What does it mean to believe in Jesus, the Son of the living God? Believing in Jesus is more than believing facts about him. It is trusting him. For our own sake, He demands that we trust in Him. Because of who He is, He can rescue us from condemnation, judgment, and the wrath of God. He calls us to believe in Him to get us out of the desperate situation each one of us is in.
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” – John 11:25-26
How Jesus rescues us from condemnation and God’s wrath is by taking our punishment for sin onto Himself. Whereas he suffered and died as a penalty paid on our behalf.
As it is written in Isaiah 53:4-6:
“Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
He was crushed for our iniquities;
Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
And with his wounds, we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned—everyone—to his own way;”
Since there is nothing we can do to add to the redemptive work of Christ, He demands that we believe in Him. To keep us from God’s wrath. To believe in Jesus is not only about knowing and accepting who He historically is, but it’s also about trusting Him for who He really is. Believing in Jesus is trusting Him. As we thirst for nourishment, we drink for life-sustaining energy. To believe in Jesus is to thirst for the life He gives to those who trust Him. It is receiving Him as our thirst becomes quenched by Him as our living water.
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