. You Never Stood a Chance
You were born into a
family that had its own problems.
You grew up in a corrupt
society.
You are far from perfect
yourself.
Some people had a better
start in life than you did.
None of that matters!
No matter how good or bad
you may have it in this life, the thing that really matters is
eternity. The fact is you never
stood a chance of reaching heaven because God judged you guilty before you were born!
Check out what the Bible says about it:
“Wherefore, as by
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned...Therefore as by the
offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by
the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life.”
-Rom 5:12,18
You were condemned
because of Adam's sin before you were born.
On the surface that
doesn't seem fair, does It? But it is! Listen to God's reasoning
about this, and you'll see that It was not only fair, but loving and
merciful.
Consider all the
advantages Adam had.
He was born Into the
perfect family (He was God's first created man).
He was born Into the
perfect environment (No death, disease, corrupt government, etc.).
He was a perfect man (He
was made by the hand of God).
He still sinned, and God
knew that YOU would not do any better. Get that.
You would not have
done any better than Adam!
You
haven't done any better yet, Have you? Given all your privilege, the
wealth of your nation, the blessings in your life, you are still a
sinner. And you know it, don't you?
So God chose to represent
you in Adam, instead of giving you the opportunity to make the same
mistake. God literally condemned you when he condemned your
ancestor, Adam. You were born condemned.
But Wait!
God wasn't finished yet.
Having established the principle that He could use somebody else as
your representative, He planned to send His only begotten son, Jesus,
to be your new representative. The good news is that Jesus lived a
holy and sinless life and died under your condemnation on the cross.
He took all the righteous judgment of God that you justly deserved.
Now God can count you as holy and sinless, even though you aren't.
How Does That Work?
How do you get counted as
perfect by God, even though you aren't? To answer that question,
let's answer the following question. How did you get counted as
condemned? The answer is, you were born. So, In the words of Jesus,
"You must be born again"
“Jesus answered and
said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” -John
3:3
You need a Spiritual
birth. The Bible calls this new birth "Salvation". It
happens when you repent of your sins and ask God to save you in the
name of His son, Jesus.
Do You Know Who Your
Representative is?
Jesus was established as
the only means of salvation when He died on the cross for you, and
was raised from the dead. Your own works, no matter how good, cannot
change who your representative is. Only salvation can do that. So the
question is, are you saved?
Settle it Today!
It doesn't take any
formality. Simply admit to God that His judgment was right. Confess that you
are a sinner and would have made the same mistake Adam did. After all,
you've got a lifetime of sin to prove it. Then ask Him to save you in
the name of Jesus. That's all it takes. In fact, He promises that if
you will call on Him, He WILL save you.
“For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” -
Romans 10:13
Tomorrow will be too
late. Today is YOUR day to be saved. Right now. Do not delay. Go
to the Lord and ask him to save you today. He loved you enough to
die for you. He will not turn you down. He will save you.
Do
Me a Favor
When you call on the Lord
and He saves you, use the link on the Contact Us page to send me an
email and let me know. I would love to send you some information
that will be very helpful to you as a new Christian.
- Michael Pemberton
|
