Why Choose Jesus? What Makes Him So Special?
Why Choose Jesus? What Makes Him so Special?
If you come across this article, it is because of three possibilities:
- – You are a practicing Christian and want to hear from a fellow Christians perspective
- – You are simply curious
- – You are not a Christian but have questions about the faith
I’m not certain about that, but I feel pretty confident I’m at least close to correct. You will find that every human being on this earth wants to be at least close to correct. If there is an afterlife, a heaven and a hell, they want to be pretty confident that they chose the “right” one. Or if there is no afterlife, they feel secure in the fact that they are not following any one religion. But at the end of the day, everyone believes in something, and they believe (or would like to believe) that they are “right.”
Here you will find the reason why I know God is right, and I’m not just pretty confident about it either. So even if you have no intentions of believing in Him or you have been a believer for a decade, I encourage you to challenge yourself by reading this and possibly learn a thing or two that you didn’t see before.
The Moral Compass
There are people who may think such a thing as a moral compass does not exist, but I challenge that idea by asking how do you identify the right choice from the wrong one? A murderer or a hero? Do you take a risk or would you rather stay safe? The choices you make every day are because of that moral compass that lives in your brain.
Now, some who believe in the moral compass boil it down to just instinct. But C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity, explains what I believe to be true “the moral law tells us the tune we have to play: our instincts are merely the keys” (Lewis, 10). The deciding factor is your moral law. We have a reason behind the choices we make because of that moral bar. It tells you to act a certain way because the other way is morally unjust. Therefore, it can’t be merely instinct because it is what makes the decisions on behalf of what is really your true contrasting instincts.
Where Does that Bar Come From?
So we have ruled out the possibility of a moral compass not being real, and it just being instinct. The origin of this moral bar is the central debate among hundreds of conflicts and nations across the centuries. Some argue that it’s education. But that doesn’t answer where this moral compass just appeared in our heads. Many would call this crazy, but that moral compass is really just God’s voice telling you right from wrong.
Where is God’s Voice when Tragedies like War Happen Every Day?
The main question everyone asks at some point, believer or not: Why does God allow terrible things to happen? And why do people with that same moral compass, including Christians, commit them and/or justify them?
Most people have heard the common (but correct) answer to these questions.. Because God gave us free will. But I find that many people don’t understand the weight of this.
God knew we were going to sin from the beginning. He knew Adam and Eve were bound to fail. In the same way, He knows you and I will fall every day.
But that’s the problem. We fail all the time, so we displease God all the time. How do we please a God who hates when we fall, but knows we will? Religious and non-religious people across the globe try to answer the same question. I’ve (along with thousands of others) only encountered one true answer: Jesus Christ.
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalms 51:5 ESV)
It is said in the Bible many times that men will be sinners. But we were rid of the consequence, which is death, by the death of Jesus Himself. And you can see in the Old Testament how God was preparing the world for the coming of Christ.
I know the great majority who are reading this have been told this story time and time again, but understand this. This is what sets Jesus apart.
What Makes Him Different
To start off, I want to erase the idea that many other people carry about Jesus. Quoting C.S. Lewis once more, if Jesus was not God, he was either crazy or lied to everyone around him. He never claimed to be a highly revered prophet of God. He claimed to be the Son of God and that no one could get through to God but through Him.
Others will tell you that in order to get into their version of heaven, whether that’s a literal heaven in the afterlife or a state of mind or whatever it may be, you need to do good deeds here on earth. Bad deeds, as we acknowledged, will displease God, and you therefore will not go to heaven.
Yet, God knew we were to fail. And this creates an endless cycle of doing good deeds, falling into sin, repenting, doing good deeds, falling, and so on. So will you ever make it to heaven? With this system, it seems pretty difficult, and honestly quite exhausting.
What separates Jesus from this system? It’s that we are not tied to our sins before Him. No amount of sin you can commit can be level with His salvation, and His love for you. Your good deeds here on earth do not matter either. The presence of Christ in your heart, and He knows your heart, is what He wants. It’s hard to live a life in sin, or doing “bad deeds,” if you have truly put your faith in God’s glory. You don’t have to perform for Him, and you do not have to compete for your worth. You will always be enough for Him, and that’s what makes Jesus so special.
Not only that, Jesus tore the veil so that we can seek God through Him. God isn’t some inaccessible being we can only imagine; He’s right in front of us and always has been.
I went to a service recently where the pastor asked, “If you were in control, what would you do to get into heaven?”
I truly could not answer this question when it was first asked, but the answer was that we would adjust the narrative, the moral law. We would shift it to make it fit for us, but not others. We would change it according to what we considered to be right, so that we could make it to heaven. I find that answer to be more than correct. We are selfish and proud beings. But that voice in our head, God, is a constant reminder that we don’t have to be. We don’t have to change the narrative, because Jesus says to us,
“I have come into the world as a light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” (John 12:46 ESV)
Jesus sat with sinners. He does not expect you to be perfect or do excellent deeds on this earth to sit beside Him.
That’s why He is more than special, He’s perfect.