thegospelmessage

Most people consider themselves to be generally good people. They've never murdered anyone, they pay their taxes and are quick to help the old lady at the grocery store. They may have stolen a few candy bars as a kid or said a couple white lies but in general, there not doing so bad. But what if I told you that just being good falls tragically short of what God requires of us? We are way more evil then we care to admit. If you were really honest with yourself, then you would see far more sinister things lurking under the surface then a few stolen candy bars all those years ago.

You see, compared to most people you probably are pretty good. The problem is that God does not compare you to other people. He compares you to his standards. And in case you didn't know, God's standards are perfect. This is how it works: Have you ever lied before? Yes? Well then, according to God's standards, your a liar. Have you ever stolen anything? O.k. now your a thief. Have ever hated someone else? Then you are guilty of murder. Do you get the picture? Good. Now that we've clarified your a lying, murdering, thief we can continue. You see, in order for us to get into heaven and have fellowship with God, we need to be perfect. Why can't God lighten up and just accept us as we are are, you ask? Because God and sin cannot co-exist. He is so perfect and so good that is impossible for us to be in his presence. But, ladies and gentlemen, this is where the 'good news' comes in: God has provided a way

In the old testament, which was a long time ago, God layed out the ground work on how to be forgiven of your sins. It was the sacrifice of animals. Bulls, goats, lambs, and birds were killed and their blood was sprinkled to cleanse the people from their sins. Hebrews 9:22 states that without the shedding of blood their is no forgiveness of sins. This whole system of animal sacrifice provided only temporary forgiveness. God had a permanent solution for the people. He would offer one single sacrifice that would eradicate sin forever.

It is important to note that any animal that were going to be ofered up as a sacrifice had to be free from spot or blemish. It was a shame to offer up an animal to the Lord that had defects. The animals had to be perfect. In the same way God's sacrifice had to be perfect. But in order to eradicate sin for ever more then just a perfect animal had to be sacrificed. The perfect PERSON had to be offered up. In comes Jesus.

In order for a person to be perfect, they have to be sinless. Jesus Christ was the only person ever to have lived on this Earth to be perfect. He only lived to be about 33 years old but that was long enough to affect The world until the end of time.

You see, Jesus Christ is actually the son of God. His one mission on this Earth was to live the perfect life and die a perfect death. In doing so he would fulfill the Old Testament sacrificial law and forever cripple the effects of sin. He would essentially provide a way for you and me to become righteous before God. And when we are righteous before God, we can have fellowship with him. What Jesus did when he died on the cross was to take our place. We are the ones who have sinned and are guilty of the consequences. The Bible says the wages of sin are death. It should have been us on that cross. But God loves us more then we can even comprehend. He gave his one and only son to pay our debt.

Now, picture yourself after your dead. You are standing before God and He has just given you the death penalty for all the sin you committed while you were alive. There are 2 and only 2 way's this scenario is going to end. The first is if you die without repenting of your sins and asking God to come into your life. God gives the sentence and you are thrown into fiery Hell where you will forever pay for sins. The second scenario is if you have accepted God into your life and you have repented of your sins. God gives you the death sentence because of your sins on Earth but instead of being thrown into Hell, Jesus appears. He says "I have paid the Debt for this man's sins. He is not guilty. God now see's Jesus' righteousness when he looks at you. You walk on through the pearly gates and spend eternity in the richness of Heaven.

Even though God has completely provided a way for you, the ball is in your court. You can accept his generous offer of salvation and be freed from your sins or you can reject it. Unrotunately there is no third option. There are no exceptions and there aren't any loop-hools. It is appointed once for a man to die and after the judgement. Eternal life is a free gift so please take it. Click HERE to accept Christ.