When examining the question “why am I a Christian” there are two broad categories that are foundational to my faith, the character of God, and the depravity of men. Before we reach ourselves we must look toward the character of God, specifically His holiness and righteousness. As seen in Habakkuk 1:13 God’s “eyes are too pure to approve evil, and [He] cannot look on wickedness with favor”. Both mine and your “iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). We know from scripture that “the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face” (Psalm 11:7), and if a “man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready” (Psalm &:11-12). Understanding the Character of God leaves us in a pretty scary situation. If we have broken God’s law (the Ten Commandments) just once… we are guilty of breaking all of them, and are therefore guilty in God’s courts.

The reality is that we have all broken Gods law. We have “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment (Isaiah 64:6). These passages of scripture brought me to the great dilemma, how could we ever be brought back into the presence of our creator if all of our best deeds could never measure up and earn Gods favour?

Though I was looking for my own action I found God’s awesome action. While maintaining His holiness and justice, the Bible also affirms that God is love, and in His love He has responded to sinful man. In 1 John 4:8-10 we see that “God is love. By this the love of God is manifested in us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins”. The Cross of Jesus Christ was the solution to our redemption, Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. The Cross was where the great exchange occurred. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). He stepped into the heavenly court rooms, dismissed our guilty case, and took the penalty upon himself. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a signal that the entire wrath of God was satisfied by the perfect, spotless, Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. On the third day He rose from the grave, and is now seated at the right hand of God, given all authority under His name. Every single knee will bow down and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We will all have to face him one day and confess that He is Lord. Either we will be doing it before our condemnation or doing it out of pure joy and affection for our saviour. After understanding both the character of God and the state I was in (apart from Christ), it ultimately brought me to the end of myself and to the beginning of an active pursuit of Christ. Apart from Christ I can do nothing.