Suppose you and I were each to throw a rock and try to hit the North Pole.  You might throw farther than 1, but neither of us would hit it.

When the Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short," it means that we have all come short of God's standard of perfection.

In thoughts, words, and deeds, we have not been perfect.

But the bad news gets worse...

Bad News #2

 The penalty for sin is death.

 Romans 6:23 says,"The wages of sin is death."

Suppose you worked for me for one day and I paid you $50.  That $50 was your wages.  That's what you earned.

The Bible says that by sinning we have earned death.  That means we deserve to die and be separated from God forever.

But...since there was no way we could come to God, the Bible says that God came to us!

Good News #1

Christ died for you.

          Romans 5:8 tells us, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 Suppose you are in a hospital dying of cancer.  I come to you and say, "Let's take the cancer cells from your body and put them into my body."

If that were possible,   • What would happen to me?

                     • What would happen to you?

I would die in your place.  I would die instead of you.

The Bible says Christ took the penalty that we deserved for sin, placed it upon Himself, and died in our place.

Three days later Christ came back to life to prove that sin and death had been conquered and that His claims to be God were true.

Just as the bad news got worse, the good news gets better!

Good News #2

You can be saved through faith in Christ.

 Ephesians 2:8,9 says, "For by grace [undeserved favor] you have been saved [delivered from sin's penalty] through faith, and that not of  yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, that no one should boast.

  Faith means trust.

 Q:   What must you trust Christ for?

A:    You must depend on Him alone to forgive you           and to give you eternal life.

Just as you trust a chair to hold you throuoh no effort of your own, so you must trust Jesus Christ to get you to heaven through no effort of your own.

But you may say, "I go to church."

"I don't steal."   "I'm a good person."  "I help the poor."  "I'm religious."

These are all good, but good living, going to church, helping the poor or any other good thing you might do cannot get you to heaven.

 You must trust in Jesus Christ alone, and God will give you eternal life as a gift!

Does this make sense to you?

Is there anything keeping you from trusting Christ right now?

    1. _______________________________

2. _______________________________

3. _______________________________

4. _______________________________

Think carefully.  There is nothing more important than your need to trust Christ.