YOU ARE LOVED!!!
Do you believe this?
How do you define “love”?
Love is a noun and a verb. I’d like to focus on love as a verb.
A verb is action. So what is love in action?
Let’s say you love your friend. It’s not enough just to say to your friend,
“I love you,” with no action.
Your friend won’t believe that you truly love him/her unless
you show some sort of action to support your declaration of love.
God is LOVE
God is love (1 John 4:8-16) and defines love. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God loved so he gave his only son – Jesus Christ. God’s love is always love in action.
Do you know why God gave His son to the world (Romans 5:6)?
Just like God the Father shows love in action, Jesus continually showed love in action. Jesus came to earth and did everything that His Father did and all that His Father commanded him to do (John 12:49-50). In other words, Jesus perfectly obeyed His Father all the time (Hebrews 10:5-9).
How would you define “greater love”? Rather, what is the greatest love (in action) you have received?
Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus is saying that there is no greater love than laying down your life for your friend. Do you know that Jesus laid down his life for his friends?
The Bible says that, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Throughout the Bible, people are referred to as “sheep” (Mark 6:34, Ezekiel 34:30-31, Psalm 100:3). Jesus said he is “the good shepherd” (John 10:1-18, Isaiah 40:11). Jesus said that he lays down his life for his sheep.
Jesus even goes as far as to say that after he lays down his life, he will take it up again.
Why would Jesus lay down then take up his life for his people?
What is iniquity?
Iniquity is another word for sin.
What is sin?
Sin is anything you think, say, do (or don’t do) that violates God’s laws (James 4:17, Exodus 20:3-17). What are God’s laws? God’s laws are summed up in two commands – Love God and Love your neighbor (Luke 10:27). Who is my neighbor? All people are my neighbors.
So I’m commanded to love God and all people.
God is LOVE & He is also…
CREATOR HOLY JUST
God is CREATOR
God is creator (Genesis 1:1). In the beginning, God created the first humans – Adam and Eve. God created people not as robots, but to have the ability to make their own choices – whether good or evil. God had only one rule for Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:16-17). They chose to break that one law causing them to go astray turning to their own way. In other words, they chose to sin; therefore, all people are not only born with sin because of Adam and Eve, but each of us also choose to sin (Romans 5:12-14). This means we are all sinners (Romans 3:23).
God is HOLY
God is holy (Psalm 99). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines holy as “exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.” God is worthy of worship and is perfectly good (Mark 10:18) and righteous (Psalm 145:17).
The Bible commands that people be holy (1 Peter 1:16). How can I be holy if the Bible tells me that I’m a sinner? Sin and holiness don’t go together; they are polar opposites, like oil and water. They don’t mix. Sin therefore separates people from a holy God (Isaiah 59:2).
God is JUST
God is Just (Deuteronomy 32:4). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines just as “acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good.” Like a courtroom judge, if you are guilty of a crime, the judge must judge justly (1 Peter 2:23) and sentence you or he wouldn’t be a morally upright or good judge. In God’s court, our crime is that we all have broken God’s laws. So God, being a perfect just judge, has to give a consequence for breaking His laws (1 Peter 4:5). The consequence for breaking God’s law is death (Romans 6:23).
So my sentence for sinning is death?
Death for eternity – separated from God, perishing in a place called hell where you will pay for every sin you committed. Hell is a place of gloomy darkness (2 Peter 2:4), unquenchable fire (Matthew 3:12), a lake that burns with fire and sulfur (Revelation 21:8), a place of eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46), a place of torment day and night (Revelation 20:10), the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15), the eternal fire (Matthew 25:41), a punishment of eternal destruction (2 Thessalonians 1:9), a fiery furnace (Matthew 13:42), a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:50), a place where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48), and a place of anguish in the flame (Luke 16:24).
I don’t know about you, but I can’t even handle a sunburn, much less a minor blister from a quick touch of the oven or stove! Hell doesn’t sound like a place I want to spend my eternity!
There has to be another way!
Can I plead with the judge and ask for a different sentence?
