God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit made the universe and everything in it.

He especially made you and me in His image, to worship and love Him. “God created man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). And because God is perfect, we are to be perfect and loving at all times and in all ways. That was the design.

So what went wrong?

The first human, Adam, rebelled against God and since then all humans have likewise rebelled. Every one of us are by nature corrupted and enemies of God from birth. The Bible calls this “sin”. “None is righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12). Because God is perfectly just, He must judge and punish every instance of sin. “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Hell is where sinners are punished. It is a place of eternal torment and weeping and gnashing of teeth!

But God, because of His great love and mercy, also forgives.

Because God is holy, this forgiveness is costly, requiring sacrifice. “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). So God sent His Son Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man. Jesus lived the life of perfect obedience that we have not lived, and on the cross he took upon Himself the sins of His people. God then punished Jesus as a sacrificial substitute, paying the death penalty for sin and making peace through His blood.“Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Three days later God raised Jesus from the grave, proving that God had accepted the sacrifice. And Jesus ascended into heaven, where He now reigns at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

To receive this forgiveness Jesus calls you now to repent, to turn from your sin and believe this good news.

You must trust in Jesus alone for forgiveness, and not your own good works. "By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) Only the death of Jesus on the cross is acceptable to God as payment for your sins.

When you repent and believe in Jesus, God the Holy Spirit helps you to live a life of increasing freedom from sin, and of increasing love toward God and others. But the best part of all is that you become a child of God and a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. You inherit eternal life. Quite soon, you will meet Jesus Christ face to face, not as your judge, but as the lover of your soul whom you will enjoy forevermore.

"Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world."

(Jesus praying to His Father, in John 17:24)

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