Our Creator God is holy, just, and loving. We are his people, made in his image. Though we were once in fellowship with God and loved by him, we are now cut off from him. That separation of God and his people started with a rebellion by our ancestors. At root, the rebellion was our choice not to believe God and to attempt to make ourselves God instead. That treasonous rebellion failed, and the judgment was eternal death. Horribly, the sin of rebellion is passed on from generation to generation as a curse: all people inherit both the sin and the judgment. Our sin nature makes it impossible for anyone to earn his way back to God.

But even though we are unable to buy or earn our way out of the curse, God in his love provided a way of escape back to a loving, forgiven relationship with him. The entire Bible prophesies, records, and explains the coming of a Savior to do that: God’s Son, Jesus.

Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, lived on earth as a miracle worker and teacher of God’s ways. He lived a perfect life and became the perfect sacrifice to ransom us from the curse of sin and death. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins through his death on the cross. He rose from the grave, conquering death and proving that what he said was true. Through his death, he purchased the right to offer us forgiveness from sin and the right for any who would turn to him to become children of God.

Anyone who hears this message of good news and responds to Jesus will not be turned away. Jesus calls us to turn from an unbelieving lifestyle and the accompanying sin that ensnares us, and to put our full trust and faith in him alone to rescue us from the curse. So to become a follower of Jesus, we offer our life to him in faith and commit to follow him as Lord for all our days.

Taken from Evangelism by J. Mack Stiles

Want to explore this with us?