When the first man and woman rejected God’s design and put themselves in God’s place, they introduced sin into the world. We usually think of sin as breaking rules, and the rules sometimes seem arbitrary. But when it comes down to it, sin is choosing ourselves – what we think will ultimately satisfy us – over God and how He created us to relate to him and to others. Every one of us does this at some point or the other, and most of us chose our way of doing things most of the time. Choosing ourselves over God or others leads to broken relationships, with him and with the people and the world around us. And since God is perfectly and eternally holy, when we put ourselves in the place that only he deserves, we destine ourselves for eternal separation from him. It’s easy to ignore day-to-day, but sin is a big problem with eternal implications, and we must deal with it.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
You may have heard the term “Gospel” before. That simply means “good news” and refers specifically to the good news about Jesus. God himself solved our sin problem when Jesus took on our human nature, lived the sinless life that we cannot live, and then suffered a terrible and cruel death on the cross, for our sake. How was it for our sake? Well, being sinless, and being God in flesh, he was able to take all of our sin and guilt upon himself and to take our place in enduring the full outpouring of God’s justice on my sin and yours. He died for us, and his resurrection from the dead proves that his sacrifice was acceptable. So, having taken our sin and died in our place, Jesus offers us his righteousness as a free gift, something we could never earn or deserve. This is what we call grace, and in God’s grace through Jesus we can receive hope, forgiveness, restoration, wholeness, and eternal life with him.
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23
As in many areas of life, the first step towards restoration is acknowledging our need. We must admit that we put ourselves in God's place, making ourselves lord of our lives instead of him -- that we have sinned and are separated from him. This is called confessing sin, and God promises that when we confess our sin, he will forgive us, on the basis of what Jesus did for us. This also means that we are trusting Jesus for our forgiveness, restoration, and life. We turn away from our ways, stop believing that we can somehow make things right all on our own, and depend completely on what he has done for us. This is called placing our faith in him. Confessing our sin and placing our faith in Christ means that he is our Savior and Lord.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
As for eternal destiny, following Jesus is the difference between death and life – eternity with him or without him. As for our lives here and now, it’s the difference between continuing in a life of dissonance between ourselves and the world and people around us, or living in increasingly restored relationships. Following Jesus puts us back on the path of harmony with God and people and of healthful stewardship of the beautiful creation and amazing natural resources in the world around us. This is what we were created for and what we are returning to, if we follow Jesus.
God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away… I am making everything new! Revelation 21:3-5
I hope that you’ve picked up on the fact that relationship is the key word. Following Jesus is not merely about agreeing to certain facts or saying certain words – it’s about being in a living, growing relationship with him and with other Jesus-followers. If you would like to learn more, please reach out to any of our leaders or church members. We’ll be happy to talk and pray with you, and to help you get started on this life-long, eternally fulfilling journey.