Can I Trust Jesus?

A friend recently wrote that she was having trouble trusting God. This was my response:

“Rather than trying to muster up feelings of trust by your own strength, how about taking time to get to know Him better? The book Behold Your God by Myrna Alexander may be a good one to pick up again.

Also, just go back and read the account of Christ in the gospel. Don’t try to sort it all out at once. Just “camp out” on the thought that God loved us so much that He sacrificed His Son – who NEVER sinned – in our place as payment for our sin.

How often do we stop and play out what salvation looks like in a way that we, people living in the year 2007, can relate to?

Imagine you are sitting at home enjoying a delicious meal with an old friend. As you are talking, the familiarity is so great, it is as though he can read your very soul. You love him deeply and never wish to be separated from him. Your friend is kind and good. For as long as you can remember, he has never wronged you – or anyone else, for that matter – in any way.

Suddenly, you hear a loud crash in the adjacent room.

Before you even make sense of what is going on, a special military force enters your home. They move quickly and with skill. With guns drawn, they stand in front of you. The moment you see them, you know they have come for you.

After positively identifying you, the leader of the force cites a list of terrible things you have done. “You are going to be put to death as payment for your crimes,” he says. You know in your heart that you are guilty and that there is nothing you can do. You are ashamed before your friend who is so blameless and pure.

The weight of your crimes and the fear of your death is more than you can bear. The room starts to spin and you can hardly see. You begin to tremble. You have no excuses. There is no way out of this situation.

Your friend stand up and calmly steps in front of you – right between you and the loaded guns. He stretches out his arms and shields you. With authority and confidence he says , “I love my friend very much. She is worth more to me than my own life. I will pay for her crime. Take my life instead of hers.”

One of the officers grabs your friend’s hands and cuffs them. Your friend does nothing to stop him. Taking turns, they hit his head using their guns as clubs. Your friend is then hit in the stomach and he buckles in half.

You are horrified and beg for the officers to stop. You say, “He has done nothing wrong! It’s my fault! It should be me you are hurting!” But, you are outnumbered and they continue to beat him.

Your friend cries out in pain and struggles to stay standing, but still does not resist. The officers drag him out of your home to put him to death. Every scrap of your existence is owed to your friend. You stand there in grief and in gratitude, speechless over what has just happened to you.

We were dead in our sin, guilty before we were even born. And yet Jesus, our friend who loved us more than His own life, sacrificed Himself for us. We are unworthy of His sacrifice, but He is worthy of our trust. ”

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While I made up the story above, here are some verses from God’s Word that speak of our sin, our savior, and our response to Christ’s sacrifice:

Romans 3:10 “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one…’”

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 10:9-10 “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Romans 10:13 “For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Ephesians 5:1 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”