Jan. 23, 2013 – God’s Gift to Me
Scripture References (ESV):
Acts 4:12 – And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
1 John 3:23a – And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ…
1 John 5:13 – I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life
God’s gift to everyone is the gift of salvation. What is salvation? Salvation is being saved from something. When we think of being saved, we think of being taken away from a dangerous, life-threatening situation, like being saved from a fire, or saved from drowning.
So why do we need to be saved? Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned a come short of the glory of God. We do not meet God’s standard, we sin (do bad things) and when we do something wrong, there are consequences. The consequences for sinning (disobeying God) is separation from God forever. Because Jesus came to Earth and died on the cross, He took the punishment/consequences for our sins “saving” us from being separated from God forever, allowing us to spend eternity with God in Heaven.
Jesus taking the punishment for our sins for us and re-establishing fellowship with God (if we believe) is the gift that God gives to us, we only need to accept it and believe.
Share with your child what God has done for us. If you want help and have a smart phone, iPad, Kindle fire or tablet, you can download an App from Awana called the Gospel Message.
If your child professes faith (a trust in what Jesus did for them) in Jesus, please let Pastor Bill know and we can discuss baptism.