BUT GOD…

PHASE ONE — CONSIDER

 

Why are you here?

Maybe you clicked because you’re curious.

Maybe you’ve believed in God for years. Maybe you’ve never really thought much about Him at all. Maybe you have questions, doubts, or even objections. Maybe something happening in your life has caused you to think more seriously about life, death, purpose, or what comes next.

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Whatever brought you here, I invite you to slow down for a few minutes and consider something that Christians have believed for nearly two thousand years:

There is a God. He created you. He knows you. He loves you. And He has made a way for you to know Him.

This isn’t about trying to pressure you, win an argument, or pretend that every question about God can be answered on one webpage.

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It’s simply an invitation to consider the message of Jesus Christ.

And if you’re willing to do that, we need to begin with God Himself.

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GOD IS REALLY, REALLY BIG

And by “big,” I don’t simply mean powerful.

God is beyond anything we can fully comprehend. He is the Creator of everything that exists. He is not part of creation. He is not simply a bigger or better version of us. He is eternal, holy, perfectly just, completely good, and infinitely greater than anything we can imagine.

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The Bible describes Him as:

HOLY — perfectly pure and completely separate from sin.

ETERNAL — without beginning or end, and not limited by the boundaries of His creation.

CREATOR AND SUSTAINER — the One who made all things and continues to sustain His creation.

SOVEREIGN — supreme over all creation and completely authoritative over it.

UNCHANGING — completely consistent in His character, purposes, and promises.

TRIUNE — one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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If that last one makes your head hurt a little, you’re in good company. Christians have spent centuries studying the Trinity, and we still recognize that God is greater than our ability to completely comprehend Him.

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But there is something we can understand. God is not indifferent to you.

The Bible says that human beings were created in the image of God. We were created with dignity, purpose, and the capacity to know and have a relationship with our Creator.

And yet, something went terribly wrong.

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HOW DID WE GET HERE?

According to the Bible, God created the heavens and the earth and declared His creation good.

He created the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, and placed them in the Garden of Eden. They were given everything they needed and were created to live in relationship with God.

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But God also gave them a choice.

They could trust Him and live according to His command, or they could reject His authority and choose their own way.

They chose disobedience.

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The Bible describes this as the Fall of humanity.

And from that point forward, sin became part of the human story.

But there is another part of that story.

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Before humanity’s fall, Scripture also tells us that there was rebellion in the spiritual realm. A created spiritual being rebelled against God, and other spiritual beings joined that rebellion. Scripture refers to Satan, the devil, and fallen angels in connection with this rebellion.

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There are details about Satan’s origin and fall that Christians have interpreted in different ways, and Scripture does not give us a complete biography of Satan. We don’t need one.

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What we do know is this:

God is the Creator. Everything else is created. And rebellion against God is real.

Humanity joined that rebellion through sin.

And we continue it every day.

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THE PROBLEM IS SIN

The problem with humanity isn’t simply that bad things happen to good people.

The deeper problem is that we ourselves are part of what is broken.

Sin is more than making a mistake.

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Sin is rebellion against God. It is failing to live according to His good and righteous standard. It can be expressed through what we do, what we say, what we think, and even through the attitudes and desires of our hearts.

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The Bible puts it very simply:

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

— Romans 3:23

That means you.

And it means me.

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Most of us would probably describe ourselves as “good people.” And compared with some other people, we may have plenty of evidence to support that conclusion.

But God doesn’t grade on a curve. His standard isn’t “better than the next person.”

His standard is holiness.

Think about it...

Have you ever told a lie?

Have you ever taken something that didn’t belong to you?

Have you ever looked at someone with lust?

Have you ever hated someone?

Have you ever been consumed by pride, envy, greed, resentment, or anger?

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These aren’t questions intended to embarrass you.

They’re questions every one of us has to answer honestly. And that creates a problem.

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We cannot make ourselves innocent simply by doing more good things.

We cannot erase yesterday’s sin by doing something good today.

We cannot earn God’s forgiveness by becoming religious enough.

And if God is truly holy and just, sin cannot simply be ignored as though it doesn’t matter.

Scripture warns of judgment and separation from God.

That is the bad news.

But the gospel is not primarily a message about bad news.

Because of what comes next, everything changes.

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PHASE TWO — UNDERSTAND

BUT GOD…

 

Those two words are at the heart of the gospel.

But God.

We sinned.

But God loved us.

We rebelled.

But God pursued us.

We could not save ourselves.

But God provided a Savior.

We deserved judgment.

But God made a way for forgiveness.

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The Christian message is not that humanity somehow figured out how to climb its way up to God.

It is that God came down to us.

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JESUS CHRIST

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God’s answer to the problem of sin is Jesus Christ.

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.

He was fully human and fully God.

He experienced hunger, exhaustion, temptation, suffering, rejection, and death just as we do.

But unlike us, Jesus never sinned.

He lived the perfectly righteous life that you and I could never live.

And He came into the world for a very specific purpose.

To save sinners.

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JESUS TOOK OUR PLACE

Jesus willingly went to the cross.

