In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 NLT

God, Who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit, has always existed. He created the world and everything in it. He created human beings in His image, too! Everything was made perfectly. Then Satan tempted Eve by making her second guess God’s authority and truth. She sinned against God by disobeying Him and doing what He specifically told Adam and Eve not to do: eat of the fruit of tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Through this act of rebellion against God by humanity, sin entered the world.

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

Genesis 3:6 NLT

For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many.

Romans 5:17a NLT

Because of our sin, we are unable to live forever in heaven with God when our earthly bodies die. Instead, our sin condemns us to hell, which is an eternal place of punishment and torment. This is what we deserve for our rebellion against the God Who created us and has ultimate authority over all. He is good and perfect, and we are not clean before Him on our own.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

Ephesians 2:1-3 NLT

“But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Revelation 21:8 NLT

However, God loves us so much and does not want us to spend eternity in a place of unbelievably horrible torment. He wants to redeem us and give us the choice to receive life in Him rather than pursuing our sinful nature which only leads to ultimate death. So God came down to earth in the form of a human – Jesus! He was born of the virgin Mary and grew up experiencing life among the other people in the world at that time. He experienced trials and temptations, joys and sorrows, difficulties and triumphs – but He remained absolutely perfect and holy, because He is God. He had friends and disciples, but He also had people who hated Him for claiming to be the Son of God! These people ended up torturing and crucifying Jesus, which God knew would happen all along, because He came into the world for this purpose. On the cross, Jesus took upon Himself ALL of humanities sin – past, present, and future. Because Jesus was perfect and holy, He was able to provide the payment for all of this sin that we would never be able to pay the price for on our own. He willingly scarified Himself for us because He loves us.

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

Ephesians 2:4 NLT

We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:6-11 NLT

The ONLY thing we need to do to receive God’s gift of grace and redemption is to ADMIT that we are sinners in need of a Savior and BELIEVE that Jesus – the Son of God – died on the cross and rose again from the dead to provide the payment for our sin and promise eternal life with God.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

John 3:16-21 NLT

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT

But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness , for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:17b NLT

Once we are saved, we need to learn God’s truth through the Bible He has given us, and share it with the world so that others may be saved! We are God’s messengers, and He is sending us to share the Gospel message with His beloved people!

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20 NLT

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Romans 1:16 NASB