Brenda Nash

Are you tired with life? Do you feel as though everything you're doing isn't working? Do you want peace in your life? ...... Hope? ..... Joy? Do you want the assurance in your heart that when you die, you will go to heaven?

 

Because in the beginning of time, this is how it was supposed to be for man & woman.

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Did you know that in the beginning when God created the earth, He made it beautiful, and it was good? And when He created man & woman, they were good too? (Gen 1:10-12, 26-31)

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And did you know, that man & woman were created for relationship with God? To talk to Him? To listen to Him? And to love Him and be loved by Him? It was never about religion, but relationship between man and God.

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But in the beginning, man rebelled against God and rejected His way of doing things. Instead, man decided he wanted to do his own thing and be like God. Man decided this, not God. This decision to disobey God, separated man from God and sin entered the world. Where there was once fellowship and communication, sin created distance. Therefore, every man and woman is sinful and separated from God at birth. God's original plan for man was broken because of man's decision to rebel against God. And this is not good.

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We see the results of this decision and separation from God in our world today; it is broken, and an almost scary place to live; with terrorism invading our countries, murders all over the world, corruption, wars, rumors of wars and every evil & fearful thing imaginable is happening all around us.

 

This is man still rebelling against God and rejecting Him & His way of doing things. God said, "Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't lie, don't steal, don't rob your neighbor, love God, love your neighbor, obey His law" and so forth. These laws were for our own good. To protect us and shield us from evil.

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This rebellion, this rejection of God & rejection of doing things God's way, is called sin. Sin is anything that goes against God's moral standards written in the bible. And yes, God's moral standards are high, because God is perfect, without sin and He is a Holy God. All sin separates us from God. The relationship that man was supposed to have with God since the beginning of time has been broken. Not because of God, but because of man.

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Let me interject with this question, "Would you agree that when man murders, he is a murderer? And would you also agree that when a murderer murders here on earth that he/she should be punished? Or when a rapist rapes, there should be consequences for his/her actions? And so on?"

 

I think we all agree that wrong-doing should be punished and punished accordingly.

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Well, the same is true with God. All sin, no matter how small or big needs to be punished. When man or woman sins, he/she is a sinner. And all of us are sinners. Every one of us has sinned and commits sin daily in one way or another, whether it is through lying, stealing, gossiping, or pride, arrogance, and bragging to drunkenness, adultery and swearing or taking God's name in vain. The list of sin (that God counts as sin and is punishable whether we agree or not) as written in the bible is over 600+ long! What is a sobering thought, and a fact according to the bible is that in the bible it says that, "the wages of sin is death.." (Romans 6:23), which means the consequence for sin in this life here on earth is a disconnect or separation from God (which we all experience at birth), and the punishment for sin on the day of judgment which is after we die, is eternal separation from God, that is, a life in hell. God does not decide this, man does. Hell was not created for man, but for Satan. God does not send man to hell. He only established what sin was. Truth is, man has a choice. Man can choose to obey or disobey, to sin or not to sin. Yet, with a list of over 600+ sins to obey, perfectly, this seems like an impossible task. Yet, many people today try. They try to be "good." And they have their own measurement of sin, and what they see as good. However, as stated before, the only measurement of sin that counts, is God's whether we think it is sin or not. As such, if God says it is sin, then it is sin and we are powerless to change that.

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FIRST, the myth we may hold to be true is that we get to heaven if we are good and don't sin. But, by whose definition or identification of sin? And by whose standard of good? Ours or God's? If there is a God in heaven, and He is the God of the bible, then it would have to be by His standard of good & His standard of what he defines or identifies as sin then right? We may all believe that we are good and have no sin. We may believe that 'our sin' is not sin but if there is a God, we don't get to choose what is sin--He does. AND, according to the bible, we'd be liars if we said we have no sin because as stated earlier, there are over 600+ types of sin to commit, therefore all of us fall short and sin. NO ONE COULD POSSIBLY KEEP ALL OF GOD'S LAW, in other words, no one could possibly "not sin" because the bible says that if we were to get to heaven through being good, that is, through our own righteousness, then we would have to obey ALL 600+ laws perfectly!! That is just IMPOSSIBLE!!

 

Or perhaps we believe that if we have done good deeds then surely we will get to heaven that way. But, by whose standards of good deeds and how many good deeds would we have to do? If that were true, then again it could only be by God's measurement of good deeds and what they would be.

 

Well then, how do we get to heaven? If man chooses his eternity, yet he can not possibly obey all 600+ laws, how is that even possible? My friend, with man, it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible!!

