You’re special. Genesis 1:27 reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” You have a soul and body that will live somewhere forever, and God has a purpose for you. The Psalmist reminds us that our existence is not an accident: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb”(Psalm 139:13). The God who created you is an amazing God: “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without sin, just and upright is he”(Deuteronomy 32:4).
You’re valuable and God is great, but you have a problem: “Your sins have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear”(Isaiah 59:2). Although God loves you and desires to fellowship with you, he is too holy to allow sin in his presence. Paul reminds us in Romans 3:10,12, “None is righteous, no not one. . . . No one does good, not even one.” Certainly others may seem more sinful than yourself, but you know you’ve sinned in thoughts and actions many times already in your life. Romans 6:23 begins with our rightful penalty, eternal death in hell: “For the wages of sin is death.” The remainder of that verse, however, reads, “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 1 Peter 3:18 tells us about this gift: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” When Christ died on the cross almost 2000 years ago, he paid that penalty for your sin because he loves you, loves you as no one else ever has or ever will. The Bible verse most quoted around the globe spells out this beautiful story: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”(John 3:16). The Savior died for you, but he did not remain in the grave. He rose from death, proving that he is God. Paul wrote, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures”(1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Admit you’re a sinner and recognize that to escape your rightful penalty, your sin needs to be paid for. Then accept Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross as his personal gift to you, and you’re saved from eternal death. Whether you make this decision now or know that you have made it in the past, recognize the awesomeness of this gift and the importance of your relationship with this wonderful Savior.