Many people have a misperception about God; they view Him as angry and vindictive. Now, God will certainly judge the sin of the world. But that is because He is just. And the Bible teaches us that every single person is sinful and subject to the judgement of God. Once you realize that your sins (falling short of God’s standards and requirements) are grounds for judgment, the last thing you want is justice. What you need is mercy!
When you see God for who He really is (loving, kind, patient, merciful…), and start to understand who you really are apart from His forgiveness (wicked, depraved, selfish, rebellious…), your perspective about everything will begin to change. God derives no pleasure in destroying the wicked. Quite the opposite, He desires that all people turn to Him for reconciliation.
- Ezekiel 18:23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
Unlike the false hope found in counterfeit ‘gods’ created by man, the God of the Bible is ready, willing and able to forgive!
Ready
Recognize your sin and cry out to Him for mercy!
- Psalm 86:5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
Willing
Realize that God is patient and desires everyone to turn to Him for forgiveness!
- 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Able
Receive the good news that you can come to God through faith in Jesus Christ!
- Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
The Word of God given through the Apostle John:
- John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
- John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
- John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
The Word of God given through the Apostle Paul:
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
- Romans 10:9-11 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Jesus, God in the flesh, paid your sin debt by living a sinless life and then dying on a cross as the sacrifice for you sin! Ask God to reveal this truth to you through His Holy Spirit. Ask God to forgive your sin. Surrender your life to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Faithfully follow and obey Jesus. Live forever reconciled to God!!
Prayer
Father God, only you can reveal these truths to the heart of man. Please, merciful Father, open the eyes of the blind to the truth about Jesus. May the good news about Jesus save many lost souls. In the name of Christ I pray. Amen.
