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The Bible says there is a barrier between God and man.
This barrier is not passable in our own power.
In fact, this barrier or wall is so tall that no one can climb over
it. It reaches so high into the heavens that no one can see the top.
And this wall is so wide that we can’t go far enough to get around
it. No matter how far we walk in either direction, we will never
find an end. And this wall is so thick that nothing mankind has
invented can break through it. It is thicker than the widest
mountain.
No one with their own power can reach the other side of this wall,
and that is where God is.
It would take a divine hand reaching down from heaven to get us to
the other side. It would take supernatural power to break down this
wall.
And whether you realize it or not, that has already happened. The
question is, will you believe in God’s solution?
Believe it and you will accept God’s free gift of eternal life.
Reject it and you will stay separated from God by this wall forever.
Rom 6:23, Joh 3:16-18
The Bible teaches that the certificate of debt we owe God has been
paid for already. In fact, it was nailed to a tree with all of our
sins. Col 2:14
The Bible teaches that nothing we do pleases God. Only perfection
pleases God, and we are all far from perfect. So God needed a
perfect sacrifice, or a substitute, to be satisfied. After all, God
is holy. He is perfect and blameless. He is perfectly righteous and
just. How can a perfect God even look upon sin?
The Bible says He cannot. Hab 1:13
The barrier between God and man is an invisible spiritual wall. We
cannot have a relationship with our God and Creator unless this wall
is broken down.
But remember, there is good news!
Let me tell you a story. A man was convicted of murder, and he was
sentenced to death by the Judge of the courtroom.
This man was guilty. He did commit the murder and was wrong. Now
justice demands that a price be paid for his error. Only God is
allowed to give life and to take it away.
So this man is waiting for his death. A price must be paid. It is
the only just and righteous thing to do! A payment must be made,
says the courtroom Judge.
So the day comes, the man is led by the prison guards out of his
cell. He is walked down the long corridor of death, chains on his
feet and hands. His heart is pounding. His body is soaked with
sweat. Tears start pouring out of his eyes.
He knows he has just minutes to live. He is almost at the end of the
corridor. He can see the light of the execution room. He has heard
all the stories of the horror and pain and death.
Just as this man, a guilty murderer, approaches the entrance to the
execution room, another man steps in front of him and the prison
guards. This man looks very kind and caring, and with a peaceful
look on his face he hands the guards a note; a letter actually. It
is from the Judge of the courtroom.
As the prison guards read it, they realize that the Judge has given
permission for this innocent man before them to take the murderer’s
place! This man is a friend of the murderer!
He loves his friend very much, even though his friend is guilty. So
great is his love for his friend that he has offered his own life
before the courts to be sacrificed in place of his guilty friend.
And the Judge has agreed!
And the guilty murderer can’t believe his eyes. This is his best
friend. And not only is he offering his own life in place of his,
but he is also giving up a beautiful life! He has a beautiful wife,
three lovely young children, plenty of money, and a great
relationship with God! And here he is throwing that all away for his
friend.
Suddenly the murderer is released from his chains, and his chains
are placed on the hands and feet of his totally innocent friend. The
murderer is astonished. His mouth is wide open and he cannot speak.
He watches in disbelief at the great love of his friend as his best
friend is led to the execution room and beaten and put to death.
What a friend. This was a true friend. A true friend sticks by you
no matter what, even when you are wrong. Do you want a true friend
like this? There is no greater proof of friendship and love than
this.
Jesus said (Joh 15:13) “Greater love has no man than this, that one
lay down his life for his friends.”
YOU have a friend like this. All of you. All of us.
All of us are sinners. We are all guilty before God. But here is the
good news: God has done something about it.
God promised thousands of years ago in the Bible, before the times
of Christ, to do something about it. He promised that He Himself
would come down to earth and save His people. He promised to rescue
us from our guilt and sin. He promised He would become a man and
suffer in our place by dying for our sins. That’s how much He loves
us.
Our true friend has already died in our place.
The good news is that everything has been paid for. The eternal
judgment for our sins has been paid and the barrier of the invisible
dividing wall has been broken down, by God Himself!