He was betrayed, falsely accused, mocked, beaten, tortured, and crucified.

But the cross was not a tragic accident.

It was not God losing control of His plan.

It was the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan.

Jesus, the sinless Son of God, willingly gave His life as a sacrifice for sinners.

The Bible describes Him as the Lamb of God.

He took upon Himself the penalty associated with our sin so that those who trust in Him could be forgiven and reconciled to God.

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This is the heart of the gospel:

Jesus Christ died for our sins.

But that isn’t the end of the story.

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THE GRAVE DIDN’T WIN

Jesus was buried.

And three days later, He rose from the dead.

The resurrection is not an optional detail of Christianity.

It is central to it.

Jesus conquered death.

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His resurrection demonstrated that death did not have the final word and that God had accomplished what He had promised. The Apostle Paul summarized the gospel this way:

 

“Christ died for our sins… He was buried… He rose again the third day.”

— 1 Corinthians 15:3–4

 

And then there is this extraordinary statement:

 

“But God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

— Romans 5:8

 

There it is again...

But God.

That is grace.

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WHAT IS GRACE?

Grace is God giving us what we could never earn.

It isn’t a reward for good behavior.

It isn’t something we purchase.

It isn’t something we deserve.

It is a gift.

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The Bible says:

“For by grace you are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

— Ephesians 2:8

 

The cross demonstrates both the seriousness of sin and the depth of God’s love.

God does not simply pretend sin never happened.

Instead, through Jesus Christ, He provides a way for sinners to be forgiven and reconciled to Him.

 

That is the good news.

But there is still one question.

What do you do with it?

 

PHASE THREE — RESPOND

WHAT DOES GOD ASK OF YOU?

 

You've now heard the basic Christian message.

God is holy.

We have sinned.

Sin separates us from God.

We cannot save ourselves.

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Jesus Christ came into the world, lived without sin, died for sinners, and rose again.

God offers forgiveness and eternal life as a gift of grace.

 

So what does God ask you to do?

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The Bible calls us to repent and believe.

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1. REPENT

Repentance means turning around.

It means turning away from sin and turning toward God.

It begins with honestly acknowledging:

“I have sinned. I need forgiveness. I cannot save myself.”

Repentance does not mean promising that you will never fail again.

It means that you no longer want to live in rebellion against God.

You turn toward Him and ask Him to forgive you and change you.

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2. BELIEVE

Believe in Jesus Christ.

Not merely that He existed.

Not merely that He was a great teacher.

Not merely that He died on a cross.

Believe that He is who He claimed to be: the Son of God and Lord of all.

Trust that His death was for your sin and that His resurrection conquered death.

Put your confidence in Him rather than in your own goodness.

That is faith.

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3. CONFESS

The Bible also calls us to openly acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord.

Romans 10:9 says:

“If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Genuine faith is not merely an intellectual conclusion kept safely inside your head.

It changes the direction of your life.

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4. RECEIVE

Salvation is a gift.

You cannot earn it.

You cannot buy it.

You cannot become good enough to deserve it.

You receive it by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

You do not need to have your entire life cleaned up before you come to Him.

You come to Him because you need Him.

If you trust Christ, baptism then becomes an important act of obedience and a public identification with Him and His people.

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YOU CAN RESPOND TODAY

If you have come to recognize your need for forgiveness and want to place your trust in Jesus Christ, you can talk to God right now. There is no magic formula and no special combination of words that earns salvation.

What matters is the sincerity of your repentance and faith.

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You might pray something like this:

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Lord God,

I recognize that You are holy and that I have sinned against You.

I can't save myself or earn Your forgiveness by my own efforts.

I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son, that He died for my sins, and that He rose again from the dead.

I turn away from my sin and place my trust in Jesus Christ.

Please forgive me, save me by Your grace, and help me live in obedience to You.

I acknowledge Jesus as my Savior and Lord.

I surrender my life to You and ask You to guide me from this day forward.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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WHAT NOW?

If you have prayed that prayer sincerely, or if you are beginning to explore faith in Jesus Christ, don’t stop here.

The Christian life isn’t simply about saying a prayer and moving on with no observable changes.

It is about knowing God, growing in faith, learning His Word, turning away from sin, and becoming part of a community of believers.

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Read the Bible.

Talk with a mature Christian you trust.

Find a church that faithfully teaches the gospel and encourages you to grow in your relationship with Christ.

 

And don’t be afraid of questions.

You may still have them.

You may have doubts.

You may not understand everything yet.

That’s okay.

Bring your questions honestly to God and continue seeking the truth.

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ONE LAST THOUGHT

We spend a great deal of time preparing for things that might happen.

We prepare our homes.

We prepare our families.

We prepare for emergencies.

We prepare for the unexpected.

But there is another question worth considering:

Are you prepared for what happens when this life is over?

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Your ultimate preparedness is not simply about being ready for what might happen in this life.

It is also about being prepared to meet your Creator.

The good news of the gospel is that you do not have to figure out how to save yourself.

But God…

He has already made a way.

Jesus Christ is that way.