What do you believe about Christ? An even better question might be, do you believe certain things "about" Christ, or do you believe "in" him? There is a difference.

A person can claim they believe Jesus was a man who died on a cross and rose from the dead. In fact, one can claim everything written in the Bible is historical fact. It is still a totally different thing to believe "in" Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. It is a totally different and more complex thing to believe "in" the totality of Scripture.

Many churches claim to be Christ-centered, even more claim to be "Christian," but how many of them claim to believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? How many claim to believe "in" Christ rather than just believe "about" him?

It all has to do with the relationship you have with him. I can believe my spouse is a good person and that she will do what is right because of the way she has acted toward me previously. It is another thing to rely on her and believe in her integrity to be a helper, companion and partner in life.

One comes from the knowledge of previous experience and the fact that she continues to be a good person. The other comes from a willingness to put my trust in her for my well-being and the well-being of my children.

On a much larger scale that is what faith is all about. You can have all the knowledge of all the facts that there are about the events and circumstances in the Bible and that can all be proven to be true in your mind. None of that takes any real faith. What takes real faith is when you put your complete trust in God for your well-being here on earth and, for that matter, your eternity.

Let me put it in even simpler terms. It is one thing that to know and believe Jesus died on the cross. This is a proven historical fact. It is totally another to believe this death on the cross was for you, for the forgiveness of your sins and for the saving of your soul from hell.

Say you are hanging off a cliff by your fingers. A man comes along who has the proper tools to save you. He lowers down the rope and says, "Grab on, I will pull you up." You know and believe he has the power to save you because you can see it in his hands. Still, it takes a big leap of faith to let go of the rock and grab the rope. In the end, you will grab the rope because you will eventually fall and die otherwise.

Faith in Christ is kind of the same way. Your whole life is like you are hanging from a cliff by one hand. The difference is you don't know it, or you think you can still pull yourself up with your own hands. Christ comes along with the tools, his very own body and blood, to save you. It just seems logical that you would, in the midst of your peril, let go of the rock and hold on to Jesus who is able to lift you up safely. Yet in your self-centeredness and pride you tell Jesus, "No thanks. I can make it on my own."

This is how the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature want us to think. Christ, on the other hand, wants us to simply let go of the cliff and hang on to him to be saved.

Once you start thinking in a truly Christ-centered manner, all of the pieces start to fall into place. You start to think and believe the world doesn't necessarily revolve around you, and you begin to realize there is a higher power involved in the world. You start to view the whole Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, in a Christ-centered way so even things like the fall of Adam and Eve, the flood, the rise and fall of earthly kings all point to the savior who is to come.

At the beginning of this article I made the analogy of how I believe in my wife. That analogy falls short in that from time to time my wife will let me down and even more so I will let her down. This is because she is a sinful human being just as we all are. When we put our trust in God, however, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we will never be let down.

I urge you not to simply believe "about" God or even to believe God, but to believe "in" him. Put your trust in God to save you from sin, death, the devil, and hell, solely by his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. I can assure you with all certainty that you will not be disappointed.

We are well into 2007. Things are constantly changing. The computer I buy today may be totally obsolete tomorrow. What is hip and cool today is totally outdated and uncool tomorrow. Our moods change with the weather. Our feelings change with the seasons. Our emphases in life change just as much as the rising and setting of the sun.

Six years ago the emphasis of my life was to get done with the seminary, wait expectantly and worriedly for the birth of my first child and for my first call into the ministry. Today my emphasis is on raising two wonderful kids and leading a church through the first decade of the 21st century.

In the midst of the workaday world that chases after all the latest fads, we can be sure there is at least one thing that will not change.

The old saying goes, "We can be sure of two things, death and taxes." I would have to add one other thing, the Word of God. His promises are as sure today as they were when he promised Adam and Eve that he would send a Savior. His word is just as valid and as relevant today as it was the day he first breathed it into the ears of His inspired writers. His Law and His Gospel mean as much today as they did the first time they went into the ears of its hearers.

The problem is not God's Word as so many would like to say. It is not outdated and irrelevant. It is not wrong. The writers would not have changed what they said based on scientific hypothesis. God would not have changed his mind based on what a few people thought and said was true. It has never been based on the whims of men but on the steadfast mind and will of God.
No, the problem is not God for he does not change and he is perfect in every way. The problem is the sinful creatures who change on a minute-by-minute basis, whose very lives change like shifting shadows, whose moods change based on the barometric pressure. The problem is we are sinful creatures who cannot seem to simply take God at His Word. We want to have it our way, not God's way.

In an age of complete relativism, in an age of you believe what you want to believe and I'll believe what I want to believe and we're both right, we need to get back to an absolute truth. In an age of everyone saying what itching ears want to hear, the law, the commandments of God, need to be proclaimed and taught so we all know where we have fallen short and where we stand with the Almighty judge and know that we are all poor miserable sinners. We need to then proclaim the simple Gospel of God's grace that he gave through the death and resurrection if his Son, Jesus Christ so that people, in their despair over their sin, may be saved.

As this year bulldozes forward, and as your thoughts and moods change by the minute, trust in and hold fast to God's Word as it changes your life from the inside out. Trust in the promises of God which are the same yesterday, today and forever and which will save you for all eternity.

I urge you to read God's Word, the Bible, for what it truly is, God's Word and not necessarily what you want it to be. Peace go with you throughout this year.