Do I really need Christ to get to heaven?

Yes.

The righteousness of Christ is needed because we have become unrighteous in our sin, and God presented the fully righteous solution, in the form of Jesus. (no one can come to the Father except through me – John 14:6)

We were originally made righteous and pure and undefiled.

But the plan for humanity went amiss, and those whom God made to have a relationship with, now turned against him.

If this was any other story, it would have been the end of it – the god would have let its created beings wallow in their rebellion, or just neutralised them.

But not this God, not THE God.

Something Extraordinary

The unfathomable love that He had for his created, would now be demonstrated in an astonising way.

God was about to do something so extraordinary to rescue us from our eternal isolation. Something so contrary to the way that you or I would have ever responded.

The Bible says the price for man’s sin was death. 

If that price was effected, with no release from God, that would be the end of civilization.

But God’s rescue plan would see Him pay the price Himself. Instead of the penalty for this crime being paid by the criminal, the judge who issued the penalty would Himself pay it.

I’m not a very good person

The idea that someone else’s goodness could somehow pay for my lack of goodness has always been difficult for me to comprehend.

Ultimately, I had to come to the realisation that I wasn’t good at all – not even a little (Romans 3:12).

And that sobering reality can take some time to grasp – it really is an ongoing issue due to the prideful nature of our heart.

What can we say to a God that gives up his very life, so that we could come back and be his friend again – and be his friend forever.

Thank you seems so inadequate.

If Adam was the sinner, how did I get dragged in?

This free gift that God offered us was a result of one person’s rebellion against Him. 

And because we were all offspring of that one person, the DNA of sin was now in us all. In the same way that sin entered the world through that one man, sin was also able to be destroyed through one man, Jesus Christ.

‘just as through the disobedience of the one man, many became sinners, so also through the obedience of one man, the many will be made righteous’ Romans 5:19

 

 

It’s an astonishing story

The righteousness of Christ was needed to save the whole of civilization from its rebellion against God.

 It’s a mind-blowing truth that can do nothing but engender gratitude at the deepest level of the human soul. 

The righteousness of Christ was needed so the love of God could once again reunite us with our Creator for eternity.

Thank you Jesus, thank you, thank you, thank you.