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These are the words of the man we know as Paul the apostle. As a young man, he persecuted Christians to their deaths. And then he became one. And the quote above introduces the gospel, as he taught it. Consider it carefully, and note the reason for the death of Jesus Christ: our sins.

That's a very straightforward statement, is it not? What exactly is sin? Sin is failure to live up to the standard that God requires of us. If you've ever said, "That's not right!", then you know just what this sort of failure looks like, so let's move on.

What do these verses tell us about sin? After the man and his wife disobeyed God, their relationship with Him was hindered. Sin always causes separation from God. In fact, Romans 3:23 tells us that "the wages of sin is death". That is, by our rebellion against God we earn death. The reference is not only to physical death, because when the Bible talks about God's eternal city in Revelation 21:27 it says, "nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (nasb).

Well, it's true, and we all know it. We haven't lived up to God's law. But is there a way to make ourselves right with God? Can we earn the relationship back? Does God not respect the good things I've done? Let's turn again to Romans 3, where we read

You might want to go and read the verse in context, but the message is clear even taken alone: The Law that is mentioned is God's law that He gave to the Jewish people. You can read it in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. So, what the verse is saying is that even when we're given, in written form, God's own requirements that we aren't made right with God at all. God's law shows us what sin is, and we find that we don't live up to it - we break it.

Let's return to the apostle Paul. If this was all there was to tell, what drove Paul to travel the world in the face of vicious opposition to tell it? Well, it's not all, for near the end of his life he said this:

So Paul preached repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance is a change of mind and heard that leads to a change of behavior. And faith in Jesus Christ means simply taking God at His word, believing that He will do what He has promised. Let's tie some of these pieces together with a passage from the book of John.

And there, in a nutshell, is the whole story. Jesus Christ came, as a man, to our planet - not to be our judge, but to save us from sin, to make us right with God. And it says, "He who believes in Him is not judged." Does the verse at the top of the page come into better focus now? We should die for our own sins, but Jesus Christ was willing to die for them, and God was willing to accept the death of Jesus Christ in place of the death of you and I provided that we believe in Him.

And what does that entail? Why, just what we read in Acts 20:21 - We have a change of mind and heart regarding our sin and regarding God and our relationship to Him. Upon recognizing that our sin has earned us to be judged by God and sentenced to eternal death, we turn from our own way to Jesus Christ to accept His death in place of ours.

Now, if you want to be sure that I'm not just making that up - and you should want that - then go and read all of John chapter 3. It's only a page or so of text, and you may find it quite helpful.

Now, we've been talking about Jesus Christ dying, but there's no use trusting a dead person for anything. And that's precisely why the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 puts such an emphasis on the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You aren't being asked to follow a man who died; you're being asked to trust the one and only living God. That's very reasonable.

Well, is that, then, the end of the story? No, not yet! Let's turn a few pages to then end of the book of John, just before Jesus is crucified. Jesus is preparing His friends for His death and He says this:

So, Jesus Christ hasn't left our planet forever - He will return! And after He returns, He will preside over the final judgement, when those who refuse to believe in Him now will face Him as their Judge. Here, the apostle John relates what God showed him regarding this final judgement:

Nobody likes to stand before a judge accused and guilty. And nobody looks forward to a sentence of life in prison. Do you agree with me that these statements from the Bible are rather straightforward? If you do, then you know what you need to do to be right with God. He has made this promise in John 20, verse 31: "the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out". If you will take God at His word, you can have peace regarding your relationship with Him, because He says this: