You can bank on it
I'm sure we've all used this phrase to express just how certain we believe something
to be.
Unfortunately over recent months we've seen that the banks themselves aren't perhaps
as secure, reliable and trustworthy as many of us had assumed. For many, confidence
and trust placed in the security of the banking system has lead to a great deal
of financial pain and an altogether bleaker future.
like everything in life, there are consequences to our actions. We can only spend,
spend, spend for so long before we are faced with the unpleasant consequences that
we're now in.
There are few of us who are not feeling the squeeze of the credit crunch in one
way or another. Savings, pensions, and mortgages, have all been affected meaning
that those of us who have never thought twice about the stock market are still likely
to be affected to some degree. So whether it's a recession, depression or just a
minor slowdown we are all needing to reassess investments that perhaps we'd taken
for granted as being trustworthy and secure.
But if even the banks can't be "banked on", where can we confidently invest and
be sure of a secure return?
Many people don't bother investigating the Christian faith because they believe
it has nothing to offer them. However Jesus Christ claims to provide the greatest
investment opportunity ever – life lived forever as a friend of God!
Despite what you may have heard, the Christian message is actually about the good
news of the opportunity to invest that Jesus offers. And this investment is really
quite simple: Jesus says he will give eternal life to whoever trusts in him.
But how can we know he is trustworthy? Many acknowledge that Jesus was a great moral
teacher with a compassion for those around him, but can he be trusted to deliver
on the quiet amazing investment claim that he offers. If Jesus is merely a compassionate
teacher then for all his good intentions he may well fail to provide the kind of
return he promises. But Jesus claims to be so much more than a compassionate teacher
– he claims to be the one and only God who made us and the world we live in and
who will one day judge the investments that we've made in life.
Now someone claiming those things can't be just a good teacher. He is either deluded
and mad, or he is who he actually says he is – God himself the giver of everlasting
life. But how can we make an informed decision on what to make of him and his claim?
The historical facts are simple – Jesus lived, died, was buried and then rose from
the dead. Investigate it for yourself. The resurrection is the most important event
that ever happened. If Jesus rose from the dead then he really is the God of the
universe whom we can trust in his offer of eternal life.
One reason for the current economic crisis is that we've borrowed more than we could
afford. Borrowers like the banks have said, "yes" to people who quite frankly couldn't
afford to repay.
But like everything in life, there are consequences to our actions. We can only
spend, spend, spend for so long before we are faced with the unpleasant consequences
that we're now in.
Similarly Jesus warns us that there are consequences to our opinion of him and his
claims. He is loving and compassionate but not all of his words make comfortable
reading. Yet even Jesus' warning of a future reckoning of accounts when we'll be
faced with the consequences of how we have lived our lives is actually an act of
love through which he calls us to turn to him.
Many people want to view God, only as loving with no place for justice or judgement.
However we all long for judgement in our world. How many of us have found ourselves
complaining over the last few months because those who are most to blame for the
current economic situation have seemingly escaped scot-free. But Jesus tells us
there will be a future day of justice when he will judge everything correctly.
Jesus says that none of us have loved God as we should. Despite being created by
God and living in His world, he says that we have all rejected God by deciding to
run our own lives without reference to him. Like rouge-traders we've misused what
is actually God's possession for our own ends. As a result, God is rightly angry
with us, and because he is just, God cannot let such wicked behaviour go unpunished.
He rejects us by giving us exactly what we want—a life without Him.
But this separation from God—which we experience now—has an eternal dimension. Many
people think that death and the grave will be the end, but the risen Jesus tells
us otherwise. Jesus says that we will all be raised to face His judgment of an eternity
without him, and without all the good things he has given us. The good things that
we currently enjoy and take for granted. Eternal life without security, hope or
love.
So Jesus hasn't compromised on the truth. He has told us the bad news of our current
situation in order that we might avoid the consequences of his future judgement.
He has been perfectly frank with us. And yet, the wonderful thing is that Jesus
is equally candid about the good news. He says that it doesn't have to end like
this. There is hope. There is a way out. Because God loves us, he has provided an
escape route from this judgment in Jesus' death on the cross.
