A Message of Hope and Peace


God wants to be close to you!
"Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear."  (Isaiah 59:1)

While God does live beyond the universe, beyond time and space, He is also very active here and now.  God wants to be close to you and to share in a relationship with you.  He is all-powerful and all-loving!  Yet, He has given you the freedom to love or reject Him.  Anything else would not be love!  There is only one thing that can keep God from bringing you the peace and joy that only He can give -- and that is you, yourself!  No one can keep God from you.  No force of evil is powerful enough to stop God's love.  God is love and He loves you!  But you must accept His love and grace.

 

Sin has separated you from God.
"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."  (Isaiah 59:2)

It is not God's will to be separated from you -- God wants to be close to you.  It is when we do wrong that we are separated from Him, because He is so pure and holy that He cannot allow sin to dwell with Him.  God must punish sin -- He is just.  Yet, God wants to forgive sin -- He is loving.  But, how can God's justice be met and His love still be fulfilled?
 

Jesus restores your relationship with God by bearing the punishment for your sin!
"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  (Romans 4:25-5:1)

Why did Jesus die for you and me?  Why did He suffer so on the cross?  Jesus died for you because He loves you!  God loves you so much that He was even willing to give His own Son up to die for you!  Wow! "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

There was no other way!  Sin is wrong, and justice demands that it be punished.  There are only two ways that your sin can be properly punished; either you take the punishment yourself or  someone who has no sin of his own can be punished in your place.  And that is just what God did in Jesus Christ.  Jesus took your guilt and bore the punishment for it Himself.  The nail-pierced hands, the brutal beatings, the crown of thorns, the sword-pierced side, the wrath of God -- it was all for you!

And now you do not have to suffer guilt any longer.  God can and will forgive you through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.  You can finally have peace!  Peace with God. . . peace with others. . . peace with yourself.  There is hope after all!
 
 

I know I need to be saved.  What do I do?

The Bible repeatedly says we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8; etc.).  What does that mean?  It means that we must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that HE died for our sins, that God raised Him from the dead.  And in believing this we must give our lives to Him -- we must trust in Him as our Savior.  Jesus said, "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16).  We must put our trust in Jesus.  And we show this by being symbolically united with Him in His death and resurrection in the act of baptism.  There is no magic in the water we are immersed in!  There is something much more powerful going on, as the Holy Spirit of God regenerates our souls when we are united with Christ in baptism.

Further information is given to us in Acts 2:37-38.  After Peter preached concerning the proofs that Jesus is the Savior, the people of Jerusalem cried out, "Brothers, what must we do?" (Acts 2:37).  And Peter said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (v. 38).

We find here the idea of repentance being necessary for salvation too.  Repentance is a change of mind that leads to change of action.  It is our willingness to turn our backs on our old lives of sin and turn to God to receive His free gift of salvation.  Furthermore, notice that Peter said that baptism is for "the forgiveness of your sins."
 
 

You can have a new life!
"Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life"  (Romans 6:3-4).

One of the great ironies of Christianity is that you must first die in order to live -- not physically, but spiritually.  A Christian has died to that old life of sin, and now lives a new life in Christ.
 
 

So, what is stopping you?

Jesus loves you!  And He gave His own life up for you!  God raised Him from the dead in victory over sin and death, so that you and I can have new life -- now and forever more.
 

Why not just admit right now, "I'm tired of living a life of sin and separation from God.  I am ready to accept God's love and forgiveness.  I will give my life to Him through Jesus, and after being baptized I will strive to live in obedience to God's word from here on out."

Friend, now is the time and today is the day!  You now have no further excuses.  You know the will of God, and He is now giving you the opportunity to obey Him.  Enjoy forgiveness today!  Embrace a new life in Christ and live forever in Him!

The Chesapeake Church of Christ wants to encourage you to give your life to Christ Jesus.  Please contact us if you would like to study further.
 

(adapted from Micheal Grooms' "A Message of Peace")