You might say that you have went to church or done more good than bad, or you might say to me you don’t believe in heaven. My answer to that is that I believe in the God of the Bible, the God that created Heaven and Earth and the God that created Adam and Eve. When Adam and Eve lived in The Garden of Eden everything was perfect and they were able to walk and talk with God on a personal basis. Unfortunately, they disobeyed God and sin entered the world, and the curse of sin was now on mankind.
Yes, that is right, because Adam and Eve sinned and were driven from the perfect garden; their sin nature was passed to their children through all the following generations to your parents and on to you.
My friend shared with me this illustration of man’s attempts to build bridges to God. He asked me to fill in the empty blanks as we have already learned that when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, man became sinful from generation to generation and told me how God was Holy. He also told me that a holy God cannot associate with man who is sinful.
Man’s attempt to build a bridge to God might include baptism, communion, church membership, or good works. The Bible tells in Ephesians 2:8, 9”For by grace you have been saved through faith…..not of works lest anyone should boast.” From what the Bible says about man trying to achieve heaven through works what do you think will happen to the person who tries to build his own bridges to God.
If you said hell, you are correct. What do you think hell will be like? The Bible tells us hell is punishment for eternity where the unsaved will be tormented in total darkness for ever and once you’re there, there is no escape.
The good news is God is in the bridge building business. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to earth to die on a cross as a sacrifice for the sins of those who call on Him for true forgiveness. In John 14: 6 Jesus said “I am the way the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me”. Also when Nicodemus asked Jesus what must I do to be saved in John 3: 1-10, He said “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see theThis shows us that Jesus is the bridge that moves us from physical birth to spiritual birth. Some might be factual professing “Christians” who knows there is a God and might even know Jesus rose from the dead but he doesn’t make it like the born again Christian does because that person has not believed in his heart and confessed with his mouth that Jesus is Lord as Romans 10:9, 10 states. “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation”.
Friend, can you point to the exact time you accepted Christ as your personal Savior? Let me tell you who the friend was that shared Christ with me. It was my mother on a Sunday night after church in my bedroom. I was eight years old and the date was January 11, 1959. She told me the simple plan of salvation and I made a life changing decision when I prayed that night to repent of my sins and accept Christ. You might not be able to remember the exact date like me, but you should remember the general time when your life changed. If you can’t remember that time or maybe you might say to me that you have never prayed that prayer or don’t know what to say, I would love to help you. Just say a prayer like this: “Dear Lord I confess to you that I have been a sinner and I want to repent of my sins and I ask you to forgive me of those sins and come into my life and help me from now on to live a holy life that will be pleasing to You.”
If you just prayed that prayer we would love to hear from you so that we might point you to a good bible believing church in your area where you can grow as a Christian. Also, if you accepted Christ today or maybe later on, I cannot take the credit because the bible tells us that the Holy Spirit must draw you to Him. However, if you decide not to accept Christ I am not going to take the blame because it is my responsibility to share my story and salvation information with you and when God says “why should I let you in to heaven”, you can not say that nobody ever shared the plan of salvation with me, because on this day you have heard.
If you want to hear more or talk to me, just call me John Sipe at 260-433-7269 or e-mail at johnsipe@usppp.com.
