You Need the Saviour Jesus Christ

Why are we here?
Man did not appear on earth through some evolutionary process. He is substantially different from all the rest of creation, which is evident in that he has personality and a soul which is able to think about life and ask questions such as “why are we here?” God created man in His own image with the purpose of glorifying Himself and enjoying His presence (1 Corinthians 10:31; Romans 11:36). Although He was under no obligation to the man he created, God chose to communicate with him and to express His love towards him and to provide for him. Man lived in humble submission to God and worshiped Him without anything to interfere with that relationship.

What went wrong?
That is clearly not the case any longer. The first man, together with his wife, sinned against God by violating His clear commandment. God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil. Man deliberately disobeyed and suffered the penalty that God warned him about: eternal death (Genesis 2:16-17). Because He is a just God, He was required to enforce this judgment (Genesis 3:24). All of the children of Adam and Eve, including you and me, were born in that condition because they all were born after they sinned against God.

Are we stuck there?
Even though God was just in his punishment of Adam and Eve, there is another part of God’s nature which he also expressed: Grace. Even as He expelled them from the Garden of Eden, God gave them the promise of a Redeemer who would deliver them from their sinful condition (Genesis 3:15). When Adam and Eve tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, God sacrificed an animal and clothed them with the skin of that animal (Genesis 3:21). They had to recognize that they could not cover themselves before God; only God could provide a covering that would be suitable for them in their shameful condition.

That Redeemer finally appeared on earth for the salvation of His people. It was Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead, who fulfilled all the promises and prophecies given to the Lord’s people in the Old Testament (2 Corinthians 1:20). Only God Himself could deliver man from his sinful condition.

Jesus Christ lived a perfect life of obedience to God’s law and showed us what Adam should have done (1 Corinthians 15:45-47). Then he took upon Himself the sins of His people on the cross of Calvary and suffered God’s terrible wrath against our sin (Isaiah 53:4-6;1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; Romans 5:8). He became the blood sacrifice to atone for their sins. In exchange, the Lord’s people receive Christ’s perfect righteousness and have a right standing before the presence of God’s holiness.

This is Grace! What we deserve, Christ took upon Himself! What Christ earned is ours as an inheritance! (Ephesians 2:8-10) We have been delivered from the just judgment of our sins and been given eternal life. And all this is God’s doing. We have done the sinning, but it is God that does the saving. We have done nothing to earn or merit this salvation.

How can I be saved?
There are really only two religions in the world: God’s religion and man’s religion. All mankind stands condemned because of a sin nature we inherited from Adam, as well as our own individual sins. While some men try to ignore the truth of who God is and live as if He does not exist, others try very hard to earn their salvation by doing good works, or by merely comparing themselves to others who are worse than they are. That is not good enough for God. He demands perfect obedience, an obedience that can be found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must have Christ’s obedience, and His obedience alone to be right before a holy God. How can I get that obedience? By confessing your sin and believing on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. He will forgive you if you come in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that He did not come to save the righteous, but sinners. Are you a sinner? Then Jesus is for you. The scribes and Pharisees despised Jesus because he received sinners, and ate with them (Luke 15:2). Do you despise sinners because Jesus loves them? Then you are still in your sins.

Call upon the Lord today
The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:30-31).

There is mercy in the Lord. Do not delay. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)