No one can pay for his own sins. No one is worthy to get his debt of
sin removed. No one, but this God-man, who has stepped in the way of
our execution. He has stepped into the long dark corridor and
offered Himself for us, in our place, to take our judgment.
Our death sentence has been transferred to our true friend, God
Himself.
God loves us so much that He stepped out of heaven and became that
innocent man in the long dark corridor. He became poor so that we
could become rich. 2Cor 8:9
He paid the price for us, so we could accept the free gift of
eternal life, by just believing in His Son. That is a true friend.
That is true love. And all of us have this friend on our side, if we
just accept Him.
All of us NEED this friend on our side. He is the Only One worthy to
pay the debt of our sin. Otherwise the wages of sin is eternal
death, separation from God forever. But the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 6:23
You see, ANOTHER GUILTY MAN cannot pay our debt for us. He has his
own debt to pay! A murderer can’t say to the Judge, “I want to die
in this other murderer’s place”. The Judge would laugh, because each
man must die for his own guilt. He himself is guilty. He himself is
already sentenced to die!
But if an INNOCENT man steps in, someone that actually has something
to offer, someone who is innocent and has not been condemned
himself, THEN a sacrifice can be made. A substitution can take
place.
I am here to tell all of you some very good news. That God, in His
perfection and innocence, came down to earth to pay the judgment for
all our sins. He has become the Savior of the whole world. God has
become a man, and He stepped in the path of your eternal death
sentence.
And He did this freely. He did this as a gracious gift, out of his
amazing love for us.
He didn’t make any deals with us. He doesn’t even ask you to pay Him
back. He is not asking for us to make it up to Him. He offers His
sacrifice FREELY, as a gracious gift. This is the greatest
expression of love possible.
2000 years ago this God-man was on the earth. He told us, “I am the
Good Shepherd, and the Good Shepherd lays down His life for His
sheep.” He said “I and the Father are One.” He told us that He came
to the earth to do the Heavenly Father’s will, to die for the sins
of His people.
He was an innocent man who was nailed to a tree. He was nailed to a
Roman cross at the hands of cruel men, but He died for their sins
also. And it was all part of God the Father’s Plan.
And our certificate of debt we owed God for our sins was nailed to
the Cross with Him.
And to prove He was the One, as if His great love weren’t enough,
He rose from the dead 3 days after He was buried. Even until today,
scientists still cannot find his bodily remains in the grave.
The apostle Paul said in 1 Cor 15:1-6 - “Now I make known to you,
brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you
received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if
you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed
in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I
also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the
third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to
Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five
hundred brethren at one time.”
In Acts 17:30-31 Paul also noted the evidence of the resurrection of
Christ. "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance,
God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should
repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world
in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having
furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
And now WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM, the Lord Jesus Christ, will NEVER
perish, but have eternal life. Joh 3:16
The Bible says, “The wages of sin is eternal death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 6:23
The Bible says “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”
Acts 16:31
Right now let’s take a moment of silence. With your head bowed and
eyes closed, you have privacy between you and God.
So right now, if you have never before believed in Jesus Christ, in
your own words, in your thoughts only, you can tell God that you are
believing in His Son Jesus Christ for eternal life.
You are a sinner and you need a Savior. And God loves you with such
a precious love that He gave His uniquely born Son to die in your
place.
And now He is offering you salvation as a free gift. And all you
have to do is accept that gift, by simple trusting faith in Jesus as
your Lord and Savior.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become
children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Joh 1:12
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, that no
one should boast.” Eph 2:8-9
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You today for anyone
who has made the decision to believe in Your Son for eternal
life. We gladly welcome them as Your fellow children and heirs
to eternal life. We ask that You bless them all as we go forward
to learn more about You from Your perfect Word, the Bible.
We ask that You help all believers find a pastor-teacher that
they can study under to learn your incredible Plan. We thank You
for Your free gift of grace, and we ask that you bless and
protect everyone as they go forward in Your destiny for them. It’s in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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