When you hear the word “Christian” what image springs to mind? A lofty figure in a stained glass window, a bright halo hanging above its head? Perhaps a TV evangelist in a white suit, performing “miracles” and demanding people send him money? Or maybe your middle-class, traditional neighbours heading out to church on a cold Christmas morning?
What does the Bible have to say about Christians?
Christianity begins with facing up to the fact that we’ve failed. We aren’t good people, we’ve failed to live up to our loving Creator’s standards. The Bible calls this sin. This is so serious that in God’s perfect justice, we deserve nothing but eternal punishment.
But then we learn about grace – amazing grace! God Himself has done something to deal with our sin. Jesus of Nazareth is the Saviour of the World (that’s what “christ” means – “saviour”). The Creator-God became a man and kept God’s law perfectly. Then at the cross, He willingly took upon Himself the eternal weight of the just punishment of sin for all who put their trust in Him.
The Bible makes a promise. If we face up to our sin, admit we cannot deal with it ourselves and put our hope for forgiveness entirely in what Jesus has done then God will forgive and accept us once for all time. At the cross, Jesus was treated as though He had lived our lives and we are treated as though we had lived His. This is our hope in life and death.
What does it mean to be a Christian? It means we’re dead to our old lives. Out of sheer grace and love Jesus took our hell and shame until there was nothing left to pay. Facing such love, how can we go on living on our own terms? We may often fail but we carry on with His help. We want to follow Jesus because of His pure, selfless love shown to us. How can we do anything else?
The love of Christ constrains us, since we have made this judgment, that one died for all; therefore all died. And he died for all in order that the ones who live might no longer live for themselves but for the one who died for them and was raised…
The Apostle Paul, Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5