:12. Facing only the prospect of “a grave in the dark” can give man little, if any, incentive to live a life of usefulness and dignity. Christ has made this most definite and beautiful promise; “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”—John 14:27. The serenity of a “life hid with Christ in God” is something that is denied to every unconverted heart. Only he who calmed the raging waves of storm-tossed Galilee, can bring peace to a heart that is tossed to and fro on the tempestuous sea of life.
- Man needs Christ because, eventually, he must return to God. One of the most solemn statements of the Bible is: “And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment”—Hebrews 9:27. Several great truths are revealed in that inspired statement. Man’s existence in this world is strictly limited. Death is the lot of all. When man sinned in Eden, God’s decree was, “for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return”—Genesis 3:19. But death does not end man’s existence. He does not go down “to the tongue less silence of the dreamless dust.” He sleeps only to awaken again to appear before his Creator. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath clone, whether it be good or bad.”—2 Corinthians 5:10. Man alone of all of Gods creatures, was given sufficient intelligence to be held accountable for his conduct. Our thoughts, our words, and all of our deeds will come before the judgment of Almighty God, “for God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”—Ecclesiastes 12:14. A record of each individual life is carefully kept in the great book of God’s memory, and on that solemn day of accounts, it will be revealed, and each one will be judged according to their works—Revelation 20:12. From this judgment, there is no escape, for no one can evade the responsibility for the life that has been lived.
A confirmed infidel once spoke of seeing the star of hope in the night of death; but God’s inspired revelation offers no hope of mercy and grace to a soul that has squandered his life by living independent of the will of his Creator. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption: but he that –soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting”—Galatians 6:7, 8. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, but where there has been no repentance for a life wasted in the service of Satan, there can be no claim on the mercy and grace of a stern, but just God. Only in and through Christ can the future be made bright with the hope of eternal happiness. Paul affirms that Christ Jesus is our hope—1 Timothy 1:1, for he is “the way, the truth, and the life, and none can come to God except through him”—John 14:6. The time is soon coming when the little candle flame which men call life, will flicker, and go out in that cold night wind that blows toward the eternal shore. Only when your life is entrusted to Christ can you hope to walk without fear through it to the judgment bar of God. YOU NEED CHRIST!