Jesus Christ said: „I have come to bring life in all its fullness.“ (John 10:10)

Why don't you buy a paperback book in a Christian bookshop with testimonials from people who have found the new life with Christ? I myself am very happy that I also have this new life.

ON WHAT BASIS DOES GOD GIVE THE NEW LIFE?

We find the answer to this question in the ‘gospel’, i.e. ‘good news’ or ‘glad tidings’. You will quickly recognise why this message makes us happy. It is the best news that people have ever heard.

Imagine you were to die today and had to answer the following question before God: „What makes you think you can expect eternal life from me?“ What would you answer God? Frequent answers are:

• You have to keep the commandments ...
• You have to do good ...
• You have to lead a decent life ...

Many people think that if I do this and that, then I will get in favour eternal life.

I recommend everyone to keep God's commandments, do good and lead a decent life. But the idea of being Consideration to receive the new life is fundamentally wrong. The Bible teaches the opposite: new life is a gift of God's love for us. We cannot earn the new life through anything. Not even through suffering. When I realised this, I was very happy. I'll tell you why a little later, including the importance of good works.

Some people ask: Should doing good be for free? By no means. God appreciates every good deed. But we cannot earn eternal life with it. God gives new life to those who trust him because of Jesus' sacrifice. A sacrificial death for others can only be done out of love. Love can be reciprocated, but it cannot be earned.

FORTUNATELY, WE CANNOT EARN THE NEW LIFE.

Otherwise the rich, the strong, the intelligent and the healthy would be favoured. Others would be disadvantaged. We would also have to live in constant fear as to whether we had done enough and whether our actions were exclusively motivated by pure and good motives. Even if we were able to balance the ‘scales’ from today onwards, the question of our past would still remain.

If we had to earn eternal life and really took it seriously, we would end up in a nervous breakdown or despair. There was one man who took it very seriously. He broke down in the process. You know him.

It was the Augustinian monk of the time, Martin Luther. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:8, 9:

„Yes, by grace you have come to salvation through faith, and that not of yourselves - it is God's gift - not of works, lest anyone should boast.

What do we have to pay for a gift? Isn't it an insult to want to pay for a gift? I once asked the children in religion class what they paid for the Christmas presents they received. One of them replied: „We didn't have to pay for anything, but we said thank you.“

We should do the same with God's gift: Accept it and express our gratitude through our lives. Have you thought enough about this great gift of God's love and goodness?

WHY DO WE NEED NEW LIFE?

Because we have lost our original life through sin. What is sin? At its deepest level, it is indifference or rebellion against God. Who has sinned according to God's diagnosis? Everyone, including you and me:

„No one is righteous, not even one. All have sinned and therefore cannot stand before God.“ Romans 3:10.23

I remember a conversation with a young businessman. He allowed me to ask him a few questions. Among other things, I asked him if he was a sinner. He laughed out loud: „No, I take care of my family. I do my work in the shop. I don't smoke or drink.“

He allowed me one more question: „Have you ever broken the marriage?“ „Yes, I have.“ He didn't think he was a sinner. He was deceiving himself. He was playing ostrich politics.

The secretary of a believing director was convinced that she was not a sinner.

He once asked her: „Could it be that you think, say or do something wrong once a day?“ After a few moments„ thought, the young lady replied in the affirmative. The director continued: “Could it even be that you think, say or do something wrong two or three times a day?"

Her answer: „It probably happens three times a day.“ The boss did the maths: „Three sins a day makes a good 1,000 sins a year. If we leave out the first ten years of your life, you've already committed 15,000 sins.“ An unusual calculation.

The Bible says:

„Your sins separate you from your God“ and: „The wages of sin is death“ (Isa. 59:2; Rom. 6:23)

According to God's judgement, sin is punishable by death. We can even understand this. If sin did not result in death, it would continue to exist. If there is ever to be a world again without selfishness, hatred, war and misery, then sin must be eradicated. The way to do this is death.

