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Perhaps you have wondered, “Who is God, and does He care about me? Does God really love me?” The Bible says, “…For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16). This includes every person in the world – it includes you. God does love you. He loves you so much. We find the truth about God and His love in the Bible.

Who is God?

• God is the Creator of All Things. Everything, seen and unseen, the heavens, the earth, the stars, the sun, animals, mankind, angels – all were created by God and for God (Genesis 1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17)
• God is Eternal (Psalm 90:2)
• God is Holy and Perfectly Pure (Isaiah 6:3)
• God is Righteous (Psalm 36:6)
• God is All-powerful, All-knowing, and Present Everywhere (Revelation 1:8, Psalm 139)
• God is Love (1 John 4:8-10)
• God is Truth (Deuteronomy 32:4; John 14:6)
• God is the One and Only God (Isaiah 45:21)
• God is one God in 3 Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7)

What is Humanity

A Unique Creation of God:

Human beings are God’s special creation. God created mankind in His own image – with special intelligence and with an eternal soul and spirit through which we can have a relationship with God. God created the first human beings in a state of innocence. The first man was Adam. The first woman was Eve. They both enjoyed a special place of love and blessing in God’s creation (Genesis 1-2).

A Fallen Sinner:

God gave Adam and Eve a choice to obey Him or to disobey Him. Sadly, they chose to disobey God (Genesis 3). They followed the way of another disobedient creature, a fallen angel named Satan. With the decision to disobey God, Adam plunged the entire human race into sin and rebellion against God and brought sin’s penalty – death – into the world. Romans 5:12 tells us, “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.”

What Is Sin and How Does It Affect My Relationship to God?

Sin separates us from God. The Bible defines sin in the following ways:

Sin is Breaking God’s Law:

1 John 3:4 tells us that “…sin is the transgression of the law.” The law mentioned here is God’s law. To transgress God’s law is to break it. A summary of God’s moral law is found in the Bible in what is known as the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). The commandments include sins such as lying, stealing, adultery, idolatry, murder, disrespect to parents, desiring what belongs to others, taking God’s name in vain, and refusing to worship God alone. Every person, if they are honest, would have to admit to breaking many of these commandments of God repeatedly. Just one lie, one act of theft, one adulterous thought or act, one use of God’s name as a curse word, one act of disrespect to our parents, one feeling of hatred in our heart toward someone else, etc. – makes us guilty sinners before God just as Adam and Eve were. But there is still more to sin…

Sin Is Knowing to Do Good and Not Doing It:

James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” How many times have we failed to do some good thing we knew we should do? God says that this too is sin.

Sin is Impurity in Our Lives:

1 John 5:17a says, “All unrighteousness is sin…” Unrighteousness is any behavior or attitude that doesn’t conform to God’s pure way. Some examples are given in Galatians 5:19-21: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness [moral looseness, lust], idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance [quarrelling], emulations [rivalry], wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

God’s Word is true when it says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We have all broken God’s law. We have all failed to do good. We have all acted contrary to God’s righteousness. We have offended the God of Heaven who loved us and created us. The effect upon our relationship with God is deadly. Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death…”

The Penalty for Sin is Death:

Physical death is part of sin’s penalty. This reality touches us all in a very real way. But physical death is not all that sin brings. Physical death is not the end of our existence. We each have a soul – the immaterial person that is you – that will live on consciously and eternally after death. The Bible tells us that there are only two destinations for the soul at death – Heaven or Hell. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” We must all face God and give an account to Him, and with this comes the real issue – sin not only brings physical death, but spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation from God. When Adam and Eve chose to sin, it broke their relationship with God. A great gulf suddenly existed between them and God. Not only that, but by following Satan, they also inherited Satan’s destiny – eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. Jesus Christ Himself spoke of this many times (Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-31). Every human being is born a sinner and faces that same destiny apart from God’s saving grace. Sin separates us from God. Without God’s intervention, this separation from God is eternal. Adam, a fallen sinner, could never bridge that gulf. We can never bridge it either. All the religious rituals or good works in the world can never wash away our sins. God alone can save us, and God in love has provided a way of escape for helpless sinners. God loved Adam and Eve, and He loves you and me. He bridged the gap that we never could. He bridged it with a cross.

Christ, the Sinless Son of God, Died in Our Place

God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, left Heaven and came to earth to be crucified and to become the sacrifice for our sins. He came to shed His blood and to take our death for us. Isaiah 53:5-6 is one of the most wonderful statements of God’s love in the whole Bible. It is a prophetic description of what Jesus Christ, the sinless Savior and God in flesh, would do for us:

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Christ was innocent. We are guilty. Yet, Jesus took our punishment so that we could be saved from the penalty of eternal death. That is such amazing love! Romans 5:8 puts it this way, “But God commendeth [proved] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Christ died for you. Christ died for me.

Christ Conquered All of Our Enemies

After Christ died on the cross, He was buried in a tomb. Then, after three days, He arose from the grave! Christ’s burial and victorious resurrection proved that He conquered every enemy – Satan, death, Hell, and the grave. Now, He is alive forevermore! He is the only One that can save us, for He, as the eternal God, is the only One who conquered death and Hell forever (Hebrews 1:3, 1 Corinthians 15:57).

He Ascended Into Heaven

After Christ arose from the dead, He ascended into Heaven. He opened the way to Heaven for all who believe in Him for salvation.

Here is His promise:

John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Christ’s promise is for you. He came to save you. God showed His love for you by giving His Son to die in your place. Won’t you turn from your sin and trust Jesus Christ to save you today?

Acts 16:31 “… Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…”

“Only Trust Him”

Come, ev’ry soul by sin oppressed,

 here’s mercy with the Lord.

And He will surely give you rest

 y trusting in His Word.

Only trust Him, only trust Him,

 nly trust Him now.

He will save you, He will save you,

 e will save you now.

–John H. Stockton, 1869

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