by Harry BuererPerhaps you are someone who hasn’t claimed to be an adherent of either Judaism or Christianity, or of any religious system. Many of the people addressed in the New Testament letters had been in that situation.
When Paul was in Athens (Acts 17:16-34), he addressed people in the town square. He saw that they had an altar “to an unknown God.” So he told them that he would explain this God to them. This was the God who created the world and everything in it. He also has moral standards that he expects humans to meet. Unfortunately, all people who ever lived (except Jesus) have broken God’s moral standards repeatedly, and deserve only God’s judgment. But the death of Jesus, the sinless servant of God, has paid for the sins of every person who accepts that payment for himself. (Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”)
God raised Jesus from the dead in order to affirm that he accepted Jesus’ payment for sin. For many centuries prior to that time God had been working primarily with a specific group of people, the Jews. He had called Abraham to leave his country and go to a new land. Even though Abraham had no children, God miraculously gave him a son in his old age. God promised that his descendants would become a great nation, they would be God’s special people, and God would give them the land of Canaan as their eternal possession.
Through this group of people, God communicated how he wanted them to live and to worship him. He made many promises to this people, including that in the last days he would bring them from all over the world to the land he had promised them, and he would establish a kingdom for them, ruled by a descendant of King David.
Jesus was born as a descendant of David, and he announced to people that he was the promised king. The word “Christ” means “anointed one”, after the ritual that was used to establish someone as the king of Israel. Jesus did not come to start a new religion, as many people seem to think. He came in fulfillment of the words of the Jewish prophets who predicted this end-times kingdom.
When the Jewish leaders rejected his offer of this kingdom, his role and message changed. At that point he became the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of humanity. After his resurrection, although he assured his followers that he would set up this kingdom eventually, he ascended to heaven, leaving his followers to spread the good news of how he had paid for the sins of anyone who would accept that payment for himself.
Maybe you have a hard time accepting the idea that an infinitely small and dense piece of nothing exploded for no reason, and became the universe that we see. Maybe it’s hard for you to believe that the complexities of life and the unique intelligence of humans happened entirely by random chance. Don’t worry; you don’t have to accept that. The Bible tells us that there was a God who created the whole thing, perhaps by initiating the “big bang”. It also tells us that this God loves and cares about each one of us, and wants us to acknowledge and worship him.
In the years after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God had his followers spread the message to people outside of the nation of Israel. The Jews continue to be God’s special people, but the rest of us who are not Jews are invited to join with Israel in becoming God’s greater people. Many people have accepted that invitation.
Unfortunately, in the centuries after Jesus, many of his followers were misled, due to heavy Roman taxes on Jews, to repudiate God’s people Israel and the instructions that God had given to them. As a result, much of Christianity took a wrong turn that affects them to this day.
I recommend that in finding a group of believers in Jesus to worship with, you try out a local Messianic congregation. Another option is to meet in a home study group. One I particularly recommend is the Torah Club system, sponsored by First Fruits of Zion. These groups can help you to learn about Jesus in his Jewish context, and how to follow him as a disciple. Embrace the God of Israel, the people of Israel, the faith of Israel, and the Messiah of Israel. May God bless you in your journey of discovery.