The Very First Thing

Did you ever spend time on a project only to realize half way through that you forgot to do that one super important thing that you should have done first and now you have to start over? Me too.

Well, I want to make sure that we don’t miss the most important thing. This blog is here to help people find hope, to encourage them and strengthen them. It’s about showing that Jesus Christ has the power to guide and teach us and it’s about that most important thing, that only Jesus can save us from our sins. Sin is kind of a word that has gone out of fashion in our culture. We prefer to say that we struggle with lying or lust or anger. But the truth of the matter is that all of us sin. Sin is when we fall short of doing God’s law. We all understand that murder is sin but that jealousy we feel when someone gets something we feel like we deserved and they didn’t is sin too. So, that being said, if we’re honest with ourselves, there are times when each of us sins.

So here’s the bad news. Because we are not perfect and we sin, the Bible says that we cannot go to Heaven. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. When we sin we put a barrier between ourselves and God. And because we cannot go to Heaven on our own merit, the alternative is Hell forever. Matthew 25:46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. Just like in a court of law, the wages of any crime have to be paid. You can’t tell the judge that you’re sorry and that you are a good person now. The crime still needs to be punished. If you go before a judge, he will sentence you for the crime you committed regardless of your behavior before or after the crime. Sin separates us from God and from heaven because God is perfect and holy. Sin cannot enter His presence. Somebody needs to pay for the crime committed.

But there is GOOD news! Somebody else did pay for the crimes that you and I have committed. Jesus Christ came to earth and lived as a man who was perfect and sinless because He is God. He died on the cross for us as a payment or a sacrifice for our sin. Because He is perfect, when He paid that penalty for you and for me, it was sufficient payment. He paid our fine and He suffered the punishment that we deserve: death. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:17, 18

Jesus didn’t come to earth to punish or condemn us. He came so that we could spend forever with Him in Heaven, a perfect place. Let’s go back to the courtroom for a minute. Let’s say that somebody with authority comes to your trial while your sentence is handed down, a fine of one million dollars or life in prison without possibility of parole. Let’s say that person offers to pay your fine. The judge accepts that payment and you are free to go. But what if you refuse the offer and insist that you can pay the fine yourself. You don’t have that kind of money so you go to jail. The person with the million dollars tells you that whenever you want, he is still willing to pay and get you out of jail. Each day you wake up and behave as a model prisoner. You are kind to other prisoners and you help out in any way you can. Ten years go by, twenty years go by, fifty years go by. Your sentence still stands because you committed a crime and it needs to be punished. There is no way out unless the fine is paid. You have spent most of your life in prison and then you die. Now it’s too late for that benefactor to help you. And the same applies to our eternal state. We have the chance to accept Christ’s gift of eternal life only this side of the grave. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment… Hebrews 9:27

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 Here is the GREAT news. You can go to Heaven, but did you catch the one condition? You must believe. Believe what, you ask? Well, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to Heaven. You can’t pay your own fine. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12 Because Jesus lived a perfect life, He qualifies to pay the penalty. He died on a cross and rose again from death to life so that anyone who believes in Him can be saved from sin and its death penalty.

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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:9, 10 This believing is not just mental assent; it is turning away from going our own way and turning to Jesus and allowing Him to be the Lord of all of our actions, thoughts, and doing. It is making Him the Lord of our life instead of our own self-will being in charge.

It’s not complicated but you need to admit to yourself and to God that you cannot save yourself by your good works because it’s not enough. Only Christ’s sacrifice can save us. Just ask God to forgive you for your sins, for following your own way and turn to Him. And that is the AWESOME news! He wants to forgive us. He isn’t some mean God up in the sky waiting to send lightning bolts down when we mess up. It is His LOVE for us that sent Jesus to the cross to pay for our sins. You and I can spend forever enjoying Heaven and the presence of God Almighty who created all things.

Some of you are thinking, “That sounds great but you don’t know what I’ve done”. He knows, and God forgave murderers, adulterers, thieves, liars, you name it throughout the pages of the Bible. His death on the cross covered it all. Every last sin was paid for when Jesus said “It is finished” and He took His final breath. The Bible says in James 4:6 that God gives grace to the humble but He resists the proud. Grace means in Hebrew, literally – favor, to bend or stoop in kindness to another as a superior to an inferior. He is the King and we are in need of His grace and favor. He wants to give it. Are you willing to accept it?

Talk to Him in your own words. Humble yourself, tell Him that you’re sorry for the things you’ve done wrong and ask Jesus to live inside your heart through the Holy Spirit. Then get a Bible and start reading it to learn more about your new relationship with Him.