How does Jesus enable us to escape God's future judgment? By choosing to be our
substitute, and suffering God's judgment in our place.
Two golden images used to dominate the city of London skyline—the scales of justice
and sword of punishment on top of the Old Bailey court, and the cross of Christ
on St Paul's Cathedral. The scales and sword represent God's just judgment; the
cross represents God's amazing love. We are all in God's dock. His scales weigh
our lives and He finds us all guilty of rejecting Him. God justly sentences us to
face His sword of judgment. Then the most amazing act of love happens. God comes
to earth to stand in our place, in order to serve our sentence for us on the cross.
On the cross, God's only Son, Jesus, was abandoned by His Father to suffer the terror
and loneliness of hell that we deserve. Wonderfully, Jesus' resurrection from the
dead demonstrates he has served our sentence fully, and so secured life for us for
all eternity.
When asked to imagine what heaven will be like, people often think of angels sitting
on clouds in white gowns playing harps. Actually Jesus promises something radically
different to this popular misconception.
He promises a new creation without all the problems that ruin this one. There will
be no more war, no more pain, no more death, no more tears, loneliness, insecurity,
anxiety or rejection.
Instead we will live face to face with Jesus Christ. Face to face with the one who
so loves us that he suffered God's judgement for us on the cross. Because we will
be with God and be in His perfect creation forever, we will experience total fulfilment,
unbroken joy, and constant happiness.
But eternal life doesn't begin in heaven. Eternal life begins the moment that you
invest in Jesus Christ. While your life won't be perfect until the new creation,
from the moment you put your trust in Jesus you start to get to know God intimately.
As you get to know Him, you will start to experience the fulfilment, joy and happiness
of knowing your Creator personally—knowing the One who loves you completely and
unconditionally.
This is an investment with unrivalled long-term prospects.
All this may sound too good to be true. Can we be sure that Jesus will keep his
promises to us?
During his life, Jesus repeatedly predicted that he would be killed, and then rise
again from the dead. And it all happened exactly as he had said. We can therefore
trust what Jesus pronounces concerning the future – that he will return in order
to give those who have invested in him eternal life and judge those who have rejected
him.
Jesus' claims more than stand up to rigorous analysis. No other investment has less
risk or greater rewards. In fact the risk with this investment comes from sitting
back and not investing.
Some investment decisions can be taken lightly. This one can't. Jesus cannot be
treated like some insurance policy, taken out to hedge our bets and then be forgotten
about. Jesus is God our Creator. To invest in him, we first need to recognise and
be sorry that we have been rejecting him as Lord and God of our lives. Then we need
to trust that Jesus chose to be our substitute, and suffered God's judgment in our
place. Out of thankfulness to Jesus for his undeserving love for us, we will want
him to be Lord over every area of our lives.
Some investment decisions don't affect our lives. This one does. While eternal life
will be unimaginably wonderful, investing in Jesus as our Lord and God won't always
be straightforward. Our lives will change, sometimes painfully, as we seek to live
for him rather than ourselves.
But in this struggle we are never alone. Jesus promises to be with us every step
of the way demonstrating his awesome love for us, which brings indescribable joy.
Some investment decisions can be delayed. This one won't wait. The eternal benefits
of investing in Jesus are so wonderful, and the risks of continuing not to invest
in Him so dire, that action must be taken. If you are waiting to move house you
might wait for the market to hit rock-bottom before investing. But it's all too
easy to miss the market bottom and miss out altogether.
It's similar with Jesus, except the stakes are infinitely higher. We don't know
when we will die or when Jesus will return to judge us, but both will happen and
will happen suddenly. This is the one investment decision you cannot afford to put
off.
Deciding to invest in Jesus would simply be the best and most important investment
decision you could ever make. At a time when we've all been made aware of the insecurity
and frailty of seemingly reliable investments, Jesus calls us to follow him and
so invest in life itself. Can he be trusted? You can bank on it!
David Thomas
For more information or an opportunity to talk about issues raised in this article
please contact David through the Church office on 01708 769868 or e-mail him at
church@romford-evan.co.uk