 

We do not get to heaven by good works, or by going to church or by confessing all of our sins, or by believing or belonging to a certain denomination, or by obeying all of God's laws (what sin is and what it is not), hence, by being good, no, instead, God tells us exactly how to be reconciled to Him and how to get to heaven. Guess what? IT IS NOTHING THAT WE DO, BUT WHAT JESUS HAS ALREADY DONE. Now that is good news!

 

God is so good, and knows that man can not possibly obey all 600+ laws, that instead of punishing us for our sins, according to His descriptions of sin and His measurement of punishment (eternal life in hell), instead, He sent Jesus to take our sins & the sins of the world upon Himself! Jesus bore the punishment of all my sins, all of your sins, and the sins of the world! That is how much God loves us. That is how much God loves you! Remember, hell was never created for man. In this we see the measure of God's love amidst His holiness.

 

What does this mean?

It means that God chose to come down to earth Himself, as Jesus Christ to suffer the punishment for our sins & all the sins of the world; past, present & future (because though God is love, He is just and holy. Sin needs to be punished). The God of the bible, separated Himself from all other gods, by coming to earth, in the form of a man, as the Son of God; Jesus Christ. Instead of judging and condemning us to hell for our sins which is the punishment for sinning against a Holy God, He suffered that punishment for us and has forgiven man/woman of all sin. "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) How crazy is God's love? I mean, we were the ones who rebelled against Him and His original plan for goodness in the beginning (and still today), yet He made a way for us to be reconciled back to Him?

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The bible tells us that when Jesus was placed on the cross to die, all sin was placed upon Him. When He died, ALL sin was punished once and for all. And when Jesus rose again, it was finished. The punishment for sin had been satisfied. The debt for sin was paid in full! No more would man be punished for his sins!! Our sin is not what sentences us to life in hell because Jesus took the punishment for all sin! Jesus made a way for man to be eternally reconciled to God AND this reconciliation restores our union with Him, here on earth and in the next life; IF, and only if we choose to believe this!

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So then, what sentences us to hell?

1st, our unbelief, or disbelief that we are sinners, lost and in need of a Savior to save us from an eternity of hell because of our sin. And 2ndly, our rejection of Jesus. Jesus is the Savior that God sent into the world to save man from the punishment of sin. Jesus took the punishment for our sin and the sins of the world upon Himself. It is our decision to accept or reject Jesus Christ, who is the One and only true and living God.

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We can choose to admit that we have sinned, believe in our heart and confess with our mouth, that Jesus is Lord and accept that we are forgiven of all of our sin because of what Jesus did for us on that cross. When we choose this belief, the bible says we are saved from eternal separation from God and restored to fellowship with Him here on earth. Now this is really good news! This is grace! And this is the gospel of peace. Precious people, it is simple.

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Now, I say this;

If the bible is just a silly book as some would believe, and the Christian belief is wrong, then we have nothing to fear or worry about right? I mean even if we did believe this or lived our life according to biblical beliefs, there still was no harm done because it wouldn't matter. In fact, as a Christian myself, I can honestly say that my life has been 100 times better since becoming a Christian, AND I can attest to biblical truths as I have applied them to my own life and they work, but if, at the end of my life the bible isn't true (which I believe it is), I would have no regrets any way because my life now, rocks!

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BUT,

What if the bible is true, and this is the only Way to God and eternal life in heaven? What if our rejection of God's way to salvation -- which is by faith through Jesus Christ--does sentence us to hell? Do we really want to take that risk and spend eternity in hell? If hell is real, and the bible says it is, it describes it as a place that is extremely horrifying, tormenting, so hot that it is unbearable, and so painful that the human mind can not comprehend it. I don't even like to think about it. It scares me actually. That is why I am being so bold. My belief is so strong that I can't imagine anyone I love going to this place. I am willing to write this and declare this to inform others of this very real possibility of hell. I know it is not a subject we like to talk about. So, instead of looking at it that way, may I ask you this, "Why would you not believe this? Why would you choose to reject God's free gift of salvation, that is, to be reconciled back to Him here on earth and eternally after you die? Especially since all you have to do is admit that you've sinned, and turn to Jesus?"

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According to the bible, there is no other way; No one comes to God except through Jesus Christ. God in the bible separated Himself from all other gods through Jesus.  Jesus is God--the God of the bible. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

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I invite you, "do you want to make that decision today?"

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If you are serious about wanting your life to be filled with peace, hope and assurance for your eternity, then pray this prayer out loud, with all sincerity of heart--not mechanically, and pray like you mean it. This prayer is not a 'magical' prayer, but it is a prayer to help lead you into the Presence of God. What matters most is your heart. If you are truly seeking God, He will reveal Himself. He will answer your prayers because He loves you. He desires a relationship with you. He longs to satisfy your soul with peace and restore His relationship with you. He wants to send His word and heal you.

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Let's pray;