God Wants To Know: Part 9 – What Will You Do With Jesus?

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. (Matthew 27:22)

The most important question you will ever answer is, What will you do with Jesus? It is not arbitrary; an answer must always be given. This question comes to everyone to answer of their own free will. Acceptance or rejection. How we answer defines our life here on earth and identifies our eternal destination. So please seriously consider the question before answering.

Just before His crucifixion, Pilate brought Jesus before the crowd. As Jesus stood there, beaten, bloodied and humiliated, Pilate asked what he should do with Him. Their rejection prompted the demand to crucify Him. He was despised and rejected by mankind and was led away as the Sacrificial Lamb to bear the sins of the world (Isaiah 53:3-7). In that moment, He took the penalty for your sin and mine.

Now, if He would have stayed dead, we would have mourned another good person who taught some incredible things and motivated us to live idealistically. We would honor Him with wistful thoughts of how great things could have been. But we would not face the question, What will you do with Jesus? since He would be dead, buried and gone. No need to give Him further thought.

However, the Sunday morning following His cruel death changed everything.

Jesus arose from the grave. He is alive and lives forevermore (Hebrews 7:24-25). And since He is alive, He approaches every person to ask this question. In essence, He stands at the heart of each person (Revelation 3:20) and whispers the following:

I died for you. I took your place in suffering the penalty for your sin. Will you accept Me as your substitute sacrifice? Or will you reject Me and pay for your sins on your own? What will you do with Me?

See, since the Fall in the Garden of Eden, sin has passed to everyone (Romans 5:12). Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God spread sin’s depravity over all mankind. No one is immune. If we are honest, we must agree that we have done something wrong in our lives. Even a little “white” lie or adulterous thought qualify us as sinful.

Herein lies the problem. God is holy; He has no sin, no wrong, no imperfection, no blame. Our sin separates us from God. You may think, What difference does that make? Well, sin’s penalty is death (Romans 3:23). Not just physical death, but eternal separation from God. With God in heaven, that leaves hell as the only other eternal destination.

Everyone dies, but after death, we have an appointment with God (Hebrews 9:27) to review how we answered the question, What did you do with Jesus?

But at that time, the question will be posed in past tense. The time for choosing will have passed. As you stand before your Creator, the Sovereign God of the universe, you will be held accountable for how you answered the question while alive on earth.

The good news is that you can answer the question today.

You still have time to accept Jesus’ death as the penalty for your own sin.

See, God loves you! That was the reason He sent Jesus to die on your behalf (John 3:16). He wants you to accept what He has already done. He wants a personal, intimate relationship with you. He wants to help you live a victorious life through the power of His Holy Spirit. He wants to give you abundant life (John 10:10). He wants to spend eternity together with you (John 14:1-3).

To personally claim all this, the answer to the question, What will you do with Jesus? must be: I believe Jesus died for my sin and then rose again to offer me His new life. I repent of my sin and ask His forgiveness. I accept and confess Him as my Savior and Lord. I invite Him into my heart and life and willingly pledge to live my life for Him.

When you answer this way, you bridge the gap between God and you that sin created. There is no more penalty or condemnation for your sin (Romans 8:1-2). When God looks at you, He sees the sacrifice Jesus made and His righteousness He has given you (Romans 3:24-25). He hears your affirmative response to, What will you do with Jesus?

I hope and pray that you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior today. Besides, what have you got to lose? Oh, wait — everything!

Be sure to read the rest of our 9-part series, God Wants To Know.

Part 1: Questions God Asks Us

Part 2: Where Are You?

Part 3: Where Were You?

Part 4: Where Have You Been?

Part 5: What Are You Doing Here?

Part 6: Why Are You So Afraid?

Part 7: Do You Want To Get Well?

Part 8: Do You Love Me?