WHO IS JESUS? If you want a personal relationship with someone you need to know who that person is. So lets talk about who Jesus is. Jesus is God, one of the trinity. The trinity is something that we humans sometimes have a hard time getting our brains around. It is God in three persons, the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. The important part to remember is that they are all God. God has always been, He has no beginning and will never end, therefore Jesus has no beginning and no end. See what I mean about it being hard to really understand? Well what is important is that you believe it, not that you totally understand it. Jesus came to earth as a baby, born to a virgin (Mary). How could this happen? Well the Holy Spirit caused it to happen. After His birth, Jesus was still God, but He was also a human. Unlike us who are born as sinners, Jesus was born sinless. He lived a sinless life here on earth. That does not mean that his life was different from ours, He was affected by sickness, pain (physical and emotional) and He was tempted by Satan to do things which would have been sinful had He done them. Jesus was a Jew. The old testament of the Bible is the history of the Jews up to the birth of Jesus. It foretold His coming. The problem was that the Jews thought that when He came He would set up His Kingdom on earth and rule from then on. Jesus did not do that, He came as a man and taught the people His Father's will. Many Jews rejected Him because of this, and finally they put Him to death on a cross like a common criminal. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" 1 Timothy 1:15 WHY DID JESUS DIE? Why would Jesus allow Himself to be killed? Well after God created man (Adam and Eve) they sinned. The punishment for sin is always death. Until man sinned there was no death in all of creation. Before Jesus came to earth, people had to receive forgiveness from God with the blood of an animal sacrifice (death). When Jesus allowed Himself to be killed He became the sacrifice for our sins. His blood can cover our sins from God's eyes. So through His death we are forgiven. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 10:11 HOW CAN YOU BE FORGIVEN NOW? All that you have to do is believe that Jesus is God, and that He came to earth as a man and died for your sins. And that God the Father raised Him back to physical life. Once you believe that just ask Him to forgive you, to come into your heart as your Lord and Savior, and to cover your sins with His blood. That's all there is to it. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 1 John 4:15 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:9-10 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 You need to understand what making Jesus your Lord and Savior means. It means that you are going to follow Him. This is what He commanded us. He will help you, but you have to be willing to follow Him. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24 DON'T KNOW HOW TO CHANGE? Let Jesus take care of that. All you have to do is repent of your sins and ask Him to forgive you and live in your heart as your Savior and He will help you with everything else. If any person had to change himself before he was forgiven there would be no hope for anyone. This is because we cannot change on our own. However, don't take this to mean that God does not care what kind of lifestyle you live. He does care and He expects us to try to live a holy life. My point is that we are incapable of doing so on our own, but God will help you if you will attempt to live right and allow Him to control your life. | 
