Question: What Is Christianity All About?

Answer: Jesus Christ

• The Bible is the book about Jesus Christ
• The Rules of Christianity are about being like Jesus Christ
• The Customs/Rituals of Christianity (Communion, Baptism, etc.) are about being united to Jesus Christ.
• The Church is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ here on earth.
• Heaven is just the participation in the eternal life of Jesus Christ which He achieved by rising from the dead.

1 Timothy 2:3-7 NLT

This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth. I’m not exaggerating—just telling the truth.

7 Questions To Help Us Understand Christianity:

#1) WHO IS JESUS?

• The gospels give a multifaceted view of Jesus.
  • Matthew — Jesus is the Messiah/King
  • Mark — Jesus is the suffering servant of God
  • Luke — Jesus is the perfect son of Man
  • John — Jesus is the fully human, fully Divine Son of God

Jesus is the son of God… which makes Him truly God.

Matthew 3:16-17 ESV

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Mark 9:7 ESV

And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

Jesus is the son of Mary… which makes Him truly human.

Matthew 1:20-22 ESV

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

• Because He is truly human and truly God, He is the only one that can bridge the gap between God & humanity.
• God is… Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
  • One being. Three persons. One tri-une God… The Trinity.

#2) WHY DID JESUS DIE?

John 3:16-18 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

• Jesus had to die as a sacrifice to pay the price of evil so our debts can be forgiven.

• Evil = lack of good
• Sin = debt; anything we do outside of God’s character.

Degrees of sin:

• Iniquities (Ex: internal sins)
• Transgressions (Ex: external sins)
• Lawlessness (Ex: breaking God’s commandments)
• Unrighteousness (Ex: not doing the right thing)

• Jesus came to solve a sin problem— the human heart.

#3) WHY DID JESUS RESURRECT?

• To defeat death caused by sin so we can have eternal life.
• To redeem us from evil.
• To gives us the strength to resist evil.

1 Corinthians 15:20-22 NLT

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.

Romans 4:25 NLT

He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.

• After Jesus resurrected, He ascended to Heaven— to His throne— to rule His kingdom because He wants to involve His people in the works of spreading the kingdom & redeeming the world.

#4) HOW CAN WE SPREAD THE KINGDOM?

• At Pentecost, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower them to build the Church (kingdom of God here on earth).

Acts 2:2-4 NLT

Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

• So for anyone with faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit unites them to Christ through the rituals of the Church.

#5) WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?

= a citizen of God’s Kingdom

= a follower of Jesus Christ

= a disciple of Jesus Christ

• Christianity is about seeking Truth.

Being a Christian involves:

A) HELPING THE POOR

Proverbs 19:17 NLT

If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD— and he will repay you!

Proverbs 14:31 NLT

Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honors him.

Luke 14:12-14 NLT

Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

B) RESISTING EVIL

James 4:7 ESV

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Hebrews 1:9 NKJV

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

C) SHARING THE GOOD NEWS

Luke 4:18-19 NLT

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the LORD’s favor has come.”

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

#6) WHY SHOULD I BECOME A CHRISTIAN?

• Christianity is very different from all other religions.
  • Others: Salvation is a goal to achieve.
  • Christianity: Salvation is a gift to receive.

Ephesians 2:8-9 Voice

For it’s by God’s grace that you have been saved. You receive it through faith. It was not our plan or our effort. It is God’s gift, pure and simple. You didn’t earn it, not one of us did, so don’t go around bragging that you must have done something amazing.

• Jesus gifts you with salvation, grace, love, healing, forgiveness, true freedom, identity, purpose… even through our suffering.
• Jesus treasures you more than anything including his own life.

Matthew 13:44 AMP

“The kingdom of heaven is like a [very precious] treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field [securing the treasure for himself].”

• In Christianity, Jesus pursues you because you are His true treasure.

[CONCLUSION] #7) HOW CAN I BECOME A CHRISTIAN?

(1) REPENT & BELIEVE

(2) GET CONNECTED TO CHURCH

(3) GET BAPTIZED

(4) GET DISCIPLED

Romans 7:14-25 NLT

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.