The one, true, all-knowing God has always existed. He has no beginning and no end. Our world, however, started when God spoke everything into being, including the Earth and the universe. He made the waters, lands, sky, plants and animals. Then He created man and woman in His image through the first humans, Adam and Eve. Genesis 1:31a says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” He is the source of all that is good.

Adam and Eve lived in God’s beautiful creation in God’s presence and love in perfect peace. God gave them a beautiful garden to take care of, but He also gave them one very important rule: “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

Unfortunately, that’s where things went wrong…

Even though God gave them everything they needed, Adam and Eve decided to make the wrong choice. They believed a lie that it was OK to sin and disobeyed God’s rule about the garden. Disobedience to God is called sin, and it entered the world through Adam and Eve’s wrong choice–their sin. 

Because sin was now in the world, God’s creation began to suffer with death, disease, unrest, pain, anxiety and so much more as side effects of sin. We all sin. No one is immune. And our sin broke mankind’s relationship with God. 

We can’t fix what’s broken by ourselves, no matter how hard we try. We can’t get back to God while living under the curse of sin. 

So how do we get back to God? Is there any hope?

Good news! There is hope! God is loving and did not leave us to suffer with no way out. Just as God has always existed, so has His rescue plan: Jesus. 

God sent Jesus to earth to be born as a baby in human form. Jesus became fully man while still being fully God. He walked the Earth during the first century and perfectly obeyed God. Even when He was told lies that would try to make him sin, He chose to obey. 

Even though He never sinned even once, people accused Him and sentenced Him to death on a cross. God used His perfect Son to take the punishment we all deserved because of our sins. 

But Jesus did not stay dead! After a painful death and days in the tomb, He walked out of the grave, conquering death. He ascended into Heaven to live forever. By His sacrifice and His grace, we sinners can also be forgiven so that we can repair our relationship with God. 

But how do we do that?

From before you were born, God knew you. He knew you needed Jesus’s rescue. That is why He sent His Son. God gives us two options: we can either trust in His plan, ask forgiveness and follow His path for our salvation and eternal life OR we can choose to reject His offer, go our own way and be subject to the eternal judgment of our sins.

When the first followers of Jesus were given the task to offer this hope to the world they repeatedly called people to repent or turn away from their sins. Repentance is often misunderstood, because people assume it means to suddenly stop sinning, never to struggle again.  

While repentance does literally mean “turning” from our sin, it has everything to do with your trust at the very core of who you are.

Pastor and author John Piper says it this way, “Repent means stop banking your hope for happiness on your own achievements and the pleasures of sin, and turn to Christ and bank your hope on His promises. Stop following all the recommendations of the world, and turn and start following the commandments of Christ.”

There are many ways people describe the moment of repentance. Some examples include

Getting saved

Trusting Christ

Turning to Christ

Accepting Jesus

Placing faith in Christ

Being born again

All of these are accurate. Saving faith in Jesus Christ is often starts through a prayer to God admitting your sin and guilt, confessing your belief in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, trusting that His blood shed on the cross is enough to forgive sins, professing faith in Him alone for salvation, and submitting to Him as Lord.

The good news about the good news is that placing your faith in Christ is not complicated, mysterious, or exclusive. The Bible is clear. Anyone who calls upon the name of The Lord in faith will be saved.

What does this mean for your future?

The best is yet to come! While we still live in a world that’s sick with sin, we’ll still suffer, get sick, experience death and feel the effects of sin. The great thing about those who accept God’s invitation is that He gives them the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the desire to sin. The even better news is that He has promised to one day make all things new, including a new heaven and a new earth. 

Until then, our task is to make Him known! When Jesus transforms your heart, you should want to share your good news and let others know that He can transform their lives too.