The Apostle Paul wrote "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23 NIV) and that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23 NIV). The consequences of sin are not just a physical death - but a spiritual death as well. The human consequence of sin is eternal seperation from God, our Creator and Source of Life. But, through the death and resurrection of His son Jesus, we don't have to die a spiritual death.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Jesus died for you. He died for me. He died for everyone. This means whoever believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus - those who put their faith in Jesus by asking Him to be the Forgiver of their sins (Savior) and Leader of their life (Lord) - are cleansed of their sin and given the gift of what the writers of scripture call "salvation" and eternal life with God.

In Genesis 1, we were all made in God's image and lived in relation with God. Everything was good and right. Then sin entered the world in Genesis 3 after Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge. After that, things went downhill. We lived in a sinful world full of toil and shame. But that's not what God had intended for His children.  God wanted to reconcile His relationship with us, He wanted to live in relation with His children again.

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:16-19 NIV)

God reconciled His relationship with us through the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ. We are renconciled with God after we accept Jesus as our lord and saviour of our lives. However, God doesn't want it to stop there. He wants us to live in relationship with Jesus by soaking in His word, serving His kingdom, and putting Him first above all our worldy things.

So, to be redeemed from our separation with God and to enter into a restored relationship with Him, all we have to do is receive Jesus’ death as the payment for our sins, believe He rose from the dead, and put our faith in Him by asking Him to be the forgiver of our sins and the leader of our lives from this point forward. The moment we put our faith in Jesus, our sins are forgiven, we become a child of God, and we inherit eternal life with Him. You can experience that right now. Simply quiet your mind and heart, and pray.

If you prayed something similar to that and believe it in your heart, you have entered into a relationship with God through Jesus! That doesn’t mean all your questions will go away or that everything in your life will magically fall into place. But it does mean your sins are forgiven, you have become a child of God, and you have inherited eternal life with Him. Please let us know if you’ve just made that decision!

Ask Specific Questions
We’d love to answer any specific questions you have about faith, Jesus, the Bible, or anything else. Email us at office@mccookchristian.church