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. —John 3:16 KJV.
Jesus is the son of God, born of the virgin Mary over 2,000 years ago. He and God are one. He is God in the flesh who walked this earth for thirty-three years. While here, He gathered up twelve disciples to help Him teach the gospel to the world. He gave public speeches, performed miracles—such as feeding 5,000 people with just two fish and five loaves of bread. He healed the sick, blind, and lame, and raised dead back to life—all in the name of God. He taught us how to live righteously, so that we may enter the kingdom of Heaven and have everlasting life with Him and the Father.
Because Jesus proclaimed He was God in the flesh and performed miracles, Jewish religious leaders started to fear Him. Jesus prophesied to his disciples that He would be killed, but He would be resurrected three days later. He also said that He would be preparing a place for us in Heaven, because His Father’s house has many rooms. And Someday He will come back for us, so that we may have everlasting life with Him.
Jewish high priests said Jesus was a liar and blasphemer and conspired with the Romans to have Him crucified. Jesus was tortured, ridiculed, and nailed to a cross where he hanged for three days until He gave up his last breath.
Three days later, Jesus was resurrected to fulfill the prophecy and prove His identity. Forty days after His resurrection, He ascended into Heaven and promised to leave us a helper in His absence. Ten days later, the Holy Spirit descended onto earth and into His followers
You can find these accounts and more on the life of Jesus in the first four books of the New Testament.
Here are twelve of his principles:
The greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. He added another commandment as the second most important—and that is to love our neighbors (everyone) as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39).
The golden rule: Treat others as you would want to be treated yourself. (Matthew 7:12)
Do not judge or condemn others, or we will be judged and condemned in the same way. (Luke 6:37)
Forgive one another, just as God forgives us. And if we don’t, God will not forgive us. (Matthew 6:14-15)
Have great faith in God because it can move mountains, believe in what you pray and you will receive it. (Mark 11:22-24)
Prayer should be sincere and with the right motive. He gave us the Lord’s prayer. (Matthew 6:5-13)
Love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. (Matthew 5:44)
Do not store up our treasures (wealth and material possessions) on earth, but store up our treasures in Heaven—following His teachings. (Matthew 6:19-24)
To follow Him would not be easy, but if we walk through the straight and narrow gate, it will lead us into Heaven. (Matthew 7:13-14)
Jesus is the way, the truth and the light, and no one comes to His Father, except through Him. (John 14:6)
He gave us the Great Commission before He ascended—to go and spread the gospel and His teachings to all the world and baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19-20)
Jesus was the sinless sacrificial lamb, whose blood washed away all of our sins, so that we may be saved and have eternal life with Him. Although we are saved by the crucifixion and God’s grace, we must declare that Jesus is the son of God and that He died to wipe away our sins. We must ask Him for forgiveness of our sins and invite Him into our heart and try not to sin anymore. We need to follow His teachings and spread the gospel to others so that they may find peace with our Lord too.
Start living your life for God, just as Jesus taught us, and you will find the path to true joy on this earth and everlasting life afterward. And don’t forget to share the good news with everyone, so that they will be there too. God bless you on your journey.