July 14, 2024—Imagine this scenario: What would you choose if I gave you the option of choosing $500,000 or a parachute? You'd probably go for the money. But what if you were in a plane that is crashing? Suddenly, the parachute becomes more valuable. It's not about the money anymore; it's about saving your life.
This is what Jesus did for you. He is your parachute, and the plane you are on, which is the life you live, is crashing. But there is hope in Jesus Christ.
Sin Nature
Do you think you are a good person? Most people would say yes. Yet, God charged us with commandments, His moral law. Chances are, you have broken God's moral law, which He charged to humanity. Look at the Ten Commandments recorded in Exodus 20:2-17:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
When you break God's moral code, you sin. The book of Romans tells us that everyone has sinned, falling short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). Sin carries a cost. To pay for sin, God has charged the death sentence (Romans 6:23). Genesis 3:19 records God’s words to Adam after his wife, Eve, and he sinned:
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
God was saying that mankind would no longer live with complete immortality. Instead, their days on earth would be numbered. This is evident in the death of man and animal. It is also documented just before Jesus died. Crucified on the cross, Jesus said, "It is finished," signifying He paid the price of your sin (John 19:30).
Judgment
By understanding what sin is, we can better position ourselves for judgment.
In Noah's time, people were so evil that God judged the entire world. He made it rain for forty days and forty nights, flooding the planet. Prevailing on the earth for 150 days, the flood levels only subsided after God caused a wind to blow over the world. Only eight people and some animals survived the flood on an ark that God told Noah to build. (See Genesis 7-8).
God said He would never destroy the whole earth again through a flood (Genesis 9:11-15). Flooding the earth was the first judgment. God will judge the world again through fire:
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
-2 Peter 3:10
Redemption in Jesus Christ
No amount of money, riches, fame, or power will save you from God’s judgment. What matters is whether you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Revelation 20:15 says, “And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Jesus told His disciples to rejoice that their names are written in heaven. The only way to get there is by believing in Jesus Christ as your savior:
"But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
-Romans 10:8-10
You're saved when you believe in Jesus Christ. Yet, you're condemned when you do not accept Jesus as your savior. Jesus said so Himself in John 3:16-19:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
-John 3:16-19
This is why your plane is crashing. By not accepting Jesus as your savior, you deny Jesus and deny God. You are walking in condemnation. By accepting Jesus, you chose the parachute on that crashing plane. To accept Jesus as your savior, say this prayer aloud:
God, I confess that Jesus came in the flesh and blood, paid the price for my sins, died on the cross, rose on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sent the Holy Spirit to help me understand Your ways. For that, I accept Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord, and I welcome the Holy Spirit in my life. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen!
Welcome to the Christian family!
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