Larry Weathers
Welcome to the trailhead! This is the start of your journey with Jesus. As we get started, we need to ask the question, what just happened? Maybe you went back to church for the first time in a long time or maybe you went to a summer camp or maybe you just realized you needed God in your life and reached out for Jesus.
However you came to faith in Jesus, we know this, something GOOD just happened! And I want to take a moment to explain what that good thing is.
Jesus said these powerful words, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10 NLT. There’s a devil who wants to destroy God’s plan for humanity. He’s the puppet master behind all the evil in the world, but Jesus came to undo all that. That’s what makes this such good news is that it undoes the evil that was done from the beginning. And the beginning is how we got into this mess to start?!
From the beginning, Adam and Eve. The first two humans created by God in perfection. But they blew it; they disobeyed God. The reality is so have we. We’ve all sinned. This is how the Bible puts it. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23. This is the bad news. But here’s the GOOD news. Jesus came to solve our sin problem. The reality is sin is an incurable disease for us humans. But Jesus did what we could never do. The Bible says it like this, “He [God] sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” Romans 8:3b NLT
In legal terms Jesus’ death satisfied the debt we owed God for all our sins! In medical terms, he administered a cure for our sin disease. Jesus did this by dying on the cross, taking the punishment of all our sins upon himself. The one person who didn’t deserve to die because he’d never sinned, took the punishment of our sin! We’ve been freed from this terrible disease because of what Jesus did for us! It gets even better! This salvation is a free gift! You can’t earn this forgiveness! That might seem counterintuitive, but it’s true. It’s a GIFT!
The Bible says , “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT. God sent Jesus to save us from the disease of sin and we accept this gift by faith--free of charge! Now that’s amazing and that’s what JUST HAPPENED!
You’re forgiven. You now have hope, and can look forward to heaven one day! Plus, you get to experience the joy of walking with Jesus today through all life’s adventures! And you know what, you’re just getting started!!
CHALLENGE
Here’s what I’d like you to do this week. Thank God each day for this gift of salvation. Thank him for forgiveness and freedom to know and walk with Jesus. Try not to miss a single day!
Okay, we’re at the trailhead, you ready? Let the journey begin!