Ah, now I'm afraid you've caught us out here. We were going to get some
reverend friend
of ours to write an eloquent soliloquy to explain it
all, but we didn't get round to it,
so instead you'll have to put up
with the mumblings of a mere pew-filler.
Pew-filler? Yes, it's
religious! But it's not long, and you did ask!
John316 refers to a part of the Bible. John's Story, chapter 3, verse
16, which says:
"For God loved the world so much that he
gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not
die but have eternal life."
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This is Good News!
God is a nice chap, and
he's interested in you and me. He knows who you are
and he cares about
you. But there is a problem. God's entry requirement for heaven is
perfection -
which leaves us all somewhat out in the cold!
Solution - Jesus. He was a real bloke,
he lived in the Middle East and lived what
all of us (writer most
definately included) fail to live, a perfect life. Jesus satisfied
God's
entry requirements, but even better than that - he passed it on!
We can be friends with God, not by
rules and "Do this", "Don't do that", but by a gift.
Anything less than
perfection earns God's anger, but Jesus, who did not deserve it, took all
of God's anger
at that first Easter. The perfect one died in the place
of we imperfect ones to take away God's
anger and to clear the way.
We can be counted as if we had met the
entry requirements ourselves, simply by
accepting the gift that is on
offer - forgiveness. All you have to do is ask and you can have a
fresh
start with past failure wiped out.
If you want to talk more about this, why not read the testimony of a friend of
mine,
or a famous piece called 'One Solitary Life'.