You have heard me share about the dysfunction of my childhood but did you know that in the midst of chaos I came to know Jesus at 6 years old?  My Sunday school teacher shared the gospel with me and I remember getting down on my knees and accepting Jesus into my heart.  I saw my need for a Savior.  As young as 6 can be, a seed was planted in my heart that has grown over the years.  At 6 I had no idea what all changed on that day!

What is the gospel?  Most of us have heard the definition is good news!  I Corinthians 15:3 tells us that it is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. So why is it good news?  Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… There are several terms for believing in the gospel.  Some call it born again, others call it getting saved, others call it becoming a child of God.  I guess the most common term would be saved.  But why do we need to be saved?  Saved from what?

Did you know that the entire human race was severed from a relationship with God when Adam and Eve took the fruit off of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? (Genesis 2 & 3 and Romans 5 & 6)  Because we were “In Adam” what they did and experienced was passed down to you and me.  Do you know why they were kicked out of the garden after that sin?  Because if they ate off of the other tree, the tree of life, they would live forever in that state.  This means they would be separated from God forever with no hope of  life with Him.  God loved them too much to risk that they may eat off of that tree and be lost forever.  We need to be saved from not only an eternity without God but missing out on what life was meant to be.

You see, God loves us and He wants a relationship with us and He wants all of us to be reconciled to Him.  The Bible refers to the human race as dead people that need life.  We died spiritually in the Garden of Eden. (Ephesians 2)  Being reconciled to our creator is what salvation is all about. Once sin entered the world and deemed all humans sinners, we could not relate to a Holy God.  So Jesus left the glories of heaven to come to earth to die and pay for the sins of the world.  Either we will have to pay for our sin or we can accept Jesus payment for our sin. (Romans 6:23). It is a free gift that is passionately offered to everyone. (Ephesians 2:8 & 9) It’s not only about seeing your sin and knowing you need a Savior but it’s about understanding that something is missing if you have not accepted this free gift of salvation.  And most of us don’t know something is missing from our life.  Would you ask God to show you what’s missing?  You’ve heard it said, I didn’t know that I didn’t know.  But the Bible is clear that Jesus is always wooing us to Him.  Have you asked Him what it means to be in a relationship with Him?

I love to hear my husband explain this fact.  When we were in our mother’s womb and we were born, we entered into this world.  We became a partaker of this life.  When we accept Christ and His payment for our sins we enter a whole new world.  You are now IN CHRIST and He is now IN YOU.  You are a partaker of a new life. You have been reconciled to the Holy God of the universe who loves you and wants to relate to you. I Peter puts it this way, “You have been given everything you need for life and godliness.”  No, we won’t ever reach 100% godliness in our behavior but down deep inside, in our spirit we are deemed Godly, Holy, Righteous.  Why does that matter?  Because we cannot relate to a Holy God until the sin nature is taken away and we are holy too.   It’s the way God intended it to be in the garden of Eden.  Creator and Creation in a love relationship!  So why do we still sin?  Well, that’s a topic for another day but we will always be tempted to walk after the flesh until the day we die.  And it will ALWAYS bring heartache. But it WILL NOT change who we are.

Nothing can change this relationship!  Just as nothing can make my physical children, no longer my children; nothing can change the fact that I am God’s child. Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”  In a day and time when you don’t know who to believe and what will happen next; we can have peace and security in knowing who we are and whose we are and what our future holds!  God is the anchor in a world with so much shifting sand.  Do you know Him?