How can we have eternal life when we die? This is the big question people all over the world are asking. Before we answer that question, we have to ask another: Have you ever personally done anything wrong, what the Scriptures call sin? We cannot sweep it under the carpet or hide it from the God Who knows everything and will bring all into judgment (1 Corinthians 4:5); instead, we must confess or own our sin. If we have committed just one sin, it will keep us from God’s perfect heaven.
For whosoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10).
Let me put it differently: "How many murders does it take to be a murderer? The answer is one. How many lies does it take to be a liar? Again, the answer is one. How many sins does it take for a person to be a sinner? Of course, the answer is one. We all need a Savior for our sins.
Christ Is the Answer to Sin.
Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). This statement begs the question that if Christ came to give us life, what did we have before He came? True life, the life of God, is only imparted to us at the point of repentance of sin and our turning toward the Lord Jesus Christ for His gift of life (Acts 3:19). Before that point, we are lost sheep gone astray and dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1 and 5). The only way out of our deadness and sin was for someone to be our substitute and take the penalty for our rebellion and sin upon Himself:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29).
That is what Jesus did. God laid the sin of us all upon Christ, the sacrificial Lamb of God. Because He was and is God in the flesh, only His life could have the value to satisfy eternal justice and bring us "home." Only God could pay the price for us all. It was His life for our life, a unique exchange that is significant to our advantage far more than we can ever comprehend.
Let's put it another way. For example, if we were to think about ants, how many would amount to the same value as a sheep—a million, maybe ten million? What about the whole population of ants? Would that equal one sheep? A sheep is a higher life form and value than all ants. Well, let's go further with that thought. How many sheep would be the equivalent value of a human being? In God's view, all sheep worldwide do not equal the life of one human made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Let's go one step further. What kind of price was needed to buy all human beings out of the slave market of Satan? Only the Sovereign Lord Himself could equal the value of all who would receive His death as a substitute for theirs.
We are talking about the redemption payment of the Son of God laying down His life in exchange for our mortal, imperfect life. That’s why the death of Christ paid for all your sin. No man can take away sin, but the Lord of Glory can, and He did. God laid upon His Son the sin of all us sheep who have gone astray. If we receive Christ by faith, we are regenerated or born-again from above by the payment price of the precious blood of Christ. We now belong to the Good Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep. Jesus said that He came to lay down His life for His sheep (John 10:15):
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6). By the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene…there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved (Acts 4:10,12). Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15).
He is as close to you as a prayer. Sincerely confess your sin, turn from it to Christ, and invite Him into your life to cleanse you of all sin. Christ has promised to come and fill you with His Spirit. Keith Thomas
Taken from the study, How Do I Become a Christian? Found in the series I'm New at This.
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