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-====== Why we need Jesus II ... ======
+====== Why we need Jesus ... ======
-Friday, Dez 20, 2019.
+Friday, Dez 20, 2019. We have been discussing why we need Jesus. We started with the question
+why we need God to talk to us. And we talked about God being the creator. He knows creation,
+and he knows humans. We need his wisdom.
+We also talked about him and his spirit as the one who can fill our heart and our mind. We are made to
+be with him, with the eternal father. Only when we find the eternal loving father, we are complete.
+Without him we will always feel a void in the center of our existence.
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-**  ... **
+** Justice ... **
+There are further reasons why we need Jesus. There are very deep reasons. One core point is that
+we all need justice. We want justice. We long for justice. So many of us are angry about injustice.
+We are angry if humans are treated badly - that can be us or other people. Most of us get really angry
+when we see injustice taking place.
+But injustice is a part of our own life as well. We are not always just. Perhaps we are sometimes
+just. If we start to investigate our own actions, our thoughts, our words, our behaviour, we discover
+more and more parts of it which are not what they should be. Of course, we can be patient with
+ourselves. We can be careful and forgiving to ourselves. We have the freedom to weight our own
+failures. But still, our own behaviour is a serious problem - if we start to look into it at all.
+What can be a solution to the injustice of others? Punishment? Revenge? We are happy about clear laws,
+about the police to take care of injustice. Modern democracies have developed a complex code of
+justice, courts and punishment for human behaviour. Yet, we all know that there is so much crime
+which is not brought to justice. And there are so many things where people hurt each other deeply
+which are beyond our legal system.
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-**  ... **
+** Reconciliation ... **
+Jesus is called the lamb of God. This title is given to him for his death at the cross of Calvary.
+The Christian message tells us that he died for the sin of the world. He died as an innocent
+person, and through this death God gives punishment to each and everyone who believes in him.
+The cross of Jesus is something strange. How can someone else take my punishment onto him? Is that
+possible? You can pay money for someone, who owes money to someone else. But usually you cannot
+go to prison for someone, or you cannot take a death sentence for someone else. But here, it is
+said to be reality. Jesus is taking the death sentence for all humans. In him and through faith
+in Jesus humans can be completely reconciled with God. Justice is given to them, complete justice.
+The bible uses the image of white robes.
+We need Jesus, since eternal life is only possible with full justice. We all long for forgiveness.
+We all long for being completely accepted, completely loved, completely true. This is possible
+only when our life gets transformed. It is possible only by a new birth, given to us through
+water and spirit. Baptism points to this transformation. Christmas is so important since God starts
+the practical part of his deep salvation story with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
 (Roland Potthast)