Everyone has sinned
There
may be a few people who consider themselves to have led a blameless life. I
have never met you, and I know nothing about you but I do know that everyone,
even the most proud, will realise that they have done hurtful things to others.
We try to keep these instances out of our mind or try to excuse them in some
way, but please do not close up your heart on this occasion.
Most people will feel that
they are not perfect. You will realise you have done things which you regret.
This is natural because there is no−one flawless. We have all done things in
our past which we wish we had not done.
Good life
Now
you may be saying that you have done some things wrong in the past, but overall
you have led a very good life, helping and caring for others. To answer this I
will use the words of John Calvin:
For,
since we are all naturally prone to hypocrisy, any empty semblance of
righteousness is quite enough to satisfy us instead of righteousness itself.
And since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted with very
great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the confines of human
pollution, anything which is in some small degree less defiled delights us as
if it were most pure. Just so, as an eye, to which nothing but black had been
previously presented, deems an object of a whitish, or even of a brownish hue,
to be perfectly white.
By
human standards we may be above the common level, but this does not mean we are
perfect. Rather than comparing ourselves to others, we should compare ourselves
to what we could be if we were completely innocent.
Justice
It
is true that God will punish us for what we have done, unless we ask Him not
to. To be saved really is that simple, we simply have to ask God to forgive us
for all those moments in life that we regret and wished had never happened.
Some
people say God is cruel if he lets anyone go to Hell. But God is treating us
fairly for our sin. Justice is one of the greatest virtues that there is.
Imagine a world where no−one is punished for the things they have done. Murder,
theft and rape would be out of control.
Honest
and decent people love justice because it is so beneficial to us all and God is
the only truly fair judge.
God has also provided a very simple way of escape. It is not his
fault if we do not accept it.
Forgiveness
We
are not perfect, and we are not capable of pleasing God through our own works.
But God still loves us and will forgive us if we ask him to.
Even
if we could be saved through the good things that we do, why would this be any
better? The great beauty of Christianity, is that God tells us that he does not
want payment for our sins. He offers free forgiveness. You do not have to save
up for thirty years of your life to pay your debt to God, you can have the
total certainty of salvation at this very moment.
We
have all done things which are wrong, which we deserve to be punished for.
However God loves us, so he has provided a way to avoid any suffering. He cared
for us so much that he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us.
Jesus Christ came to this Earth
to take our place, and suffer for our sins. Instead of each of us being
punished as we deserve to be, Christ endured our punishment for us.
Jesus Christ died for us
Jesus
Christ suffered the punishment which all of our sins deserve. He died a terrible
death, so that we could be free. He gave himself to die for us and yet we
continue to reject him.
He
died nailed to a cross made of wood. He wore a crown of thorns that dug deep
into his head. He felt the piercing nails through his hands and feet. He went
through the slowest, most painful death imaginable, not because he had sinned,
but because we had.
Just
take a few seconds to think of the pain he endured because he loved us, and yet
many still refuse to accept him as our Saviour.
Resurrection
But
Christ conquered death. He defeated it, and on the third day rose from the
dead. We know that he rose from the dead because of eye−witness accounts. We
are told that over five hundred (500) people saw Jesus after he rose again. If
we had been living at this time we could have asked any of these people and
they could tell us that he had risen again.
Christ
died and rose again. He suffered a terrible death so that we could find
salvation. We are not good enough to please God by our own works, so God does
not ask us to. All that we have to do is to ask God to forgive us and try to
follow him. This is so simple, but so important. Ask God to forgive you today.
Do not suffer the punishment for your sins when Christ has already offered to
take your place.
Turn away from your sins
Repent
Admit
to God that you realise you are a sinner, and that you are angering Him while
you remain like that. You must be sorry for the things that you have done in
the past, and you must try not to repeat them in the future. You cannot have
Christ as your Saviour if you deliberately continue to break his laws.
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.
(Acts 3:19)
Believe that only Jesus Christ is able to save you
Faith
Recognise
that we cannot please God by our own works. The only way that we can be saved
is by having faith that God will forgive us, because Christ died in our place.
Whoever
believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see
life, for God's wrath remains on him. (John 3:36)
God's Assurances
If you confess and turn
away from your sins and believe that God will save you, He will. If you ask God
to be your saviour he will not refuse you.
Whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (John 6:37)
God will forgive us, but first we must want him to
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