1/ GOD LOVES YOU
No matter who you are or what you do, God loves you. The Bible tells us so over and
over. One verse says, "We love because He first loved us." He created us,
because He wants our company. He enjoys you and me. He wants us to have the best things in
life, and after.
2/ THERE’S A PROBLEM
The problem is called sin. It’s part of our nature. God is Holy. That means He
only does and thinks what is right and good. Sin is anything that we do, or say, or
think that He would not. Even one thing. We all do such things. The Bible says that "
. . . all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." You and I are sinners.
Even if we do good things we are still sinners, because good deeds can’t erase sin.
And even though He loves us, God cannot have anything to do with sin.
3/ GOD FIGURED OUT HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM
God doesn’t want to have to punish us. So He figured out a way to get rid of
our sin. The Bible says that "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life . . . ." God’s Son, Jesus, volunteered to be a substitute for you
and me. He came to earth as a man and died in our place. He was able to take our place,
because He has never sinned. The Bible says, " . . . 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." Jesus died a painful death nailed to a cross. What Jesus did was a free gift
to you and to me. He did it so that when God looks at us, He sees what Jesus did instead
of our sin.
4/ YOU CAN HAVE THE SAME RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THAT I AND
OTHERS HAVE
All you have to do to get this gift is to believe it and accept it. It doesn’t
matter what you may have done. Jesus has it covered. Once you have a relationship with
God, He will help you to change your behavior. He treats us like sons. The Bible says,
" . . . to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right
to become children of God." You can accept His gift just by believing that it’s
true. Right now. The Bible says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be
saved." That’s all there is to it! Trust Jesus only. Nothing else you can ever
do or say will work. Of course, if you really believe, you will start wanting to do things
that make Him happy instead of sinning. Believing is a commitment. If you make that
commitment right now, you will enjoy your relationship with Him more than anything else
in your life!
