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To understand the good news about salvation through Jesus Christ, we must first understand some things about who God is, and who we are.  First, God created us for His glory (Isaiah 43:6-7).  This means that we exist to show His greatness in all we do by joyfully preferring and depending on His ways instead of our own.  Since we were created to glorify God, it is our responsibility as creatures to do so (I Corinthians 10:31). 

But the truth is: every one of us fails to display God this way through our lives and actions—and the Bible calls this sin, and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  Since the very beginning, sin has required a blood sacrifice to be covered, for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).  Just as we sin against an infinitely holy God, so the consequences of our sin can only be satisfied by an infinite payment of death (II Thessalonians 1:9). 

This is very bad news...but alas there is hope!  Despite our fallen condition, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1: 15).  In His love, “Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).   He died in our place to “bring us to God,” so that we may be with Him, and enjoy Him forever (I Peter 3:18).

Though His death is sufficient to cover the sins of all, it is apparent that not everyone ends up being saved.  So how then can we know this gift of salvation can be applied to us?  The Bible tells us: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out.... Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 3:19, 16:31). When we repent, we turn away from our old ways of sin, which we realize only leads to misery and death.  When we turn to God in faith, we put our trust in Jesus, believing that He is the only one worth living for.

This is very good news—especially since it is not a result of anything we have done (Romans 4:4-5).  So if this all makes sense to you—if you see that living for Jesus is more satisfying than living for anything else—that means God is already at work in your life!  What then should you do?  Act on those desires!  Turn away from the sin that you now despise!  Cry out to Jesus—trust in Him to deliver you from your bondage to sin and its consequences!  For we can bank on His promise: “all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13)!  And in order to continue to bank on God’s promises, we must first know what they are!  We must regularly be reading His Word—searching for promises we can put our faith and trust in.