Have you ever asked yourself that question?
Nothing can make itself
When you observe a building you realize that there has to be a builder for it. Why? Because the building had a beginning and so the building itself is the evidence of a builder.
In the same way, when you observe this universe, since it had a beginning too, it would have had to have a creator for it as well.
And since there is a creator, that creator has the right to tell us what we can and can't do in his universe. Therefore, after we die he is going to have to judge us based on what we have done.
Why the creator has to judge
The creator has to judge because he is good. If the government in your area said that from tomorrow there is no punishment for breaking any law, what would happen?
Obviously, chaos. So it is actually a good thing that the government has punishment for breaking the laws. Same thing with our creator God. Because he is good, he has rules for us to live by (rules that are actually good for us) and a punishment for breaking them after we die. That’s why he has to judge.
So how good are you?
God will judge us compared to perfection, not compared to other people.
Here is a quick test:
- Have you ever lied?
- Have you ever stolen something?
- Or used bad language?
- Or been selfish or prideful?
The Consequences
Since God's standard is perfection and we have done wrong, we aren't deserving of reward but punishment. That place of punishment is called hell and is somewhere you want to avoid at all costs.
This is your current situation:
(You are on the left, your hell punishment is coming to you from the right)
What's the solution?
Will improving our life fix our problem? No, here's why:
Imagine you are driving on the road and a police officer pulls you over for speeding and gives you a fine. So you say to yourself, "From now on I will not speed ever again" and you don't. But does that get rid of the fine you have already received?
In the same way in our life, even if we try never doing anything wrong ever again and just do good things, it doesn't get rid of the punishment we deserve for the bad things we have already done.
Who's going to pay for you?
Someone has to pay for the bad you've done, either you in hell forever, or someone perfect on your behalf.
In the speeding fine example, the only way to get rid of the fine is to either pay the fine yourself or have someone willing to pay the fine for you.
So in the same way, either we need to take our own punishment in hell forever, or we need someone who is perfect who is willing to take our hell punishment for us.
The creator decided to come to this earth in the person of Jesus, He lived perfectly, and volunteered to take our hell punishment for us when He died on the cross. Jesus proved Himself to be true by coming back to life three days later.
What is different about this picture?
Jesus is taking your hell punishment, right? If he does that, you'd be able to go to heaven!
You now have a choice to make
He now gives you a choice to make. Either you:
Reject the amazing sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross and therefore you take your punishment for your sins in hell forever.
ORTrust that Jesus took your punishment for you and so be 100% certain that you will go to heaven, causing you to start living your life for Him.
What will you choose today?
Can you guarantee that you will wake up tomorrow morning?
You won't get a chance after you die. Your only chance to accept his gift is while you are still living.
The question now facing you is: What will you do: Trust or Reject?
Do you know when you will die? No one knows. So if you were to happen to die tonight without trusting that Jesus paid for your sins, you would end up in God's place of punishment. That should absolutely terrify you.
So then, why not this very day, make the big and carefully considered decision to trust that Jesus paid for your sins.
Realize that it will result in a lifestyle change, it could mean people mock and insult you because you believe, but so what? Going to heaven is of infinite value compared to simply having this life and then going to hell forever afterwards.
Out of gratefulness, you will then desire to live your life God's way, purely out of thankfulness for what he has done for you.
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Ways to grow as a Christian
Read your Bible daily
- You can download one for free on your phone by searching "ESV Bible" in the app store, or you can read one here.
- In the Bible, start reading from the book of John (4th book of the New Testament).
Pray throughout the day
- Thank God regularly for everything he has given you, confess your sins to him and bring your requests to him.
- You can pray anywhere and either aloud or just in your own mind.
Find a good church
- Make sure it's one that teaches the Bible faithfully. You can find a good church here. If none are in your area on that site, try this site instead.
Share your faith with others
- Since you want others to be saved, why not pass the message on to others? Share even this website with others.
- To help you learn how to share your faith effectively, listen to this helpful talk.
- For free gospel tracts (pamphlets) to pass out, check out our webstore.
Just remember, none of these ways to grow as a Christian gets you into heaven, but you will want to do these things because you are going to heaven.
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