A Message of Hope for a Broken World

You were created by God, for God, to live in a joyful and meaningful relationship with Him.

Revelation 4:11

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

The Christian story begins with God—the one true ruler of everything. He’s not a distant dictator or a flawed human king. He is a thoroughly good and loving ruler, who continues to provide for his world generously, and to rule it with justice. This is His world because He created it, and He’s in charge of it. He also made us.

God made humanity special, giving us a unique role: to care for His beautiful creation, to enjoy it, and to live under His wise rule. We were meant to honor Him, thank Him, and reflect His goodness in how we live.

In Summary:

• God is the ruler of the world.
• He made the world.
• He made us to rule his good world, giving thanks and honor to him.

But if that’s how it was supposed to be, why doesn’t the world feel that way today? What went wrong?

Our desire to live life on our own terms has broken our relationship with God and the world He made.

Isaiah 53:6a

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…"

Here’s the problem: we humans didn’t want God as our King. From the start, we chose to rebel. We pushed Him aside, deciding we’d rather run our own lives, our own way. We all do this. The Bible calls this rebellious stance “sin,” and it’s the root cause of the brokenness we feel and see in the world. No wonder it’s a mess. Our self-rule fails and we suffer the consequences, including the damage we do to ourselves, to the people around us, and to the world we live in.

In Summary:

• We all reject God as our ruler by running our own lives our own way.
• By rebelling against God’s way, we damage ourselves, each other, and the world.

The question is: what will God do about our rebellion against him?

A holy God cannot ignore our rebellion, and its consequence is separation from Him.

Hebrews 9:27

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment…"

Like any good ruler, God cares enough to take our rebellion seriously. He won’t let it go on forever. We see His justice already in the reality of death. But that’s not all. One day, we’ll each stand before Him, answering for how we’ve lived. The sentence will be to give us what we have asked for—separation from Him, the source of all life and goodness, in a place the Bible calls Hell. It’s a sobering thought, and it’s where we’re all headed unless something changes.

In Summary:

• God won’t let us rebel against him forever.
• God’s punishment for rebellion is death, judgment, and hell.

This is hard to hear. It means that we are all in deep trouble. But it’s not the end of the story.

God, in His love, did for us what we could not do for ourselves by sending Jesus to rescue us.

Isaiah 53:6

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

God loves the world he created, and he loves us. He didn’t leave us to suffer the consequences of our rebellion. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to rescue us. Unlike us, Jesus never rebelled. He lived perfectly. Yet He died. Why? The extraordinary news is that Jesus died as a substitute for rebels like us. He took upon himself the judgment that we deserved. Death is the punishment for rebellion, and He died our death.

In Summary:

• God sent Jesus because He loves us.
• Jesus always lived under God’s rule.
• But Jesus took our punishment by dying in our place.

But that’s not all.

Jesus' resurrection from the dead proves His victory and makes a new life possible for us.

1 Peter 1:3

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…"

God accepted Jesus’ death as payment in full for our sins and raised him from the dead. Jesus defeated death. As God’s appointed ruler, Jesus will one day return as Judge. But He is also the Savior from judgment. Because of his death, he now offers to forgive all our sins. We can make a fresh start with God, no longer as rebels but as friends. When we trust Him, God himself comes to live within us by his Spirit, and we can experience the joy of a new relationship with God.

In Summary:

• God raised Jesus to life again as the ruler and judge of the world.
• Jesus has conquered death, now brings forgiveness and new life, and will return in glory.

Well, where does that leave us? It leaves us with a clear choice.

You must choose whether to continue in your rebellion or accept God's gift of new life in Jesus.

John 3:36

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

The choice is yours. You can continue on the path of rebellion, running your own life, and face the rightful judgment of God. Or, you can turn to God, trusting in Jesus as your resurrected ruler and savior. If you do, God wipes the slate clean. He accepts Jesus’ death as payment for your sin and freely forgives you. He gives you a new life that stretches past death and into eternity. You are no longer a rebel, but part of God’s own family.

Summary: The Choice Before You

• The Path of Death: Reject God as ruler, live your own way, remain damaged by sin, and face death and judgment.
• The Path of Life: Submit to Jesus as ruler, rely on His death and resurrection, be forgiven by God, and receive a new life that lasts forever.

Which path will you choose?

You have now come to a crossroads.

If you are not yet convinced, or still have questions, please think carefully and do some further investigation before moving on. The stakes are too high to reject this message without being sure. Perhaps you could read about Jesus for yourself in one of the four biographies of his life contained in the New Testament—the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

However, if you know very well that you are a rebel against God, and would like to turn back and start living God’s way, then how do you do that? There are three simple steps: talk, submit, trust.

1. Talk to God

The first thing to do is simply to talk to God. Admit to him that you have rebelled against him and deserve punishment, and ask him for forgiveness on the basis of Jesus’ death in your place. You could pray something like this:

Dear God, I know that I am not worthy to be accepted by you. I don’t deserve your gift of eternal life. I am guilty of rebelling against you and ignoring you. I’m sorry, and I need your forgiveness. Thank you for sending your Son to die for me so that I may be forgiven. Thank you that he rose from the dead to give me new life. Please forgive me and change me, so that I may live with Jesus as my ruler. Amen.

2. Submit to Jesus

The second step follows naturally. Having prayed that prayer, you will want to start putting it into practice—that is, actually living with Jesus as your ruler. This is a lifelong journey of change, but God will be with you all the way, speaking to you through the Bible, listening to you in prayer, and providing other Christians to encourage you.

3. Trust Jesus

The third step is also ongoing. You need to keep putting your trust in the right place. It’s only because of Jesus that you can be forgiven. You’ll need to keep coming back to this again and again, because as you start to live God’s new way, you will still fail. We all do. We must never stop relying on him—and him alone—as the means by which we are forgiven and given eternal life.

If you take these steps, you can be assured that God has indeed forgiven you and given you a whole new life. But if you have not yet responded to God in this way, you can be equally assured that you remain under his judgment.

The choice between these two paths is the most important one you will ever make.