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What are you going to do about it? You
cannot remove the barrier. You cannot save yourself. Trying to help others
and doing good cannot remove this barrier either. If sin results in our
being cut off from God, is there no hope for us? Has God washed his hands
of us?
Why Jesus cameGod is love. He proved his love for us, by sending Jesus into our world - fully human and fully God. 'God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life' (John 3:16). Jesus did not come just to show us what God is like and live a perfect life. He came to remove the barrier between us and God.God's character is like a coin with two sides: justice and love. His justice rightly condemns us, for sin must be punished. His love makes him long for us to become his friends again. On the cross, his justice and his love were perfectly satisfied. Sin had to be punished, so God is his love sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place, bearing the death penalty our sins deserved. That is why he cried from the cross, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The full punishment for our sin was taken by Jesus. As a man once put it, 'He carried the can for everybody.' Jesus suffered 'the agony of being cut off from his father for us.' Just before he died, Jesus said, 'It is finished!' This was not a cry of defeat, 'I've had it!' No, it was a cry of victory, 'I've done it! The debt of man's sin is paid.' The way back to God is now open. His work of saving you from hell and eternal destruction is finished. The barrier of sin has been blasted away. Jesus died for us, his body was put in the tomb and a great stone pushed across the entrance. But he rose from the grave - he is alive. He won the victory over sin and death. The way to God is now wide open. |