Message No. 5 To Seekers, Doubters and Unbelievers in Coronavirus Times

Introduction

Hello! In this, my last message to seekers and unbelievers in this age of the coronavirus, I will illustrate more clearly what God has done for His people through Jesus Christ, and why it’s so important to understand and believe this.

In my previous message, Message No. 4, we saw how God came to earth as a man – Jesus – to save people from their sins, and the effects of those sins, by Jesus’ deliberate death on a cross. But how can we understand what Jesus did on the cross, through His sacrificial death? Let me show you, by giving you an example from my own life.

Message No. 5 - What You Need To Do

I started my career as a language teacher in England. I was appointed to one position in a school in the middle of the school year, which was a bit unusual because vacancies are usually at the end of the school year. After I’d accepted the job, I discovered that I was to be the class teacher of a class of unruly teenage girls. Then I found out that my predecessor had left so suddenly because she had had a nervous breakdown trying to control the girls. Wasn’t that nice! I really had to put my foot down with those girls, but gradually I earned their respect, and by the end of the school year we were almost enjoying each other’s company!

You see, those girls had two teachers in charge of them. The first teacher had allowed them to get out of control, and they were messing around all the time. Then there was a change of teacher, as I took over. But at first, they were still behaving as badly as they did before. It was what they were used to, and what they expected. Only after some time did they realize that they couldn’t mess around with me, and so at least some of them gradually changed.

That example is a bit like man’s spiritual history. At first, man is under his old master the devil, who encourages him to keep on sinning and breaking God’s holy laws. But then came Jesus who, by His death on the cross, paid the price to free God’s people from the devil’s power, and, as it were, became their new master – a good, positive master, who would bring out the best in them.

But now look what happens. These people now actually have a new master to follow – Jesus Christ – but, like those girls, they initially continue to want to behave as if the old master – the devil – were still in charge of them! They don’t at first believe that an astounding change has occurred. They don’t realize that they need no longer be condemned for their sins, because Jesus has made provision for them to be protected and saved! They don’t realize that they can now simply have a direct relationship with God through their new master Jesus Christ, and that their previous sinning will then simply die away as they follow and obey Him! They don’t yet believe these things.

Now, if you don’t believe or realize something very important in life, you could miss out on some vital benefits. If you intend to catch a train to go somewhere, and the train schedule changes and you don’t know about it or believe it, you could miss your train. Or if somebody gives you a cheque in an envelope as a gift, but you don’t open the envelope, you won’t gain anything, will you? It will be as if you didn’t have it, and you will behave as if you didn’t have it – even if you actually do have it! You will have missed out.

How can people wake up to such a realization that God has in fact already come to their rescue? Someone has to tell them about it – which is why I’m addressing you, dear Friend. I’m telling you that Jesus Christ the Word of God died for people, on the cross, to break the power of sin in their life, that they might no longer serve their old master the devil through their unbelief. They can serve God instead. If they continue in their old ways and their unbelief, they will have condemned themselves to eternal death. They will have missed the train. They will have failed to open the envelope. And You might be one of those people.

Dear Friend, you can’t get to God by trying to save yourself: salvation is God’s department. So don’t think about doing good in order to score lots of points with God. God has already done everything a person needs to be saved! That’s His free gift to His people! What He expects is for you to repent of your sins, including your false beliefs about God and Jesus. In other words, deeply regret your sins, make a determined effort to turn away from them, and acknowledge in your heart that you now have a new Master – Jesus Christ – putting your faith in Him and trusting in Him as the one true Saviour and God. And do you know what He will then do? Like me and my class of girls, He will gradually change your behaviour and your way of thinking, until you become the wonderful person He wants you to be.

That’s all that Christianity is about. Not, in the first place about going to church – but about deeply and sincerely regretting your sins and wrong beliefs; turning your thoughts to Jesus and what He did for people on the cross; and asking Him to come into your life and give it meaning, and to change you. If you want to walk with Jesus, you must turn away from your own notions and your self-centredness every day, and follow His guidance in your life.

Yes indeed, Jesus is very much alive! He didn’t suffer and die on the cross and that was the end of it. No! He suffered and died as a man – but the “God” part of Him cannot die, and lives on. Remember, He is the great “I AM WHO I AM”. He is the Word of God. Nobody worships a God who is dead. We wouldn’t worship Jesus if He had simply died and that was the end of Him. Neither would there be any possibility of having our sins forgiven. We would still be guilty of them.

On the second day after His death, Jesus physically rose from the dead. His body had been laid in a tomb (which was guarded, according to one account), but when people looked inside the tomb, they found no body. And after His death, Jesus appeared several times to His followers – on one occasion to more than 500 at the same time – to assure them that He was still alive. Amazing things – supernatural events – started to happen, and soon there were thousands of followers of Jesus. His followers are still increasing in numbers, right up to the present day. Jesus Himself is changing people’s hearts.

So this, briefly, is what the Christian faith is about. Today, too, the coronavirus is changing people’s lives all over the world, and hundreds of thousands of people are turning to Jesus, even in countries where Christianity is forbidden. God sometimes sends us catastrophes to wake us up and make us realize how far we have drifted away from Him. He doesn’t want to punish us. He is a good Master. He wants the best for us, and simply wants us to turn to Him completely and trust in what He has done for us through Jesus Christ. If the world realizes how sinful it is, and earnestly starts to seek Him and ask for His forgiveness, He will hear our prayers and heal us. He will open our eyes to the wonderful blessings He has already reserved for us. Your eyes too will be opened, and your spiritual blindness will disappear. Christians believe and feel that when this happens and people see the truth, then Christ’s Holy Spirit comes into their life and guides them safely, day by day, until they reach their destination: heaven.

Dear Friend, God will welcome you in His loving arms when you come to Him in the only acceptable way to Him – the way He Himself has ordained: through Jesus. Think these thoughts over. Reason them out in your mind, and you will find they make perfect sense. I challenge you to find anything better – I certainly can’t. And then, when you come to God through Jesus, you will have peace in your heart which you have never known before. My prayer is that you will find it.

Thank you for listening to these messages. Stay safe in these difficult times, and may the Lord God bless you. Bye.