We are guilty and therefore on death row. We cannot save ourselves. However, if we look to God, then there is a well-founded hope.

„God is love“ and „God is righteous“. (1 John 4:8 and Dan. 9:14) One consequence of love is justice. If God favoured injustice, he would be neither loving nor just. From a human perspective, this leads to a problem. It is often difficult for us to reconcile love and justice. Was this perhaps also a problem for God? How did he solve this problem?

„For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.“ (Joh. 3,16)

God solved this problem in his love through the sacrificial death of his Son for you and for me. Because of his justice, God must condemn us, but because of his love, he takes the punishment himself for everyone who trusts in him.

The Bible shows us that Jesus Christ is God. The Son of God became man in order to save us.

If Jesus had only been a man or an angel, he would not have been able to save us. Only God himself could bear the sum of all guilt.

Suppose God had created an angel to die for us - assuming that this could have solved the problem - wouldn't that be somehow cheap? Nothing less than the infinitely great sacrifice of the Son of God was able to express God's love for us humans.

Jesus Christ is the Creator of this world (John 1:13, 14; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2); only the Creator had the power to redeem us. Without creative power there is no resurrection to eternal life.

Jesus Christ is also the divine lawgiver (1Co 10:4; Jas 4:12 + Jn 5:22). Only the lawgiver himself could bring about a change by taking upon himself the punishment due to us.

When we realise that God himself was prepared to sacrifice himself for us humans, then we begin to understand his great love. Christ became the mediator through whom God demonstrated his infinite love for a world fallen into sin.

There was only one option: either Christ sacrificed himself for us or we would all be lost forever. The Bible clearly says: Jesus bore our sins. (1 Peter 2:22, 24; Isaiah 53:4-6)

WHY CAN JESUS CHRIST BE MY REPRESENTATIVE?

It was also difficult for me to understand how someone else could bear my guilt. However, there are also a whole series of cases in history in which a representative died for another or bore their punishment.

Reporters had found out before a trial that the judge and the defendant were university friends. So the courtroom was full of curious onlookers. What would the judge do? The trial went off without a hitch. The judgement was a heavy fine. As it was known in advance that the convicted man would not be able to pay - it was a case of embezzlement - the court officials were already ready to take him away. After the judge had taken off his robe, he stood in front of his friend and said: „Do you still think I'm your friend?“ An angry look was the answer. The judge continued: „I was your judge just now. I could not act differently as a judge. As a judge, I have to pass a fair judgement. But now I want to show you that I am your friend.“

In front of his friend, he wrote a cheque for the large amount he had just sentenced him to pay. This was a huge financial sacrifice for the judge. He held the cheque out to the convict. Ashamed, he hesitated to accept it. Finally, he accepted the cheque gratefully and trustingly from his friend, the judge. As a free man, he was able to leave the court with his friend. The sentence was not carried out. Someone else had paid the fine. When a debt is paid, there is nothing more to pay.

Jesus Christ is our judge according to John 5:22. The judge of the whole world will judge justly. He loves you and wants to be your friend. (Romans 5:10; John 15:14) Because of his love, he is prepared to pay for you. He is able to do this through his sacrifice. If you seek his friendship and accept his offer gratefully and trustingly, he will also pay the penalty for you and the judgement will not be carried out. (John 5:24)

Then you too can be a free man with your boyfriend „go home“. (Joh. 14,1-3)

By trusting him, by believe.

A prison warden wanted to know: „What should I do to be saved?“ The answer was: „Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved!“ (Acts 16:30, 31)

So it all depends on faith in Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, the meaning of ‘believe’ is very diluted today. The German word ‘glauben’ comes from the Old High German ‘geloben’ and means: ‘to pledge oneself to or trust in someone one loves’. Because it is so important, I would like to explain it a little more.

„If you say: I believe in God. If you are convinced that there is a living God, then that is very valuable. But that alone does not constitute saving faith.“ (James 2:19) Let's just call that ‘Intellectual faith’.

