Know God

The most important question any of us will ever answer is, “what did you do with Jesus?” Hebrews 9:27 tells us that everyone will die once and then comes judgment. There will come a day when all of us will die and stand before God to give an account for our lives. Many of us would like to believe that God will grade on a curve or that we’re better than our neighbors, so we’ll be all right. That may sound good to us, but that’s not the reality that the Bible teaches. The third chapter of Romans tells us that there’s no distinction: everyone has sinned and failed to live up to God’s standard of righteousness. That is terrible news, because Romans 6:23 says that, “the wages of sin is death.” Just as time spent working for an employer rewards us with a paycheck, sins we commit earn us death. That death is not just a physical end of our bodies, it is an eternal separation from God.

 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The first chapters of the Bible detail this creation process and conclude that it was very good. God created men and women to have a relationship with Him. In the beginning, God came to talk with the first man and the first woman “in the cool of the day.” Spending time with God was an important part of life.

And then sin entered the world. Romans 5:12 tells us that Adam sinned and because of that sin, death became a reality we all deal with. The good world that God made was no longer perfect, because man disobeyed God. “And death spread to all men because all sinned.” Adam and Eve were sent out from the place where they walked with God because of their sin. (Genesis 3:23-24)

We don’t have to look very far to see the effect sin has on our world. Sickness and death and hatred and violence are all the result of sin. Adam and Eve may have been the first to sin, but they certainly weren’t the last. Everyone who followed them sinned also. Except for one.

Thousands of years after Adam’s sin, in the first century AD, Jesus Christ, God the Son, came to earth as a baby. He was fully God and took on the full nature of man - except for our sin. He lived on this earth and walked among us and never sinned once. This enabled Him to die on our behalf. One who sinned would have to pay for their own sin, but one without sin or imperfection was worthy to die in place of another. Someone has to pay for our sin. God can’t just pretend it didn’t happen. But we don’t have to be the ones who pay for it. Jesus Christ died once for all, the just for the unjust, so that while He took our sin upon Himself, we could be free from sin and take on His righteousness.

Jesus Christ is the only way to have a relationship with God. If there was another way, an easier way, Jesus wouldn’t have died in our place. But because of His great love, He willingly offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice in our place. And He offers to forgive all of our sins. The Bible tells us that God doesn’t want anyone to be separated from Him. He wants everyone to repent and be forgiven, so that they may have a restored relationship with Him, just as they were created to enjoy.

The choice is yours: will you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God the Father raised Him from the dead and be saved, or continue to be separated from the God who created you, loves you, and wants to cause everything in your life to work for your good? This is a heavy question. It is not a decision to take lightly. If you have questions and would like to speak with someone about how to be reconciled to God, please email Pastor Kefing.