Perhaps, can someone else step in and pay the penalty of my crime? Could someone else lay down their life so I don’t have to lay down mine? Didn’t Jesus say something about this…love in action?
Is there another way where I don’t have to pay the death penalty that my sin deserves?
Yes, there is another way…
ONLY through JESUS CHRIST!!!
JESUS CHRIST, the good shepherd! Jesus is 100% God (John 1:1) and 100% sinless man (2 Corinthians 5:21), full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Jesus was crucified on the cross at Calvary 2,000 years ago. That is what it means by Jesus laying down his life.
What Jesus did for sinners IS the greatest act of love!
Remember that there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for your friend?
Jesus gave all he had – his life – to save sinners.
This is not only an act of love, but a display of grace (Ephesians 2:5)and mercy (1 Peter 2:10). Grace is getting what we don’t deserve and mercy is not getting what we deserve (Romans 3:24, 1 Peter 1:3).
Did Jesus actually die for me personally?
Yes, that is what the Bible says. Jesus died for you personally. When Jesus hung on that cross, taking the punishment you deserved, He was thinking of you by name. Why? His love restores.
What about Jesus taking up his life?
If Jesus died on the cross, taking up must mean that he rose from the dead (1 Peter 3:18)! God the Father gave Jesus full authority over everything (Matthew 28:18, 1 Peter 3:22). That means, Jesus has authority over death (Hebrews 2:14) and rising from the dead! Three days after Jesus died upon the cross and was buried, he literally rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)! Jesus has victory over death! If my sentence is death, and Jesus has victory over death, could Jesus be the answer to pay the crime penalty for my sin and literally exchange places with me?
YES!!!
Jesus laid down his life, taking on my sin, and literally became sin for me, paying my crime’s death sentence, so that I don’t have to be punished for eternity in hell!!!
Does that mean that my sin is given to Jesus just by knowing this information and I get a free get out of jail card?
No. An action is required on your part.
Transferring your sin to Jesus is
something you can’t earn, but is a gift of God by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9).
As with any gift, you have to believe the gift is for you and receive it.
A paycheck is earned.
A gift is not.
Salvation can’t be earned.
It is a gift from God.
The action required by you is simple –
Repent (Matthew 4:17) and Trust (Acts 16:31) Jesus.
Repent of your sins – confess them to God. Turn from your sin and turn to God. Trust Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection as payment for your sins. Surrender your life to Jesus! At that moment of surrender, Jesus becomes your Lord and Savior, calls you his friend, you are forgiven forever, and his love restores your relationship with God the Father allowing you to spend your eternity in heaven (1 Corinthians 2:9, Matthew 5:12, Revelation 22:1-5)!
This is The GOOD NEWS!
This is the GOSPEL!
This is what it means to be born-again! This is what it means to be Christian!
(2 Corinthians 5:18-21, 1 Peter 1:23-25)
There are only two people who can pay for your sin – you or Jesus.
There is no other way. The choice is yours to make.
Do you want to be restored to God?
Do you see the need?
God desires to be restored to you. God literally crushed His one and only son, Jesus Christ, on the cross for you personally! He loves you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3)! Do you believe that? You have a choice to make. You’re not a programmed robot.
The ONLY WAY to be restored to God is through Jesus Christ!
If you don’t make a choice and just read this information or if you don’t believe this information, you have made a choice to actually reject Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and your sin is still upon you. Remember, your sentence is death in hell for eternity (1 Peter 2:8).
Are you willing to repent and trust Jesus at this very moment?
Just talk to God now. Talking to God is called prayer. Pray to God now with a sincere heart. He already knows everything about you. He’s waiting. He’s listening. He’s ready to forgive. That is the reason He sent His one and only son, Jesus Christ, to set sinners free from condemnation (John 3:17)! He longs to have a relationship with you, but he won’t force you. He gives you a choice.
Remember that an action is required on your part. What will you choose to do? Call upon the name of Jesus and have your sins transferred to Jesus. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) who gives you power to live for God now and gives you eternal life with God in heaven.
This is the most important decision of your life. What will you choose? He’s waiting to restore you by His love.
HIS LOVE RESTORES.
JESUS’S LOVE RESTORES.