What would you say God’s requirements are for you to get into Heaven?
Most people say, “Be a good person” or something along those lines.
The Bible says, “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” I know I’m not perfect. I’m pretty sure you’re not perfect either. If those are God’s requirements to get into heaven, then we are far from perfect.
Does your relationship with God make you sure you will go to heaven when you die?
Most people say they are not sure. Use your imagination with me for a moment (pretend we love ants). Let’s say you see an ant hill and it’s about to be destroyed. You could yell at the ants to move away, but they wouldn’t listen to you. You could try and scare them away, but that’s all you would do is scare them. What if you were able to become an ant, or communicate with them, like the superhero Ant-Man. Then you could tell them the danger they are in and save them. This is what God wants to do with us. He wants to have a personal relationship with us.
the Bible says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
But there’s a problem. SIN. Sin separates us from God, it separates us from others.
The Bible says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Your sin is separating you from God.
It also separates us from others. Here’s simple question, why do you have locks on your doors at home? To keep people out, to keep you safe. There are people that want to cause you harm, so you keep them out with locks. Just look at the news, murders, crimes, shootings, etc. Sin is all around us. As we stated above, we are not perfect. We may not be as bad as “that guy” but we are still guilty of sin.
The Bible says, “For ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
The problem compounds when we begin to understand the character of God.
God is a perfect father. The Bible says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” God loves us as a father loves his children. But he is also a perfect judge, he can not let our sin go unpunished. A good parent will discipline their child. Discipline, when properly done, leads to correction. Punishment has no corrective values.
There is a story of a young adult who gets caught for driving drunk. He is guilty. He is brought before Judge Goldstein. Judge Goldstein is known as the “hanging judge.” He always gives the harshest punishment allowed by law. This man is now in front of Judge Goldstein and he is guilty. There is a small twist in this story, the judge is the young adult’s father. Does he go easy on his son losing his reputation as the hanging judge or does he maintain his reputation and not be a loving father.
The judge gives him the strictest fine of $5000. He knows his son can’t possible pay that fine. Then steps down from the bench, takes off his robe and pays his son’s fine for him. In one instance he is both a perfect judge and a perfect father.
The Bible says this about God, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.”
God will not tolerate our sin, but he has an answer. He paid it for us through his son Jesus.
The Bible says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
There is a price for our sin, death and Hell. God is a perfect father and does not want that for us, he paid the price for us through His son Jesus. He sent Jesus to live among us. Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life, he was put to death on a cross by the romans. But he didn’t stay that way, in 3 days he rose from the grave defeating death and paying the price for yours and my sin. In this way Jesus is our Savior.
You may have heard the phrase “evidence that is admissible in court.” This was created by Simon Greenleaf, a royal professor of law at Harvard University. His students challenged him to prove the resurrection of Jesus. He found overwhelming evidence that not only did Jesus live among us, but that he was put to death AND that he rose from the grave. So much evidence that he said, no unbiased jury could deny it.
The Bible says “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.“
To make Jesus your Lord and Savior, you need to take only 2 steps.
You need to repent of your sin. The Bible says, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
You also need to receive Jesus. Let’s pretend again. This time you have a terminal illness. You are absolutely going to die if you don’t get the cure. I have the cure for you, its this pill. I give you the pill, you hold it in your hand. Are you cured? NO! Why? Because you only hold it in your hand, you have to ingest it and let it work in you. The same way, you are presented with this information, have it, but haven’t ingested it yet.
The Bible says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and know. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me.”
Are you ready now to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord?
This is the most important decision of your life, so let me briefly review it for you. You must
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Realize that you are a sinner
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Repent of you sins
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Receive Jesus personally as Savior and Lord
If you are now ready, say this prayer.
“Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have provided a way for me to have a relationship with You. I realize that I am a sinner. I thank You that You are my Perfect Father. I ask You, Jesus, to be my Savior and Lord. I repent and receive Your perfection in exchange for my sin.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen”
John 5:24 says “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”
Now what would you say God’s requirements are for you to get into heaven? Make Jesus your Savior and Lord. That’s it. It’s done. There’s nothing you have to do.
As we stated earlier. This is a relationship with God. How do you maintain your current relationships with your friends and family. You talk with them, hang out with them, get to know them. I’m going to break down 5 simple steps to have a relationship with God.
A – Amen – Prayer, our way of communicating with God
B – Bible – God’s Primary way of communicating with us
C – Church – find a bible-believing church and get plugged in
D – Discipleship – find another Christian who will help you in your new relationship with God.
E – Evangelism – Share the good news that you now have with others.
Did You Give Your Life to Jesus?
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