- We see beauty, purpose and evidence of God's design around us (Psalm 19:1).
- The Bible tells us that God originally planned a world that worked perfectly - where everything and everyone fit together in harmony (Genesis 1:31).
- God made each of us with a purpose - to worship Him and walk with Him (Psalm 100:3).
- Life doesn't work when we ignore God and His original design for our lives.
- We selfishly insist on doing things our own way. The Bible calls this sin. We all sin and distort the original design (Romans 3:23).
- The consequence of our sin is separation from God - in this life and for all of eternity. In a place called Hell (Romans 6:23a).
- Sin leads to a place of brokenness. We see this all around us and in our own lives as well (Psalm 53:3).
- When we realize life is not working, we begin to look for a way out. We tend to go in many directions trying different things to figure it out on our own.
- Brokenness leads to a place of realizing a need for something greater.
- We are made for worship, and we all worship someone or something (Romans 1:25).
- At this point, we need a remedy - some good news. This is the Gospel.
- Because of His love, God did not leave us in our brokenness. Jesus, God in human flesh, came to us and lived perfectly according to God's design (John 3:16; 1 Timothy 1:15).
- Jesus came to rescue us - to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He took our sin and shame to the cross, paying the penalty of our sin by His death (Colossians 2:14; 1 John 4:14).
- Jesus was then raised from the dead - to provide the only way for us to be rescued and restored to a relationship with God (Romans 4:24, 6:4, 8:11; 1Pe 1:21).
- Simply hearing this Good News is not enough.
- We must admit our sinful brokenness and stop trusting ourselves. We don't have the power to escape the brokenness on our own. We need to be rescued (Ephesians 2:8-9).
- We must ask God to forgive us - turning from sin to trust only in Jesus. This is what it means to repent and believe (Mark 1:15b; Romans 10:9).
- Believing, we receive new life through Jesus and God turns our lives in a new direction.
- When God restores our relationship to Him, we begin to discover meaning and purpose in a broken world. Now we can pursue God's design in all areas of our lives (Ephesians 2:10).
- Even when we fall, we understand God's pathway to be restored - this same Good News of Jesus (1 John 1:9).
- God's Spirit empowers us to pursue His design and assures us of His presence in this life and for all eternity (Philippians 2:13).
- Now that you have heard this Good News, God wants you to respond to Him. You can talk to Him using words like these: My life is broken - recognize it's because of my sin I need You. I believe Christ came to live, die and was raised from the dead - to rescue me from my sin. Forgive me. I turn from my selfish ways and put my trust in You. I know that Jesus is Lord of all, and I will follow Him.
- The Bible Says:
- That 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 (Romans 10:9).
- For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).