God does exist! We all sense a supernatural presence and have a yearning for a divine being, someone bigger and grander than us. Look at all religions, movies, books, TV shows, yoga, holistic treatment programs, and listen to the language we use.
But, often times, we don’t think that there is a God, or if we do believe God exists, we think He doesn’t care about us, is too BIG to think of or bother with us, or He is angry with us.
This view that God is distant, disinterested, or angry, condemning, unforgiving, unloving, or waiting for us to prove ourselves worthy is a deception. It is a twisting of the inner knowledge we have that we are actually separated from God. He loves us, cares for us, and wants to be with us forever. Our separation from isn’t caused by Him.
God is Perfect and We Aren’t
God is Holy, perfect, sinless.
To be in His presence we need to be Holy.
We are not. We have sinned and have separated ourselves from God.
Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
We have fallen short of God’s intended purpose for us. God gave us a choice. We choose our way, not God’s. That is sin. The result of sin is that we are lost… separated from God.
Sin’s Consequences
The penalty for sin is death.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Death here means spiritual insensitivity, death, numbness, inactivity. When we are still in our sin, we have no life with God. We are alive physically but dead spiritually. If we continue in that condition, we will be separated from God for all eternity, but God’s free gift is eternal life. While wages are earned, a gift is offered, no strings attached. God says He will give us eternal life – life with Him – in the place of sin’s payment of death.
How can God remain true to His holiness and forgive unholy sinners?
Read on.
But GOOD NEWS! Here’s the Gospel Message!
God Loves Us
God loves us so much and wants us to be with Him forever and to receive all the blessings He has for us in this lifetime and in the next lifetime after our physical death.
John 3: 16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
God Sends Jesus – Christmas
No matter how much good we do, we cannot achieve the perfect holy standard and reach up to God. So God provided an answer and humbled Himself to come down in a very limited, finite, dependent, humiliating manger, to be with us and save us so we could be with Him.
He sent His son Jesus to Earth, humbling himself to become human, lead a sinless life, then die in our place, paying our penalty for our sin so we wouldn’t have to.
Rom 5: 8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jesus Pays our Penalty – Easter
All we have to do is believe we are sinners, unable to save ourselves thru our own good deeds, but God provided a perfect substitute, Jesus, to die in our place and be our personal Savior.
John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Rom 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we may be made the righteousness of God through Him.”
Romans 10:9-10 “because, 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. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
Do You Believe It Can Be This Simple?
A person receives God’s free gift of love and life by placing your faith in Jesus Christ, because Jesus, God’s Son, has paid the price for our sin by His death on the cross. Believe is simply to take God at His word. In our deepest being of person and thought, we believe that Jesus is God’s Son who died for our sin on the cross and arose from the grave to live in us as Savior and Lord.
Romans 10:13 for Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
This verse says that any person who will call upon the name of Jesus, the Lord, shall be saved.
To call means simply to ask in prayer. The verse does not require one to know more… do better… eliminate your problem areas… or in any way try to add to what Jesus has done for us.
Receive God’s FREE Gift
Will you now call upon Jesus to save you from your sin so that you can know the peace and comfort coming from God’s love and forgiveness?
If you call on the Lord in this manner, you are saved according to God’s Word. If you pray a prayer of repentance and faith, you are saved. You have God’s word on it.
So here is the prayer (simple talking openly and directly to God) of salvation:
Say it where you are right now if you believe in God’s gift:
Dear God,
I confess that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for trying to live my life without you. I need and ask for your forgiveness. I need a Savior and know I cannot save myself. I believe by faith and not through anything I can do, that Jesus, your Son, died on the cross to be my Savior. I believe He paid the penalty for my sin for me. I believe He rose from the grave to conquer death, sin, and sin’s separation of me from you. I trust you Jesus as my personal Savior, receive you as my Lord, and I turn from my sinful ways. Oh God, thank you for your grace in forgiving my sins, coming into my life, being with me forever. Now help me make you the King of my life.
In Jesus’ name I Pray,
Amen
Congratulations
Get your own Bible and record your spiritual Birthday:
Believing by faith that God loves me and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sin and arise from the grave to live in me, I, _______, do this day, ________, repent of my sin and accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. According to the promise of God in Romans 10:13, I have called upon His name and have His word for the assurance of my salvation.
Just the Beginning, Keep on Growing
Get an awakening journal and start reflecting on:
- What brought you to this point of salvation today?
- How do you see life differently now?
- What will you do to get to know God better as you are now growing a relationship with your heavenly Father? Wow, that sounds so cool to have a growing relationship with God, King of kings, and Lord of lords.
Now you are truly a Christian. You placed your faith in Christ and His death on the cross to save you from condemnation and bring you eternal joy, peace, and love and lasting relationship with God. You now want to grow in your life and become like your Savior, serving God out of the gratitude for what God and Jesus have done for you. This is what God promises to do thru the rest of your life here on Earth, helping you develop the mind of Christ and become Christ-like.
You can now never be separated from God as there is nothing more powerful to undo the power of the Jesus’ death on the cross. Just as there is nothing more powerful that you could do instead of the cross to fix your sin.
Now and Eternal Benefits:
Eternal salvation, saving us from eternal condemnation and separation from God, is now your free gift. We call this God’s ultimate gift of grace. We can now live life free of the eternal fear of sin and sin’s eternal consequences.
In this lifetime, at the point of salvation, God sends the Holy Spirit to live in us to help teach, guide, comfort, empower, correct, and many other things. The most powerful asset we will have.In this lifetime, we now are part of God’s family and have a direct line of communication with God through prayer and can personally relate with God.
Please email us with your decision so we can pray for you!
by HIS grace,
The Lighthouse Network Team