"Try it, You'll like it!"

 Come and Taste the Lord's Goodness

Come to the Cross

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him (Psalm 34:8)

I am a sinner. Because I am a sinner, I will die someday, but because of Jesus, I have hope.

Have you ever tried to go one day or even one hour without thinking a bad thought or feeling anger toward someone or some circumstance in your life? Have you ever had dreams you were ashamed to repeat to anyone? Have you ever made choices in life that hurt you or someone you love? Have you ever had a selfish or inconsiderate attitude toward others? Do you use God’s name on a daily basis, or any time for that matter, in ways that aren’t loving and don’t give Him honor? Have you ever disrespected your parents or mistreated your siblings and friends?

If you have answered “yes” to any of the above questions, you are a sinner too. The truth is we are all sinners. The Bible tells us we are sinful from birth - from the moment we were conceived in our mother’s womb. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me (Psalm 51:5). 

“Sin” is a disease which cannot be avoided. It is a disease which we inherit from our parents, they from their parents, and so on all the way back to Adam and Eve. It is a disease which dooms us to an eternity in hell. When we are covered in sin we are unable to stand before a holy God.

Wow, by the sounds of that we don’t have a chance. We were lost before we even got started. God tells us in His Word; the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).  God is holy and He expects us to be holy also. Our sins separate us from Him. He didn’t create us sinful. He created humans perfect and holy like Him.  

Most people, Christians and non Christians alike know the story of man’s fall into sin (Genesis 2,3). Because Adam and Eve sinned against God, we live in a fallen world. All people born since the fall are sinners and doomed to die someday. Death is not a natural part of God’s creation. It is the devastating result of sin. Because of sin death will touch all beings born onto this earth.

But God loved the first people and He loves you. Because of His deep love for all people He devised a plan to rescue us from death and eternal punishment.

After Adam and Eve sinned God promised them a Savior. This Savior would crush the head of Satan so that death could not hold them (or us) prisoners (Gen. 3:15). This promised Savior was His perfect and holy Son, Jesus. He was born into the world as flesh and blood just like you and I, but unlike you and I

Jesus, the promised Savior

Jesus was holy and without sin. He lived the perfect and holy life we are unable to live due to our inherited sinful nature. He died on the cross and suffered the punishment of Hell (separation from God) in our place. His suffering and death paid the debt we owe to God for our sin and His resurrection crushed the head of Satan and defeated his power. We no longer need to fear death because Jesus gives us hope for eternity.

Jesus’ love for all people sent Him to the cross. He took the punishment that we deserve for our sin upon Himself. Without Him God’s anger rests on us. We are told in John 3:18; whoever believes in him [Jesus] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. Only through faith in Jesus can we escape an eternity in Hell.

Any human who rejects Jesus is covered in God’s wrath and will go to Hell. It doesn’t matter if you are a good person who is kind to others. It doesn’t matter if you have never committed a crime. It doesn’t matter if you work hard and are honest, or if you give generously to charities. God will not see the good things

"Love" nailed Him to the Cross

you do if you don’t have faith in Jesus. He will look right past you. He will not even know you and if you die in that state of mind and heart, you will go to Hell. God expects us to be holy. He says; be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy (Leviticus 19:2).

Do you know Jesus? Have you met Him in His Word? If you do not know Him personally, be advised that he does know you. He knows each and every person on this earth (past, present and future) personally and you can rest assured that He loves you as if you were His only child. He loves each of us in that way.

I invite you to come to know Jesus. Faith in Jesus comes from the Holy Spirit through baptism, through reading and studying Scripture, and through hearing it taught.  Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the

Faith through the Word

message is heard through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

Faith is a true blessing. It is life changing. It will fill the emptiness in your soul. Through faith you will become a part of God’s family. You will be free from the chains of sin which Satan uses to try to drag you down and make you feel unworthy. Through faith in Jesus the good things that you do will be the result of your love for God rather that your way to heaven.

Through faith you can live to serve God and your fellow man without the fear of eternal death hanging over you. Yes, you will die someday. We all will. But all who die in faith will pass from this life directly into the next to live eternally in heaven. We will live in the presence of God forever. We will all be members of one family – God’s family. In heaven; He [Jesus] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21: 4).

A gift from the Holy Spirit

Does it sound good to you? It may even sound too good to be true, but it’s not. Heaven is a free gift offered to all people by God’s grace through faith in His Son. You don’t have to try to be good or sinless to go to heaven. By faith, Jesus’ suffering and death covers the dirt and filth of your sin. God no longer sees it.

So then, are we still sinners? You better believe it! We need to come to Jesus everyday with a repentant heart. We need to kneel at the foot of the cross in sorrow and ask His forgiveness. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1: 8, 9). Yes, we are sinners, but through faith in Jesus we are also saints.

We are holy in God’s eyes because when he looks at us through the blood of His Son shed on the cross He no longer sees our sin. He sees His holy and Perfect

His blood covers our sin

Son. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool (Isaiah 1:18).

Step into the light of God’s love and taste of His goodness. Taste and see that He is good. You will be truly blessed. His love will shine through you and light up the world around you. Try it – you’ll like it!

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6: 23).

To God be all glory. Amen.

By Kristeen