The Bible gives us good news, bad news, terrible news and great news!
The good news is that God created you, loves us and wants you to have a relationship with Him. God desires for you to have forgiveness and have a life filled with peace, joy and hope.
The bad news is that we have all gone our own way and have 'sin' in our lives. Sin is all of the things that we do wrong in God's sight. You may ask: 'why is sin such a big deal?' God is holy and is against sin. You may proclaim: 'I'm a pretty good person!' That may be true by your standards and our standards and society's standards, but what about God's standards? Once glance at the Ten Commandments in the Bible reveals to us that we indeed do not measure up. Have we always put God first and worshipped Him as He deserves? Have we always honored our parents? Have we ever disregarded or slandered God's name? Have we lied, stolen, or coveted? Have we been angry without a cause? Have we habored lust in our hearts? We do not measue up to God's standards. This is what the Bible calls sin.
Here's the terrible news: we can't get rid of sin on our own! No matter how well we live or how many good deeds we perform our sin remains. Some think that God is such a loving God that He'll just ignore sin and sweep it under a rug. God is a great and perfect judge. Humanity has broken His laws and stands guilty. God is competely just. He will not let the guilty go unpunished. If we die with sin in our lives, we will perish eternally apart from God.
Here's the great news. In fact, it's the greatest news ever! Jesus Christ came into this world and died for our sins on a cross. Jesus did not just die to die or die in general or even die as a martyr. He died for our sin and bridged the gap made by our sin. The answer is Jesus!
How is Jesus able to deal with our sin? Why Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus was sent from God. He lived a perfect and pure life and He alone was and is without sin. Jesus was a good teacher and religious leader. But, He was much more than that. If Jesus was just another human like the rest of us and nothing more, He could do nothing in regards to our sins! But, if He was and is the sinless Son of God, He could indeed die for us and give us eternal life. And that is exactly who Jesus claimed to be and continues to do!
Any relationship takes two people. God wants a relationship with you and has done everthing needed for you to have eternal life. But, it is found in Jesus. To have forgiveness, eternal life and a home in heaven, you must take Jesus as your Savior and Lord. You make this commitment to Christ not just for today or for the next week, but the for all time! You do this through prayer. In prayer, from your heart, pray to God: admitting your need for Him, telling Him you believe in Jesus and that Jesus died for you and taking Jesus as your Savior and Lord and ask HIm to forgive you and give you eternal life as He has promised.
If you'd like to discuss these matters more, contact us. We'd love to talk with you about Jesus. If you'd like to read about Jesus and His claims about Himself, read the gospel of John in the Bible. If you need a Bible, let us know.
