What do you think about when you hear the word 'God'? To many people, God is a vague, mystical concept, variously defined as nature, force, influence, etc. To some it brings a picture of a deity who has to be kept appeased to prevent calamities or who has to be bribed to obtain some blessings. Some who consider themselves to be intellectual have accepted a philosophy that it does not matter what you think about God as long as it satisfies your particular need. Among the scientifically minded, it has become fashionable to equate God with superstition and to profess that they will only accept what can be scientifically proved. Perhaps you have some other understanding about God. But have you ever seriously considered the possibility that in reality God is different from your concept about Him?Jesus came down from heaven to the earth to show us what God is really like. Why should anyone accept what Jesus said? Anyone who honestly examines the facts about Jesus has to admit that He was not an ordinary man, and not merely a good man or a good teacher. The miraculous way in which He was born fulfilling the prophecies made concerning Him hundreds of years before He was born, the life that He lived about which even His worst enemies could find no fault, the miracles which He did in healing sickness and raising people from the dead, and finally the fact that He came back to life and appeared to many people three days after He was put to death on the cross, attest to the truth that He was really the Son of God. In the centuries that followed His death and resurrection, countless number of people have personally experienced His reality and their lives have been transformed by His power. You too can meet with Jesus and let Him change you.
Jesus said that God loves us so much that He did not want us to perish, and so He sent Jesus. How would we have perished, and how can Jesus save us?
The root of all problems for mankind is SIN. Sin is not only murder or adultery. It is a violation of the laws of life which God has ordained. When God created man, He has made laws which, if man kept them, would lead to His good. Every man knows the broad forms of these laws because his conscience tells him about them. In this way, every man instinctively knows that it is wrong to cheat, tell lies, to be jealous or unkind, to hurt others, etc. If a man has been careful to live in obedience to the signals from his conscience, his conscience would have become more sensitive to tell him more details in this direction. But the fact of the matter is that everyone has sinned and done many wrong things, some openly or in gross forms and others in civilised forms. The result is not only that we have hurt ourselves and others in the process, but also that we have come into the judgment of God. The nature of God is pure and sinless and nothing impure can come near Him. The punishment for sin is death and eternal torture in hell. And that is what every single one of us - rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or not so clever - deserves.
God is the One who created us. He saw that man was headed for judgment because of sin. He knew that we are unable to save ourselves. By trying our best we can only bring about a superficial reform, and there is nothing we can do to clean up our past. God loves us. Therefore He sent Jesus. Jesus who never sinned died on the cross, taking on Him our punishment. Now if we admit our sins to God and ask Him for mercy on the basis of Jesus having taken our punishment, God will forgive us all our past sins. Sincere repentance for our sins and a humble, thankful faith in Jesus are all that we need for this.
That is not all. When Jesus lived on earth as a man, He faced all the temptations to sin that we are faced with. He was able to overcome them all with the help that He received from God the Father. Now He has promised those who believe in Him the same help so that we too can overcome temptations in the same way He did. And there are many other glorious things He has promised for those who will turn away from sin and come to Him.
Such is the love of God for sinners like us. Will you not respond to this great love now, by confessing your sins to God and leaving them behind you? Believe in Jesus and He will give you a new life.