Have
you ever asked any of these questions?
- Why do I even exist?
- Does my life have any major purpose?
- Does God really know and care about me as an individual?
- Does He have a plan for my life?
- What will happen to me when I die?
- Is there more to my existence than simply these years
on earth?
These
are profound and compelling questions. They are questions we
often choose to avoid – that is until life forces us to
face them directly. But, asking these questions and getting
real answers can give us both peace and hope. The key is to
seek absolute truth. A counterfeit “feel good” answer
will not suffice.
Here’s
another really important life question:
- “What is the absolute worst thing that could happen to
me or someone I care about?”
Whether
the loss involves material things, emotional security, your
death or that of a loved one, there is only one permanent and
devastating loss to truly fear. That would be for you or someone
you know to die without knowing God in a personal way.
So,
if you were to die today and stand before God and He were to
ask you, “Why should I let you in to my heaven?”
What would you say? What do you think you could possibly do
to earn favor with God? The answer is: Absolutely NOTHING. He
has already done all the work to secure a personal and intimate
relationship with Him now and for eternity through Jesus Christ.
Your part is simply to receive His free gift through belief.
Why
do you need God?
So often, our concept of God and His expectations is muddled
because we do not think as God thinks. We tend to believe that
life is graded on a curve and if you do more “good”
things than “bad” things, God is obliged to accept
you. This is not an accurate understanding of God. In His Word,
the Bible, He tells us exactly what He thinks and expects. Yet,
how do you know the Bible is true and actually God’s message
to us? That is an incredibly important question.
If you choose
to study and research, you will find out that God proves His
Word (the Bible) to be true over and over through the fulfilled
prophecies that were foretold thousands of years ago. In fact,
there have been many previous atheists who set out to prove
the Bible to be false. And, guess what? In the process, they
became incredible believers. Why? Because, in exploring the
historical evidence, they realized the Bible proves itself to
be true and infallible again and again.
If you doubt this, we
encourage you to read books such as, “More than a Carpenter”
by Josh McDowell (an attorney) or “The Case for Christ”
by Lee Strobel (an investigative reporter). You will be absolutely
blown away by what they discovered when they challenged the
Bible from their respective professional backgrounds.
Amazing Relationship
So,
assuming for the moment that the Bible is in fact true (and
it is)…what does it really say about your relationship
with God? It tells you that God loves you and wants to have
a relationship with you—a personal, intimate, life-changing
relationship both now and for all eternity. God has known you
and loved you far before He created you. He has ordained each
and every day of your life.
The Consequences of Rebellion
We
need to understand that God, the Creator of the universe is
perfect and holy. When He first created us, we were perfect
and without “sin”. Sin is basically rebellion from
God. It is every willful choice and action that says, “I
know what I want and need and I will pursue it no matter what
you say, God.”
The
first man and woman chose to rebel against God by choosing the
one and only thing that God asked them NOT to do…that
is eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But,
they chose to rebel and eat anyway. And, ever since…man
has been contaminated with sin…that is rebellion against
God. That rebellion separates us from God. It says in the Bible
that the price for rebelling against God is “death”.
That death is both literal and spiritual. BUT…God so loves
us, He desires to have a personal relationship with us and give
us eternal life with Him after our physical bodies die.
The
familiar verse you so often see held up at ball games, John
3:16, tells us how to know God in a personal way and receive
His gift of eternal life. It says, “For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Jesus
Christ, the Son of God is actually God incarnate. He is God
in a physical body. He loved us enough to come and live among
us in a physical body. He knows our needs, our weaknesses and
our pain. Since the penalty for our sin is death, Jesus came
to pay that price. He did this by living the perfect life. He
came to our earth for the sole purpose of dying for us…in
our place.
Yes,
that may sound bizarre, but God loved us that much. And our
salvation…that is our eternal security is based on whether
we accept or reject that fact. It’s that simple. Believe
in the Son, Jesus Christ.
Later
in the same book of John, chapter 14, verse 6, Jesus said, “I
am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the
Father but through me.” God never refuses to save anyone
who believes. Yet, He does not force anyone to accept.
Once
we truly understand that God’s holiness and our imperfection
are incompatible, we begin to appreciate why Christ came and
died. In Romans 3:23, the Bible says, “All have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God.” That means everyone
to include those we think are extremely spiritual like Billy
Graham or Mother Theresa. And the most common sin of all is
self-sufficiency. We don’t think we need God. He also
says in Romans 6:23 that “the price that must be paid
for sin is death”. That is eternal separation from God.
The
rules governing who goes to heaven or hell are established by
God’s nature and are unchangeable. He is the judge and
jury. A perfect sacrifice for sin is required. That sacrifice
is Christ. If you accept Christ’s death as the payment
for your sin—past, present and future—you are cleansed
and made holy. Christ not only died, but rose from the dead
to new life. When you believe, you experience a spiritual birth
and are reborn as a child of God; hence the term, “born
again Christian”. In John 3:3, Jesus said, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God.” Through faith in Christ, you experience
a fundamental change in your nature so that you can now coexist
with a holy God.
How
do you accept Christ as your Savior?
You don’t have to pray a formal prayer, walk down an aisle
or perform a ritual. You don’t have to be in church. You
can be driving in your car, sitting at work or in the comfort
of your home. You don’t have to “clean up your act”
first, either. Believe me, you can never be good enough! God
doesn’t require you to do anything. Just recognize and
believe in your heart that the work is already done through
the sacrifice of Christ. When you have heard the truth, it is
time to make a decision. The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians
6:2 that God has said, “At the acceptable time I listened
to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now
is ‘the acceptable time’, behold, now is ‘the
day of salvation.’”
None
of us know when our time will be up, but we do know that day
will come. Heaven is most simply defined as where God is. It
is a place of rest, glory, purity, fellowship and joy in the
presence of God. Hell is a place of eternal separation from
God and all that is good forever. Hell is a place reserved for
people who have been judged and found guilty of unbelief—those
who die without trusting Christ as Savior. Christ’s desire
to rescue you from Hell motivated Him to die an excruciating
death for you. The precise moment you place your faith and trust
in the work and person of Jesus Christ is when you are born
again and begin an intimate relationship with God through Christ
for all eternity!
A
simple prayer:
One of the wonderful things about believing in Christ is that
it gives you direct access to God through prayer. You can be
assured He hears every word. While a prayer does not “save”
you…it does communicate your heart to God and help you
confirm your belief that Jesus Christ died for your sins and
secured eternal life for you. You can tell God what is on your
heart with a simple prayer such as this:
Heavenly Father, thank you for drawing me to you and showing me the way
to have a personal and intimate relationship with you. I confess
I am a sinner and accept that you sent your Son, Jesus Christ
to pay the penalty for my sin. I believe it is by His blood
alone that I can be saved and receive your free gift of eternal
life. Thank you for dying for me and forgiving me of all my
sins – past, present and future. Help me to follow you
and learn more about your plan for my life by studying your
Word in the Bible. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
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