Mankind is faced with
a very basic problem. We fall short of the absolute perfect standard that God has established for everyone. ("
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23) Not just one of us, but all of us. And yet, in our hearts we long for a perfect world and perfect relationships. We were made for such perfection but we are never able to achieve it in our own lives and are constantly disappointed to see it lacking in the lives of others. Life is frustrating.
God loves us, even though we have fallen short of what He would have us to be. He has created a means for all of us to be able to attain a relationship with Him and to spend eternity with Him. He made us for perfection and to be able to enjoy all His good gifts, and wants to overcome our rebellion in order to help us find real life. In fact, He loved us so much that He made the greatest sacrifice by sending His Son to die for us. ("
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." John 3:16)
God sent Christ to die for us as a substitution for the punishment that we should receive, because of our falling short of His perfection. Because he is the Son of God, his death has eternal value and is able to pay for the sins of anyone who comes to him. (The apostle Paul writes: "
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." I Corinthians 15:3,4)
This tremendous blessing from God is
not something that we can work to attain. It is a free gift that only has to be accepted for us to receive it. Receiving it as a gift means we have come to the end of our failed ways of making life perfect and realized we need God and His life in us to rescue us from ourselves. ("
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8,9)
What we must do is accept what God has revealed to us through the Bible and in Jesus Christ, and pray, acknowledging our sins, and asking Jesus Christ to rescue us and to give us that wonderful gift of eternal life. Once we have done that, then God's promise is that we will receive His Holy Spirit to help us to live here the way He wants us to and, beyond this life, to spend eternity with Him. ("
Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." John 1:12 "
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." I John 5:11-13).
The evidence that His Holy Spirit has taken residence in ours is a new love and appreciation for Him, the only God, and for His Word, the Bible. And we will have a new love for others who have come to Him the same way and we will desire to be with them and worship our God together. We will have a new sensitivity to our own rebellious hearts and find God changing us slowly to have lives more like Jesus' life than ever before.
If you have not prayed and asked Jesus Christ to save you, or are unsure of your status with God for eternity, it is our prayer and encouragement that you take the opportunity right now to remedy this and firmly establish the fact that you have trusted in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ alone, for your salvation by following these simple steps.
If you have any questions regarding this, or need any kind of assistance, please feel free to contact any of our staff at any time. Also, please feel free to email any questions or feedback you may have to
randalljohnson@centralchurch.com.
