PERSONALLY - Cru Staff Store

KNOWING JESUSPERSONALLY

Did you realize that God has created you for a wonderfulpurpose? That your life here on earth can be full andmeaningful when you are tapped into that reality? It’s true!And the way to experience this is through a personalrelationship with God’s son, Jesus Christ.This magazine will help you get to know Jesus by lookingat his life, what he offers each person, and how you candevelop a close relationship with him. Obviously, there’smuch more to learn about Jesus than this publication cancover. It is merely a starting point—an introduction, if youwill, to the greatest person in history. So enjoy the journeyand may you discover the joy of knowing Jesus personally.

KNOWING JESUS PERSONALLYCONTENTSFeaturesThe Greatest Person Ever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3BY JIM TULLOCHWhat Jesus Can Do For You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9BY JIM TULLOCHCan I Trust The Bible? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13BY MICHAEL HORNERTough Questions, Honest Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19BY MICHAEL HORNERPersonally SpeakingBetty Mutwiri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Wayne and Irene Barnes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Dave Friesen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Knowing Jesus PersonallyBeginning Your Relationship With Jesus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 Lessons For Personal Study1. Understanding Your Relationship With Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . . 382. Experiencing God’s Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433. Power For Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494. Growing In Your Relationship With Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . . . . 55

He is easily the most influential figure of all time. In fact,...ishistherearrival separatedanyonehistorywhointo twocompareseras: B.C. and A.D.toJesus of Nazareth?

BY JIM TULLOCHTHE GREATESTPERSONEVERWhat is it about Jesus that sets him apart from anyoneelse? Why, more than 2000 years after his birth doover 1 billion people claim to be his followers?The answers to those questionsare found in his life and teachings,but the most compelling of all iswho Jesus of Nazareth claimed tobe: God incarnate.Why would the creator of the universe,of life itself, become a man?Author Philip Yancey offers thisexplanation:“I learned about incarnation whenI kept a salt-water aquarium.Management of a marine aquarium,I discovered, is no easy task. I had torun a portable chemical laboratory tomonitor the nitrate levels and theammonia content. I pumped in vitaminsand antibiotics and sulfa drugsand enough enzymes to make a rockgrow. I filtered the water throughglass fibers and charcoal, and exposed itto ultraviolet light. You would think, inview of all the energy expended on theirbehalf, that my fish would at least begrateful. Not so. Every time my shadowloomed above the tank they dove forcover into the nearest shell. Theyshowed me one “emotion” only: fear.Although I opened the lid and droppedin food on a regular schedule, threetimes a day, they responded to eachvisit as a sure sign of my designs totorture them. I could not convincethem of my true concern.To my fish I was deity. I was toolarge for them, my actions too incomprehensible.My acts of mercy they sawas cruelty; my attempts at healing theyviewed as destruction. To change theirperceptions, I began to see, wouldrequire a form of incarnation. I wouldhave to become a fish and “speak” tothem in a language they could understand.”1That’s why Jesus came. ThroughJesus, God not only explained hispurpose for humankind, butrevealed in human form, his verynature. Everything about Jesus’life, his extraordinary birth; his sinlesslife; the miracles he performed;his uniqueness from others; thewords he spoke; the influence he’s3

An important aspect of knowingJesus personally is understandingthe things Jesus can do for youthat no one else can.

BY JIM TULLOCHWHATJESUSCANDOFORYOUPardon from SinEver since the garden of Edenwhen Adam and Eve chose to disobeyGod and sin entered theworld, humankind has strayed fartherand farther from God’s measureof right living. “All havesinned,” the Bible says, “and fall shortof God’s glorious standard.” (Romans3:23). God, who is holy, cannotstand sin in any form. His naturerequires that those who sin be punished.“The wages (penalty) of sin isdeath,” (Romans 6:23). Since everyonehas sinned, the world findsitself in the most dire situationimaginable with no way out.Enter Jesus. He did what we onour own merit could not do—paythe penalty for our sins. Imagine acourtroom scene where you, thedefendant, are tried and foundguilty of a serious traffic violation.The judge is compelled by law toexact your punishment: a hefty fine.In a surprise move, the judge comesdown off the bench and to yourside. “Because I love you,” he says,“I will pay your fine. Your debt ispaid; your slate wiped clean.”In essence that’s what Jesus did foryou and me. The Bible describes itthis way: “Now God in his graciouskindness declares us not guilty. He hasdone this through Jesus Christ, who hasfreed us by taking away our sins. ForGod sent Jesus to take the punishment9for our sins and to satisfy God’s angeragainst us. We are made right withGod when we believe that Jesus shedhis blood, sacrificing his life for us,”(Romans 3:24-25).Jesus lived a sinless life yet willinglydied on the cross to pay thepenalty for our sins. Why? BecauseGod loves us and wants his creationto be in right relationship withHim. He sacrificed his own son sowe could live. With that pardoncomes another wonderful benefit:eternal life.“For God so loved the world that Hegave His only Son, so that everyonewho believes in Him will not perish buthave eternal life,” (John 3:16).Forgiveness of sins. Pardon frompunishment. Eternal life. Who elsebut Jesus could make such an offer?But that’s not all Jesus does for us.He gives us purposeOne of the great philosophicalquestions of life relates to purpose:Why am I here? What is my reasonfor being?We all wrestle with that questionand the nagging restlessness thataccompanies it. Centuries ago, St.Augustine offered an explanation asto why this is so: “Thou hast madeus for Thyself O God, and ourhearts are restless until they findtheir rest in Thee.”The famous French mathemati-

BY MICHAEL HORNERCANITRUSTTHEBIBLE?The Bible, in particular the New Testament, isthe primary information source about Jesus. Buthow do we know these records are true? Is theBible reliable? Can you trust it? The answer is aresounding “yes!” Here’s why.Beginning with the NewTestament documents, there arereally two separate issues involvedin determining their trustworthiness,accuracy to the original andreliability of the original.Accuracy to the Original“Has the New Testament changeddrastically over the years?” It isimportant to understand that thereis widespread scholarly agreementin this area called textual criticism,that in our modern New Testamentwe have substantially what was originallywritten down.Sir Frederick Kenyon, keeper ofancient manuscripts and director ofthe British Museum, after a lifetimeof study of ancient documents cameto this conclusion,“No other ancient book has anythinglike such early and plentifultestimony to its text and so unbiasedscholar would deny that the textthat has come down to us is substantiallysound.”So the text has not been altered,but we can trust what was originallywritten down is reliable history.Legend?Couldn’t the writings be legendary,the result of the overdevelopedimagination of the earlychurch? There are strong argumentsagainst this hypothesis.First, there just wasn’t enoughtime for any legendary development13