The history of the human race, as recorded in the Old Testament, gives ample evidence that God has a purpose in it all. The clues are right there in the early chapters of Genesis. This purpose is spelt out in increasing detail in the writings of the prophets from the eighth century BC onwards. The picture is given of a coming period of restoration when the often repeated refrain "I will be their God and they will be my people" will take on a new meaning. The time is coming when God will establish a new covenant with his people, in which their sins will no longer be remembered and their natures will be transformed, so that pleasing God will be the desire of their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34). It will be a time of great joy. "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shout for joy...Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away" (Isaiah 35:5-10). Even nature itself will share in this restoration. "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them...They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:6, 9).

There are also increasing hints that this restoration will centre around the ministry of an individual who will be descended from King David (Jeremiah 33:15, 16), uniquely anointed with the Spirit of God (Isaiah 11:1, 2; 61:1, 2), will suffer for the sins of his people (Isaiah 53) and who would be called "Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6).

The New Testament records the beginning of the fulfilment of these prophecies in the coming of Jesus, whose story is told in the first four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. God has at last broken into human history and lived among us in the person of his Son. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus he has provided the means for those who will to return to the Father, for the divine image in humans to be restored and for God's original purposes to be achieved. "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting [people's] sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19, 20) (1).

There is considerable emphasis on the death of Jesus in the New Testament, both in the Gospel stories and in the remaining books and letters. In some amazing way, here is God not only sharing our human experiences, even a shameful death, but also accepting full responsibility for our sins. "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God " (1 Peter 3:18).

It is not my intention here to describe in detail all that Christ achieved for us by his death and resurrection (2). Suffice it to say that when we come now to him with real repentance, acknowledging our need of forgiveness and submitting to him as our Saviour and Lord, two wonderful things happen. First, we are accepted as if we were without sin. The New Testament calls it being "justified". "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). It is a legal term which means that we are acquitted of all the charges against us. Second, the Holy Spirit, the third person in the divine Trinity (also spoken of as the Spirit of God or the Spirit of the risen Christ (Romans 8:9-11) literally comes to live in our human bodies. In fact, our bodies are spoken of as the temple in which God has now chosen to dwell (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).

A new identity as God's children

It is this experience of receiving the Holy Spirit that is spoken of in the New Testament as being "born again" or "born of the Spirit" (e.g. John 3:3, 5). And it is the Spirit who constitutes us now as sons and daughters of God. "God's Spirit doesn't make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. God's Spirit makes us sure that we are his children" (Romans 8:15,16). There was a time when God had only one Son (John 1:14, 18). However, when he comes into our lives, Jesus shares with us not only the relationship that he enjoyed with his Father, but also the rights and privileges that come from having that relationship. We are now full members of the divine family. Jesus becomes our elder brother. "Jesus and the people he makes holy all belong to the same family. That is why he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters" (Hebrews 2:11). Our identity is now found, not primarily in our earthly relationships, but first and foremost in our access to our heavenly Father, our friendship with Jesus and the constant indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, who brings it all together and makes it real. So let's explore further the implications of this new identity.

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(1) If you have doubts about the accuracy of the Gospel stories, the picture of Jesus given there, or whether he was indeed fully God as well as being fully human, may I commend to you the booklets The Bible: Can We Trust a Book Written Two Thousand Years Ago?, Did the Writers of the New Testament Get Their Picture of Jesus Right? and Is Jesus Really God?

(2) I have spelled out the certainty of the resurrection and some of its implications in Did Jesus Really Rise from the Dead?