What's The Solution? Part 2

This is part 2 of “What’s the solution?,” a series on the answer to the challenging times we live in. Click HERE for part 1.

People are looking for answers to the many problems they see in the world around themselves. When the barbershop reopened after months of being closed due to coronavirus, the men inside were looking for more than just a haircut, they were looking for answers. So it is easy to understand that when I was asked in that crowded barbershop what the solution was to everything going on, the place fell silent and everyone turned to me to hear my response.

The gravity of the question demanded an answer, so I told them. I let them know, and I also want you to know that the answer is simple, but it is not easy. The solution to everything going on in the world around us is… JESUS! But we have to be careful not to get Him confused with some of the substitutes out there.

As a country, we could use some new laws, new policies, and new procedures. These fresh ideas could reorganize and revise our current framework and ultimately lead to some good outcomes. However, legislation only modifies behavior; it does not impact the human heart. We need laws because they carry consequences for breaking them. For example, people often become angry enough with others to kill them, but 25 years to life in prison or the death penalty keeps many of them from acting on this urge. Consequences cause us to think twice and in that way laws can modify behavior. But there are many people whose behavior has been limited by legislation who are still walking around with murder in their hearts. Legislation is helpful, but it cannot change a human heart. The solution is not legislation, the solution is JESUS!

I recently heard that 65% of Americans identify as Christians. More than 6 out of 10 people, the majority of the United States, profess to be Christians, yet our country is living in fear, hopelessness, and uncertainty. Christianity holds truth at its core and has done much good in the world, but as the state of our nation clearly shows, merely subscribing to a set of religious beliefs and traditions is not enough. The solution is not Christianity, the solution is JESUS!

 The Bible is a phenomenal book; it is the infallible, incorruptible, and indestructible Word of the Living God. We should study the Bible diligently as its words contain life, health, wisdom, and peace. Most importantly, the Bible points us to Jesus. But the Bible has been twisted, abused, and misused to commit all kinds of atrocities throughout history. The solution is not even the Bible, as fundamental and foundational as it may be, the solution is JESUS!

JESUS is the solution and most people don't really know or understand who He is. They have never experienced an authentic, genuine, divine appointment with Jesus. They might have said a prayer and maybe repeated some words, but they have never had an authentic real relationship with Jesus. They call themselves “Christians,” but they don’t know Christ! And that’s not good enough! We have to truly KNOW Jesus! We have to be like the apostle Paul, who after his life-changing experience with Jesus on the road to Damascus desired to “know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Philippians 3:10).

So how can we truly get to know Jesus? We have to study Him - His birth, His life, His mission, His death, and His resurrection. We’re going to have to do some research and learn as much as we can about the most important questions about Jesus’ life. Why was He was born? Why did He live and walk on this earth for 33 years? Why did He love people so much? Why did He always forgive and heal people? Why did the political and religious leaders of His day hate Him so much? Why did they brutally torture and execute Him? Why did He die on a cross? Why didn’t He stay dead? How did He defeat death, Hell, and the grave? Why is He still alive today? What does He want from me?

 Is your determined purpose to know Him?

The Lord recently told me that too often preachers are looking for something to preach, but not Someone to preach. That pierced my heart and I decided that I will preach Someone. I will preach the Solution. I will preach JESUS!

Why is Jesus the solution? Find out… IN NEXT WEEK’S BLOG!