Why Is It Important To Believe In Jesus?

"Alright", you say. "I agree that the Bible is a reliable document, I believe Jesus really existed, that He is God, and I accept that He was Resurrected. So what? Why do I have follow Him?" The answer is given in His foretelling of His Second Coming. He will come again in glory to judge. For some this is a scary thought. For others it is something that is longed for. It all depends on our faith. If we know Him, trust in Him, have a relationship with Him, allow Him to guide us in our daily life, then we know there is nothing to fear when He does come again to judge all mankind. But if we do not know Him, if we have ignored His teachings, have lived a life separated from Him, then we might feel scared to know that He will come again and will judge us.

God has given us all a free-will being made in His image and likeness. We can chose to follow Him or to ignore Him. But there will be consequences based on how we choose. God Himself will not force himself on us because He is a God of Love. He is looking for our love and love must come out of our voluntary action, not something that is forced on us. Do we love Him as He loves us? We need to ask ourselves if we have made the right choice.

We will not be able to fool Jesus, He knows what is in our heart. He died a voluntary death on the Cross to show us the way through His Resurrection to eternal life with Him in His Kingdom. He wants all of us to be with Him. He knows how we struggle having been fully man while he lived on earth. He knows our sinfulness. He is patient, loving and most merciful. If we have not followed His teachings, He only asks for us to seek forgiveness and to surrender our will to His will. Then He will guide us and protect us and we will not have fear about His Second Coming. John the Theologian, a witness to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ, writes:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.  -  John 3:16-21

To be judged and accepted by Him we must know Him, we must believe in Him, we must follow His teachings. Others who do not know Him will not pass the test when He comes again. If we do not see the need for a savior, if we put our faith in the pleasures of this world, then we will not be accepted into His Kingdom when he returns. Our whole life will pass in front of us as we face judgment. We will be able to judge ourselves. Either we will know and love Him or we know that we ignore Him and never learned to know and experience His love. We choose in this life to be united with Him or to separate from Him. We can choose either path.

To know Him and become united with Him is what the Orthodox Way of Life is all about. Explore it more here. 

Reference: Orthodox Way of Life