STEP 1: God's Purpose: Peace and Life
God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life--here and eternally.
The Bible says...
We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10
Why don't most people have this peace and abundant life that God planned for us to have?
STEP 2: The Problem: Separation
God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice.
We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way (sin). We still make this choice today which separating ourselves from God.
The Bible says...
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. -Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Our Attempts to Reach God
People have tried in many ways to bridge this gap between themselves and God...
The Bible says...
There is a way that seems right to a man, but it’s end in the way of death. Proverbs 14:12
But your iniquities (sins) have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:2
No bridge reaches God...except one.
STEP 3: God's Bridge: The Cross
Jesus Christ took our sins upon Himself to the Cross where He died. He rose from the dead because death could not hold Him there. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and His people.
The Bible says...
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 2:5
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3:18
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
God has provided the only way. Each person must make a choice.
STEP 4: Our Response: Receive Christ
The Bible says...
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12
That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9