You hear it often: follow Jesus and life will be better.
Is this the real reason of wanting to become like Him? To have a better life?
In order to answer this question satisfactorily, we need to study His life in the Gospels and discover the type of a man He was.
In the Gospels, it is made very clear that Jesus is the Son of God who pre-existed with the Father before the beginning of the world and everything that was created "was for Him and by Him". ( John 1: 1-3)
Jesus humbled Himself by becoming a man with the intention of reconciling man to God thereby restoring the broken relationship between Creator and Creature that was initiated in the Garden of Eden through disobedience and the consequent Fall of Man. ( Colossians 1: 15-20)
Bottom line of His story is that He lowered Himself to become a Man to live a human life like you and I live with the exception that His life was sinless and He gave it up for our salvation and the remission of our sins.
Throughout His short life, Jesus showed us how to live as a man and not as a God. He grew up learning to obey His earthly parents, He laughed and He cried, He showed love and compassion and at times He exhibited anger in the face of evil, He became lonely, hungry and thirsty and tempted like us but with the exception that He did not commit any sin.
And this is what makes His life a great example to follow. It was possible for Him to live without sinning because He stayed in communication with the Father through prayer and relied on the power of the Holy Spirit to perform His many miracles of healing, love and compassion.
It was not God who died on the cross but Jesus the man. The nails were real. The pain from torture, the spilled blood, the agony and feelings of despair when the sins of the world were all falling on Him when God the Father turned His face away from His Son, were all too real.
Yes, Jesus felt the ultimate abandonment when He shouted "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27: 46). But despite this He knew His mission was completed when He cried out , Tetelestai, It is Finished !
Therefore, to follow Jesus means to do the type of things that He did. We need to love one another, show compassion, help the needy, fight for justice and be prepared to die if necessary to protect the weak and downtrodden and do the things that are pleasing to God by staying in constant communication through prayer and delving into His Holy Scriptures for guidance and inspiration.
Is life going to be better because of this? Not necessarily. One thing is certain: It will be right and our actions will be pleasing to our Creator and that is good enough for me. Praise the Lord!
John Costouros,
In His Service
Is this the real reason of wanting to become like Him? To have a better life?
In order to answer this question satisfactorily, we need to study His life in the Gospels and discover the type of a man He was.
In the Gospels, it is made very clear that Jesus is the Son of God who pre-existed with the Father before the beginning of the world and everything that was created "was for Him and by Him". ( John 1: 1-3)
Jesus humbled Himself by becoming a man with the intention of reconciling man to God thereby restoring the broken relationship between Creator and Creature that was initiated in the Garden of Eden through disobedience and the consequent Fall of Man. ( Colossians 1: 15-20)
Bottom line of His story is that He lowered Himself to become a Man to live a human life like you and I live with the exception that His life was sinless and He gave it up for our salvation and the remission of our sins.
Throughout His short life, Jesus showed us how to live as a man and not as a God. He grew up learning to obey His earthly parents, He laughed and He cried, He showed love and compassion and at times He exhibited anger in the face of evil, He became lonely, hungry and thirsty and tempted like us but with the exception that He did not commit any sin.
And this is what makes His life a great example to follow. It was possible for Him to live without sinning because He stayed in communication with the Father through prayer and relied on the power of the Holy Spirit to perform His many miracles of healing, love and compassion.
It was not God who died on the cross but Jesus the man. The nails were real. The pain from torture, the spilled blood, the agony and feelings of despair when the sins of the world were all falling on Him when God the Father turned His face away from His Son, were all too real.
Yes, Jesus felt the ultimate abandonment when He shouted "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27: 46). But despite this He knew His mission was completed when He cried out , Tetelestai, It is Finished !
Therefore, to follow Jesus means to do the type of things that He did. We need to love one another, show compassion, help the needy, fight for justice and be prepared to die if necessary to protect the weak and downtrodden and do the things that are pleasing to God by staying in constant communication through prayer and delving into His Holy Scriptures for guidance and inspiration.
Is life going to be better because of this? Not necessarily. One thing is certain: It will be right and our actions will be pleasing to our Creator and that is good enough for me. Praise the Lord!
John Costouros,
In His Service
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