Thank you for visiting 4ConsiderHim.org! If you can please spare me a few minutes, I would like to share with you the most important message of all time. There are two sides to this story, Man’s side and God’s side. Let us first start with Man’s side:
Man’s Will
How does the Bible describe Man’s response to the revelation of God?
“This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
1 John 1:5
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
John 1:19-20
Most people tend to get uncomfortable when someone mentions God in a conversation. Why is that? Well, the Bible tells us that God is Holy, Righteous, and a Just Judge, it even goes further to tell us that God has written His law on our hearts. What are His laws? I only need to list a few until we realize the problem…
“Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain (blasphemy).”
“Thou shall not kill (murder).”
“Thou shall not steal.”
“Thou shall not bear false witness (lie)…”
“Thou shall not covet…”
Now we see why the thought of God makes us so uncomfortable! We have all failed to meet His righteous standard. This is what the Bible calls “sin”. It is a term commonly used in archery which means to fall short of the target. You may say, “Well I may have messed up a few times, but overall I am not so bad.” You see, that’s the problem, the Bible also says:
“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend (break) in one point, he is guilty of all.”
James 2:10
For any person to be righteous before God on the basis of law keeping, they must be as perfect as God Himself. It is clear, everyone is guilty when held up to that standard, and that is exactly what the Bible says!
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Romans 3:23
The problem is that our sins have separated us from God and have earned us a just punishment, an eternity separated from God in hell.
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”
Isaiah 59:2
Instead of obeying God, we chose to rebel against Him and earned for ourselves an eternal death. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there! I now want to tell you about the love of God, and what He chose to do in order to offer us forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift!
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23
God’s Will
What does the Bible tell us about God’s will?
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
1 Peter 3:9
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16
“For He (God) hath made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we (mankind) might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
2 Corinthians 5:21
“Knowing that a man is not justified (declared righteous) by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
Galatians 2:16
The Bible tells us that we cannot earn salvation through our good deeds (church going, reading the Bible, donating money, being baptized, praying, fasting, etc.). But even though we were in a helpless situation, God took it upon Himself to make salvation available through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ who paid the penalty for our sins through His death on the cross. What an amazing gift!
“For by grace (favor you did not deserve) are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us…”
Titus 3:3-5
As we have looked together at this message, there are two major takeaways:
1) You have sinned against God, and have earned yourself the penalty of an eternal death in hell, separated from God forever.
2) God now offers you complete forgiveness of your sins and eternal life as a free gift, only if you will trust in His Son Jesus Christ to be your Savior. Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins, rose from the dead on the third day (proving that His sacrifice was accepted), and now offers you this gift if you will take Him at His word.
Where will you spend your eternity? It’s your decision.
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life…”
1 John 5:11-13
