What We Believe
Who is Jesus?
He’s the great ruler God himself had promised to send, who would put everything right by setting up a kingdom of justice and love.
He’s also claimed to be the Son of God; God himself, entering the world as a human being.
Jesus proved who he was who he said he was by the things he did. He healed people. He calmed storms. He raised the dead. By doing these things, the King was giving a glimpse of life in his kingdom. A perfect place, with no suffering, fear or death. It’s the world we all want.
Why Did Jesus Come?
To Be Rejected
Many people rejected Jesus and His way. They thought they’d be happier making their own rules and living outside his kingdom. This rejection of Jesus is something we all do. Jesus called it sin. It damages our lives and will eventually leave us separated from the joy of being in the kingdom with Jesus.
To Be Killed
People rejected Jesus and his claim to be the Son of God so violently that they killed him by nailing him to a cross. But his death wasn’t a mistake by God – it was a masterstroke. On the cross, Jesus was cut off from God’s friendship and goodness. He did this to say sorry to God for OUR sin, OUR rejection of God, and to let us come back into friendship with God.
The sinless Jesus died to take the punishment sin deserves. Jesus was opening the way into his kingdom.
To Rise Again
Three days after his execution, his tomb was found to be empty.
Over the next few weeks many ate with Jesus. Dozens spoke with him. Hundreds saw him. Jesus the King could not be contained by death. He had risen! All that he had said was true!
His victory over death makes it possible for us to live with hope and confidence about what God can do for us, both in this world and the next.
What Does It Mean For Us?
So, today, Jesus is inviting people to come into his kingdom. He tells us to repent and believe the good news. Repent means to turn around, to live with Jesus in charge instead of ourselves. Believe means to trust that Jesus has done everything we need to give us a place in his kingdom.
Living with Jesus in charge isn’t easy. His followers will be rejected, just as he was. But they also live a life of deep security, satisfaction, and joy, knowing God and his forgiveness, being helped by his presence, and looking forward to Jesus’s return, when he will finally establish his loving kingdom forever. Jesus freely offers all this to anyone and everyone who repents and believes.
At Selsdon Baptist Church, our desire is to be a community of people who try to demonstrate what life in the kingdom looks like. We try to be loving and welcome people, whoever they are, and try to be like Jesus knocking down the barriers that cause divisions in our world.