Good News

Imagine a world with no evil, no chaos, no suffering, no shame, no guilt…no sin.

That world once existed. God created everything and it was good—it was perfect. God's special creation was humans—Adam and Eve. God placed them in the Garden of Eden, provided food, spent time with them, and even talked with them. God had a relationship with them. God told Adam and Eve they could eat from any tree except one— the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Instead of trusting God and obeying God's instructions, Adam and Eve chose the opposite. They ate from the tree. Not only did this break God's heart, it came with major consequences. Sin entered the world. From this point forward, everything would be different.

Like a virus, sin and its effects spread throughout the earth. Not only did sin affect Adam and Eve’s children, it has affected every person who has ever lived, including you and me. It wasn’t just Adam and Eve that disobeyed God, we too have disobeyed God.

God had every right to give up on His creation. He had every right to leave us to suffer in this broken world and deal with the consequences. But God chose to rescue us. The rescue climaxed roughly 2,000 years ago when God sent His Son Jesus into this broken world.

Jesus was fully God, but He was also fully man. As He grew up He had to deal with all the brokenness and suffering that we experience on this earth. But through it all, Jesus remained sinless. During Jesus’ time on earth, he healed people, loved people, showed compassion, and pointed people to truth.

When Jesus was about 33 years old, he was wrongly accused of crimes he did not commit. Instead of resisting, Jesus willingly gave up his life. He was crucified. It was the most painful way to die. But, those who killed Jesus didn't realize this was a part of Jesus' plan.

By willingly laying down His life as a perfect sinless sacrifice, Jesus paid the price for our sins. He took the debt that we owed and paid it. But then something incredible happened. Three days later, Jesus rose from the grave.

God's word teaches us that those who recognize their sin, repent of their sin, and confess Jesus as Lord, can experience salvation and forgiveness of their sin. Jesus takes our sin and gives us his righteousness. It's not a fair trade, but it’s good news for us. Jesus offers us salvation. This means that our relationship with God can be restored. The relationship that was lost in the Garden of Eden can be re-established. We can have peace with God.

God created you to be in a relationship with him. Right now, he’s extending the gift of salvation to you. You might be thinking, "How do I receive this gift?" You receive it through faith. Faith is fully believing in what God has done for you.

If you’d like to take this step, I want to lead you in a prayer. There's nothing magical about this prayer. Prayer is how we communicate with God, and if you desire to ask God for forgiveness and salvation, I want to help you talk with Him.

Feel free to pray this prayer quietly in your heart or to pray it out loud:

Dear Lord, I recognize that I have sinned against you. I'm sorry. Would you please forgive me, save me, and make me new? I believe that you sent your Son Jesus to die for my sins. I believe that He rose again. I surrender my life to you, and I declare that Jesus is my Lord. Please help to live for you. Thank you for your grace, mercy, and forgiveness. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer in faith, God's word says you're a new creation. You might look the same, but you've experienced a spiritual birth. First off, welcome to God's family! That's the greatest decision you could make. The next step is for you to begin walking with Jesus. Spend time reading His word—the Bible. Commit to being a part of a local church that teaches the Bible.

One last thing. If you surrendered your life to Jesus, we'd love to connect with you, celebrate with you, and help you on your journey with Jesus. Click the “Message Us” button below and send us an email.