Why I follow Jesus (Reading Time: 6 mins)

I am an Indian. In a country which has 33 crore Gods(almost 1 God for every 4 people) to say that I follow only one person as my Lord, is claiming something very exclusive.

I am not a follower of Christ because:

1. I have Christian sounding name
2. I was born in a family where my parents are also Christians
3. I go to church
4. I celebrate Christian festivals such as Christmas(Actually I make it a point not to celebrate these festivals)
5. I follow the rituals such as lent which are commonly associated with Christianity

I must acknowledge at this point, that in my pursuit of finding the answers for the deeper questions of life, I found it in Jesus and I have not actively tried or experimented with other worldviews and religions. 

For many people, one of the key goals of their life is to be good. I was not very different. To be good, I did a lot of work that would be considered good. I volunteered. I stopped using foul language. I stopped cheating in tests in school, stopped watching vulgar programs on the TV. I tried to help people whenever I could. To some extent I was successful. Well-wishers and friends who knew me said I was a ‘good’ guy. However, there were two problems. 

First - whenever I felt I have achieved the level of good I have set for myself, I will meet or hear about someone much better than me! So, I now have to set the standard higher and try again. So, who is Mr. Perfect that I can follow? After all, every human has his/her flaw - whether you are Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa.

Second - What people could see in me was a fraction of who I truly was. I struggled with anger. Who knew my thoughts and my deepest secrets? Even when I tried to be nice to a person on the outside, I will be swearing at the person inside. And, one of the big ones was pride. I compared myself with my peers, saw how I was better than them in areas a,b,c… and gloated up. I might not be a murderer or a rapist but neither am I a saint.

This became more obvious to me when thoughts about the afterlife made me feel very unsettled. What will happen to me after I die? Most worldviews believe that if you are good, you will get rewarded but if you are bad, you will suffer for your misdeeds. How much ever good I tried to be, I could never feel a peace that my afterlife is secured.

At this point may I add, many respected people believe that there is no afterlife. In my mind life makes sense only if there is an afterlife. Else, life itself which is filled with a lot of hardships and misery doesn’t make sense. There should be a purpose for us while we live on the earth and a purpose for our afterlife. 

The search for answers for these conundrums led me to this conclusion. My inability to live good as hard as I tried it is because of a major flaw in all human beings and that is known as sin. Sin is part of our DNA. Nobody had to teach me how to do wrong, it came from within me. And every wrong that we see on the planet. Even if the action was not a crime, it can still be a sin. 

Many worldviews have recognized the presence of sin and have given their antidotes to sin. It mostly involves ‘me’ doing something to earn forgiveness for my sin. These answers include tasks such as go on a pilgrimage, give charity, pay for your misdeeds, exercise bodily harm, sacrifice animals to take your place, etc. This, however, is an endless path of do’s and don’ts and still leave a very unsatisfactory feeling of falling short.

So, let me introduce God here. God’s nature, by definition, should be the opposite of man. Man is imperfect, God is perfect. Man is unholy, God is holy. Man's judgment is questionable, but God is perfectly just. God is antithetical of who the man is. For many questions that man has, God seems to be the only fit to give a coherent answer. Example - Who created the earth and everything in it? Evolution can be an answer but it raises more questions. To me, it makes more sense to believe, an intelligent designer created the whole universe. That’s why I am a 'theist'.

If I steal jewelry from someone’s home, then I sin against that person and my country. Again, this is a crime only when they can provide proof and convict me. I can still be smart and escape the clutches of the law. So what about these types of sins that can’t be proved against me but are true? What about my thought life? When I plan vengeance on someone whom I did not like, will I go scot-free? That seems very unfair. Every sin, whether caught by people or not, is plain in God’s eyes. Every sin is against God. And Because He is perfect, holy, righteous and just, He is the only person fit enough to judge every person including me. And He is the standard! His judgment will not be relative but absolute. I know I will stand convicted and will have to bear the punishment. What is the punishment? When God created me, He gave me life. When He judges me, the punishment is death. Not just the body dying but eternal death where the soul is tormented eternally. 

It seems to me then there is no way out of this eternal death. Every human being will fall short of these expectations. Who can help and save us from this hopeless plight? Can any godman or priest or sorcerer rescue us from eternal damnation?

It’s in this pursuit that I found Jesus to be the way out of this conundrum. There is a holy God who finds us wanting. And He knows that we in our abilities are helpless to save ourselves. Being God, He can just write away our sins and ignore our punishments but being God, that would be against His nature of being Holy and just. Here is where another of His characteristic is exhibited, His love. Because He loves human beings so much, He sends His own Son and that is Jesus. Jesus is God who became human. During his life on the earth, He showed us the way to live primarily showing us the condition of our hearts. Among the many things, He taught some resonated strongly to me. For example, He said I don’t need to murder someone to be called a murderer but just hate that person in my heart. I found this to be true. The hatred which starts in the mind and is unknown to everyone can lead to murder, but I am never convicted for anger. 

Apart from His teachings, the main reason Jesus came was to be a substitute for me and everyone else for the punishment we deserve. Instead of everyone being punished, Jesus took all our sins and transferred it upon Himself. So, He was punished for the sins of the world. It was not an easy punishment because it involved the worst form of torture, physically, emotionally and mentally and humiliation beyond what any human can endure. Finally, our sins were paid for. 

Thankfully, it did not end with this event. On the third day, this sinless man, who was God in the form of man, took the punishment for sin, that is death, defeated death by rising from the dead. Though this might seem very far fetched for anyone to believe, there is sufficient proof for this available today. 

In my search, I have found this to be the most uplifting and peace-giving answer to the problem of sin, salvation by my good works and life after death. 

Jesus did not set up religion during His time on the earth but made a way for sinners to come back to God. All I had to do was accept this truth and believe in His work.