Conversation with Jake (3) and some thoughts

Jake: "Dad, Jesus loves good guys and beats up bad guys?"

Me: "Mmmm yes & no . . . Jesus loves everyone good and bad, but will punish anyone who's not a Christian."

Jake: "Is a Christian a good guy."

Me: "No, good guys and bad guys need to love Jesus and then they become Christians."

Jake: "What's a Christian?"

Me: "Someone who loves Jesus and is loved by Jesus."

Jake: "Me a Christian then."

I think Jacob picked up on something that even adults stumble on. Jesus loves good guys and beats up bad guys or to say it another way, morally good people go to heaven and morally evil people go to hell.
To this the Gospel cries out that "All have sinned", that is to say that everyone is morally evil before Holy God. So as good as we may seem, we are deserving of that punishment set aside for those who rebel against Christ.

Jesus Christ lived a sinnless life on our behalf, took the punishment for our sin and arose again victorious over death so that we might live forever. That is the Gospel. Christians are those who believe (really believe) this. Having seen Christ as great and glorious and of more worth than anything else. We trust that He has accomplished all that was needed for us to be forgiven and accepted by God. We are a people who love Him because He first loved us.


When it came to Jacob's final sentence i hopefully prayed "Lord, may it be so..."