We as humans have a problem, and that problem is called sin. Sin is anything we do that goes against God’s word. Anything from telling a little white lie, to murdering another human being is sin. God is perfect, and sin cannot exist in His presence. The Bible says that the consequence for sin is death (Romans 6:23 ).

God created us to have a relationship with Him; to walk with Him, talk with Him, and to live out His plan and purpose for our life. But we decided to rebel against Him. We decided to take our own path, and to look God in the face and tell Him that we can do it better than Him. And when we choose to sin, to go against God’s will, we not only break His heart, but we break that bond between us and Him. As long as sin is in our lives, that bond can never be restored. And as long as there is sin in our life, we are headed for a place after death that is separated from God called hell.

Before Jesus came to earth, if people wanted to have their sins not count against them, they had to make sacrifices; the blood of a perfect animal (a lamb for example) would cover over an individual, and God would not punish them for their sins. But a problem still existed in the fact that God wanted to have a relationship with us. His desire was to live amongst His people like He did in the beginning (Genesis 3:8 ) but couldn’t because sin kept people from being able to achieve that closeness. The sacrifice of the animals only provided a temporary solution for the permanent problem of our sin. However, God had a plan to address this problem.

Jesus is God’s answer for our dilemma. Jesus is God in human form. He left a position of absolute power in heaven, and lowered himself to our level. He became a human. He chose to humble himself and live and walk amongst us once again (Phil 2:1-11 ). Jesus lived a perfect life (Hebrews 4:14-16 ). His life was the example for how every human being is meant to live-in perfect unison with God. He never did anything wrong, even though he was faced with temptation just like any other human is (Matthew 4:1-11 ).  Jesus never sinned once, so if the consequence for sin is death, he was the only person on earth that never deserved to die.

But he did die.

There were religious people in Jesus’ day that hated the fact that he claimed to be God. It made them look bad, and they made a plan to kill him. They used one of Jesus’ close friends to betray him, and he was arrested. Jesus was whipped and tortured, and then he was nailed to a cross. And after hanging on the cross, between two criminals, one on either side of him, the Son of God, the only perfect human being to ever walk the earth, died.

But it was a purposeful death. He knew that he was going to die. It was his plan (Mark 10:43-45 ). God knew that the only way He would be able to have a relationship with us would be if a perfect sacrifice was made on our behalf. The moment that Jesus died, God placed all the sins of mankind upon him. This includes everything that I’ve done wrong, that you’ve done wrong, any sin that has been committed, is being committed, and will be committed, the punishment for those sins was placed on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. Jesus was the the perfect Lamb that was sacrificed.(Revelation 5:6 )

But Jesus didn’t stay dead. After three days, God raised him from the dead. And in doing so, God completed His plan of salvation for mankind. In Jesus death, the perfect sacrifice was made, and our sins were atoned for, and the door was opened for us to have a relationship with God in this life. In his resurrection we were given the chance to spend eternity with God in heaven at the end of this life.

All we have to do is believe in Him. It’s as simple as that. We have to believe in what Jesus did for us, and then give our life over to God, and live the rest of our days in a relationship with Him, letting Him guide us, and living out the purpose that He has set out for our future.
As mentioned above, there were two criminals that were crucified with Jesus. One of them mocked him, and refused to believe in who he was. The other one realized that Jesus was God, and that he would be saved if he just put his faith in Jesus. The criminal that believed in Jesus went to heaven when he died (Luke 23:39-43 ).  Even this man, who had sinned his whole life, was saved at the last second simply by putting his faith in Christ Jesus.

• Do you want the assurance of where you are going after this life?
• Are you walking around with a boulder of guilt on your shoulders?
• Do you have that nagging feeling in your heart that you’re going the wrong direction, but you just don’t know how to get off the path you’re on?
• Are you struggling with addiction, anger, lust, or any kind of sin in your life?
• Do you feel like there’s no hope for you, and that there’s no one out there that cares about your problems, or love you?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, we at the Lion’s Den invite you to meet Jesus.

Who is this Jesus? He is the answer. He is the way to God, the truth in this world of lies, and the way to peace, love, and a relationship with God. And no one has access to the God the Father, without him.

If you want this hope for this life, and the life to come, we invite you to say a simple prayer. It’s nothing fancy. There’s no special formula, or magic words. The thief on the cross just prayed that God would come into his life. But here’s an easy, basic way to say that prayer:

1. Admit that you are a sinner, and that you can’t live a good life, or get into heaven without God in your life.
2. Believe that Jesus was God, and that He lived a perfect life, and that because of your sin, you were headed for death, but Jesus took your place and died for you. Believe that when he died, he took your sin upon himself, and then was raised to life so that you can have eternal life with God.
3. Confess your sins, and ask God to forgive those sins, and to make you pure in His sight.
4. Invite Jesus into your life to change you. Invite him to put you on the right path, and to fill your life with hope, and peace and love. When you do that, God promises to send His Holy Spirit to guide you through each day.

When you say this prayer, know that you’ve made the biggest and best decision in your life. And we encourage you now to stay diligent in your new walk with God. Please contact us if you have any questions. Know that we are here for you, and that you don’t have to go through this life alone anymore. We as believers were meant to be a family, to lift each other up, to hold each other accountable, and to pray for each other. Also, we encourage you to build that relationship with God each day by communicating with Him through prayer-both talking to Him, and listening to what His Spirit says back (you might be surprised!). Also, be sure to dig into His Word each day. If you don’t have a Bible of your own, don’t worry, just ask us, and we’d be happy to give you a free one!
God bless you, and thank you for taking the time to read this. Contact us with any questions or prayer requests.