Some people pray before an operation or in other times of need. That is good. Let's call that ‘Emergency faith’. Intellectual faith is good. Emergency faith, through which we experience the love of God, is also good. Both are part of saving faith. But intellectual faith and emergency faith together are not yet saving faith.

With complete or saving faith, as the Bible understands it, the point is that I myself to Jesus Christ.

AN EXAMPLE OF REAL ‘FAITH’:

A doctor loves a young woman. He would like to marry her. The young lady is convinced that this man is a fine man and an excellent doctor. (This corresponds to the belief in reason). She needs an appendectomy. So she asks the doctor for help in her distress. (This corresponds to emergency faith).

The doctor is certainly pleased with the good opinion the young woman has of him. He is also happy to perform the operation. The young woman is now his patient. But if that is all, then it is certainly not enough for him. He loves the young woman and wants to marry her. If she reciprocates his love, there will be a preliminary ‘yes’ in the engagement and then the final ‘yes’ at the wedding. The moment she says 'yes' to him for the rest of their lives together, she has even him entrusted to us. (This corresponds to saving faith).

This is an example of our relationship with Jesus Christ. We hear about him or read about him and at some point we ask him for help. Many stop there and stay Patients of Jesus, instead of joining the best alliance there is: a personal love affair. His love, which we get to know through the Bible and through our experiences with him, leads us to trust him more and more. We turn to him in a personal prayer (this is the equivalent of betrothal). When we have got to know him better and trust him more, we commit our lives to him. We say YES to the wedding (the wedding corresponds to biblical baptism).

THE BIBLE COMPARES THE RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST TO MARRIAGE

The moment the young woman gave the doctor her ‘yes’ for life out of love and trust, she became his wife. In the same way, we too become close friends of Jesus or children of God the moment we give him the full, binding ‘yes’ for our lives.

„He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.“ (1 John 5:12)

„But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God ...“ (John 1:12)

From this moment on, we have new life. If we remain in this relationship with God, we will be raised to eternal life at the return of Jesus.

Marriage is a very good comparison for our relationship with God. The Bible uses this image in Ephesians 5:22-33, for example.

Saying "I do" at the wedding changes many things. The woman usually takes the man's name. Both leave their parental home, move into a shared flat and from then on lead a life together. It is the same with Jesus Christ. Once we have said yes to him, we want to live with him. We then like to read his love letter - the Bible -, we like to talk to him - in prayer -, we are happy that he has time for us every day - called devotion or quiet time - and that he wants to spend a whole day with us every week, the Sabbath and the church service. It gives us joy to shape life with him - working in the church and on mission. And, we may one day inherit the greatest inheritance there is: eternal life in the kingdom of God.

One more word about good works. The basic error of 98% people is that they think the Bible teaches that you have to earn eternal life.

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GOOD WORKS?

Let's read Ephesians 2:8.9 again and now verse 10 (Menge translation): „For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves (i.e. through your own merit) - no, it is God's gift - not on the basis of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance (for which God prepared us in advance) so that we might walk in them.“

We are not saved by good works but by the grace of God, without merit on our part. From the moment we are saved through our trust in Jesus Christ, we are in a new relationship with him. He has given us a new, changed life. For this new life, he has prepared good works for us to perform.

We now want to please Jesus, show him our love and gratitude. And he gives us strength for the new life. May I say it like this: Good works are not a prerequisite for our salvation, but their fruit.

Let's go back to the example of marriage.

A young woman will not get married just because a young man gives her flowers. But if they love each other, the flowers can be a sign of love.

When two people are married, the husband gives his wife household money. Is that a good deed? The wife cooks for her husband and keeps his suits in order. Are these good works?

Nobody will see this as good works that earn you marriage. After all, you are already married. It is the natural consequence of their loving relationship.

Let me summarise briefly: We receive new life by entering into a close relationship of trust with Jesus Christ.