1. God had a plan
God made us because He loves us and wants us to know Him personally
Read:
Genesis 1:26-28
26Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
God made mankind in His own image
Genesis 3:8-9
8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
In a pictorial way this speaks of God wanting to be in companionship with mankind
John 3:16
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
God loves each and every person.
John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent
Life - true life worth living - is only found when we know God. This is what He wants for us.
2. Mankind has a problem
We are separated from God and His love by our sin.
Mankind chose to disobey God. This disobedience to God - doing our own thing rather than His - is what the bible calls sin.
All have sinned. Read Romans 3:23
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
It is a 'disease' that everyone has.
See also 1 John 1:8-10
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
and Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Sin is not just doing 'naughty things'. Read Matthew 22:37-39
37Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment.
39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Whenever I do not love God with all my heart, I sin; or whenever I do not love another person as much as I love myself, I sin also.
Sin separates us from God, because God is pure and good. Read Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
However hard we try, we cannot bridge the gap ourselves, even if we are ever so good.
The bible speaks of sin leading to death (see Romans 6:23*) and also to hell (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9**). Both mean the same thing: being tormented for ever away from the presence of God.
* For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
** 8He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power
3. God had a solution
He took our 'punishment' for us.
Unlike us, Jesus (who is God Himself in human form) did not rebel against God. He was without sin. See Hebrews 4:15:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin.
So he chose to die in our place, to take what was coming to us, so that we might be made a friend of God again. See 2 Corinthians 5:15:
And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
Also see 1 Peter 3:18:
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.
Now, simply by trusting in Jesus, we may live for ever, reconciled to God. See 2 Corinthians 5:17-21:
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
4. We have a response to make
Although Jesus did all that was necessary for everyone to become a child of God, it is only as we respond that this takes effect.
There is a four part response:
- something to admit. That you have sinned in the sight of God. Be deeply sorry for your sin, Hate it and be willing to turn from every thought, word, action and habit that you know to be wrong
- something to believe. That Jesus Christ died on the cross bearing all the guilt and penalty of your sin
- something to consider. That Jesus never promised it would be easy to follow him. Expect opposition, sneers and misunderstanding. Every part of your life must come under his control.
- something to do. Accept Jesus Christ into your life to be your Lord in charge of you, your Saviour to cleanse you, your Friend to guide and be with you.
Remember that it is always okay to bring someone along to talk to someone else in the church if you get stuck.
Any questions?
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