The Salvation Story
The Salvation Story of Salvation through Jesus Christ really starts hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus, in the Old Testament (the first half) of the Bible. God sent the wonderful and exciting message that His own Son would someday be born (the Messiah) to the world through the prophets hundreds of years before Jesus (the Messiah) was even born! "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)
Then, hundreds of years after the prophets proclaimed that a Savior- the Messiah- would be born to save Israel and all of the world, an angel of the Lord appeared to a young lady named Mary, who was pledged to be married to a young man, Joseph. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." (Luke 1:30-31). Later, Mary DID give birth to a son, only he had to be born in a stable (a barn) with the animals, because there was no room for Mary and her husband (Joseph) in the inn.
As the Bible says, "And the child grew and became strong, he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." (Luke 2:40). Jesus lived his life traveling from town to town, healing the sick people, giving sight to the blind, performing other miraculous miracles, and proclaiming that He really was the Son of God. However, many people did not like this, and threatened to kill Him/have Him killed. The Pharisees especially did not like Him, for they ran the temple, and Jesus was showing that their laws were not right. So, the Pharisees got together with one of the 12 men who followed Jesus from town to town (the disciples) and payed him money to have Jesus arrested. And, as the Bible says, Jesus was crucified on the cross, dying a very painful death, to forgive us of our sins.
Yes, Jesus could have easily called for a thousand angels to come and take Him off of that cross, or He simply could have not come to the sinful earth as a baby at all, but Jesus did it all for you and me, so that we may not have to perish. For, as we know from God's word, "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
Jesus CHOSE to die a very painful death, even though He did not deserve it (for He was God, and therefore had never sinned) because all of us here on earth have sinned since birth, and we need a way to get to Heaven. (Once again, see Romans 3:23, quoted in the above paragraph.) The only thing that we must do to gain this FREE gift that God has given unto us is simply pray and ask the Lord into our lives. We must tell Him that we know that we are sinful, and we are sorry for our sins. We must also thank Him for sending His very own Son to the sinful earth to die instead of us, so that we may have this gift. Then, we must also tell God that we want to live for Him now, and that we want to STOP sinning. (Even though we can never be sinless, we must strive to sin less.)
Here is an example of what this prayer might look like- "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son (Jesus) to die in my place. I know that I deserve to die because of the sins I have committed, and I also know that Jesus died in my place. I confess to you that I have sinned, and I ask you to forgive me of that sin. Please, come into my heart, and rule over my life. I want to follow YOU now, and try to live a life that is (more) pleasing to you. Thank you, Jesus. Amen."
If you have never prayed this prayer before, I encourage you to pray it now, and then ACT ON IT. Try to live a life that shows that you are/want to be different from the world, and that your life belongs not to yourself, but to Christ. Trust me, becoming a "child of God" will change your life forever. And, once you die, it is TOO LATE to pray this prayer to be saved and to go to Heaven. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life before you die, the Bible says that you will go to a place where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth," and "eternal and never-ending fire". That place is hell, and hell is real. A good way to think about this is- If I was to get into the car tomorrow and be killed instantly and without any warning in a car accident, where would I go? Even though you may THINK that you will live a long life, and can simply "wait" or "accept Jesus later", later may never come. Now is the time to act.
But, the choice is up to you. Will you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Will you choose to live for Him, and to know that He is always with you?
Then, hundreds of years after the prophets proclaimed that a Savior- the Messiah- would be born to save Israel and all of the world, an angel of the Lord appeared to a young lady named Mary, who was pledged to be married to a young man, Joseph. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus." (Luke 1:30-31). Later, Mary DID give birth to a son, only he had to be born in a stable (a barn) with the animals, because there was no room for Mary and her husband (Joseph) in the inn.
As the Bible says, "And the child grew and became strong, he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." (Luke 2:40). Jesus lived his life traveling from town to town, healing the sick people, giving sight to the blind, performing other miraculous miracles, and proclaiming that He really was the Son of God. However, many people did not like this, and threatened to kill Him/have Him killed. The Pharisees especially did not like Him, for they ran the temple, and Jesus was showing that their laws were not right. So, the Pharisees got together with one of the 12 men who followed Jesus from town to town (the disciples) and payed him money to have Jesus arrested. And, as the Bible says, Jesus was crucified on the cross, dying a very painful death, to forgive us of our sins.
Yes, Jesus could have easily called for a thousand angels to come and take Him off of that cross, or He simply could have not come to the sinful earth as a baby at all, but Jesus did it all for you and me, so that we may not have to perish. For, as we know from God's word, "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
Jesus CHOSE to die a very painful death, even though He did not deserve it (for He was God, and therefore had never sinned) because all of us here on earth have sinned since birth, and we need a way to get to Heaven. (Once again, see Romans 3:23, quoted in the above paragraph.) The only thing that we must do to gain this FREE gift that God has given unto us is simply pray and ask the Lord into our lives. We must tell Him that we know that we are sinful, and we are sorry for our sins. We must also thank Him for sending His very own Son to the sinful earth to die instead of us, so that we may have this gift. Then, we must also tell God that we want to live for Him now, and that we want to STOP sinning. (Even though we can never be sinless, we must strive to sin less.)
Here is an example of what this prayer might look like- "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son (Jesus) to die in my place. I know that I deserve to die because of the sins I have committed, and I also know that Jesus died in my place. I confess to you that I have sinned, and I ask you to forgive me of that sin. Please, come into my heart, and rule over my life. I want to follow YOU now, and try to live a life that is (more) pleasing to you. Thank you, Jesus. Amen."
If you have never prayed this prayer before, I encourage you to pray it now, and then ACT ON IT. Try to live a life that shows that you are/want to be different from the world, and that your life belongs not to yourself, but to Christ. Trust me, becoming a "child of God" will change your life forever. And, once you die, it is TOO LATE to pray this prayer to be saved and to go to Heaven. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life before you die, the Bible says that you will go to a place where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth," and "eternal and never-ending fire". That place is hell, and hell is real. A good way to think about this is- If I was to get into the car tomorrow and be killed instantly and without any warning in a car accident, where would I go? Even though you may THINK that you will live a long life, and can simply "wait" or "accept Jesus later", later may never come. Now is the time to act.
But, the choice is up to you. Will you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? Will you choose to live for Him, and to know that He is always with you?