|
|
|
|
|
|
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still
sinners,
Christ died for us (Romans 5:8 NIV)."
See that
guy? He represents us, all of us, individually. Nice, huh? Well, God sure
thought so! Check out what the Bible says about us:
"In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth. Then God said,
'Let us make man in our image, in our
likeness, and let them rule over the fish
of the sea and the birds of the air,
over the livestock, over all the earth,
and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man
in his own image, in the image of God
he
created him; male and female he
created them..."
"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good..." (Genesis 1:1-31 NIV)
Isn't that awesome?! YOU are included in those statements. You are part of God's Creation. Back when everything started, He had made and called it, "very good." YOU are part of that!
Uh-oh. Something is really wrong with this picture. See that little guy? He's still there and he still represents us, but now he is separated from God. The separation is huge and impossible for any of us to overcome. This huge separation of all of us from our loving God was caused by sin.
This whole mess started way back at the beginning of
the human race:
Now the Lord God had planted a
garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And
the
Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground -- trees that were
pleasing to the eye and good
for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree
of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of
Eden to work it and take care of it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, "You
are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not
eat from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the
man's ribs and closed up
the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken
out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild
animals the Lord God had made. He said to the
woman, "Did God really say, 'You
must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must
not eat fruit from the tree
that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will
die.' "
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the
woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your
eyes will be opened, and you
will be like God, knowing good and evil."
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good
for food and pleasing to the eye, and also
desirable for gaining wisdom, she
took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was
with her, and
he ate it.
And the Lord God said, "The man has now become like one
of us, knowing good and evil. He must not
be allowed to reach out his hand and
take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." So the Lord
God banished him from the Garden of Eden to
work the ground from which he had been taken.
(Genesis 2:8-9, 15-18, 21-22; 3:1-6, 21-23)
The really sad thing is that this sin problem has been part of being human every since then. And it is a problem for ALL of us!
...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God... (Romans 3:23 NIV)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 NIV)
What is "sin?"
It is anything that is
contrary to God's will. We sin in the things we do when we break His rules and
we sin in the things we don't do when we refuse to help others.
And God spoke all these words:
You shall have no other
gods before me.
You shall not make for
yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven
above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You
shall not bow
down to them or worship them; for I, the
Lord your God, am a jealous God...
You shall not misuse the
name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold
anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Remember the Sabbath day
by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and
do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath
to the Lord your God.
Honor your father and
your mother...
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit
adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false
testimony against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your
neighbor's house. You shall not covet your
neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or
donkey,
or anything that belongs to your
neighbor
(Exodus 20:1-17 NIV)
Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind and with all your strength [and] 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
There is no commandment greater
than these. (Mark 12:30-31 NIV)
The Bible teaches us that if we commit just ONE sin (and let's face it, we've all committed a LOT more than one!) we have broken our relationship with God and stand in danger of spending all of eternity in a very real place called Hell.
"Do not be afraid of those who
kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather,
be afraid of the One who can
destroy both soul and body in hell."
(Matthew 10:28 NIV)
God does not want to leave you in that sinful, condemned state! He wants a relationship with you. He wants to forgive you of your sin and save you from eternal and terrible punishment in Hell.
"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost." (Matthew 18:12-14 NIV)
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17 NIV)
Now, there are those out there who might tell you that all you have to do to make it to Heaven instead of Hell when you die is to be a good person. That sounds good, but is actually far from the truth.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV)
And then there are others who will say there are many different gods and many ways to get to Heaven. Again, that sounds nice, but is simply not true.
...The Lord our God, the Lord is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV)
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and
the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me." (John 14:6 NIV)
Do you believe that you
are a sinner? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He
died to secure forgiveness for your sins? At this point things are as easy as
A-B-C...
Accept
that you are a sinner.
Believe
that Jesus Christ is the only way to Salvation.
Confess
your sins to God and receive His free gift of complete forgiveness.
If we claim to
be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us
from all unrighteousness. (1 John
1:8-9 NIV)
...I tell you, now is
the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. (2
Corinthians 6:2 NIV)
"Come to me, all you
who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for
your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is
light." (Matthew
11:28-30 NIV)
If
you have any questions, or if you wish to receive Jesus as your Savior,
please
feel free to contact us!
Faith United Church
exists to bring
God
glory by
GROWING
stronger
through
worship,
warmer
through
fellowship,
deeper
through
discipleship,
broader
through
ministry,
and
larger
through
evangelism.
