God Loves You

If you've been a follower of Out of My Hat for very long, you've probably read these two statements before:

God loves you.
Jesus died for you.

Recently, I ran across this sixty second gospel.

I doubt that I could use this to share the gospel in just 60 seconds, but I would like to take a few posts and use it to share some thoughts on the God loves you/Jesus died for you statements.

* God loves you.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is Love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in them. 1Jn4:16

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Rom 5:8

* But God hates your sin.

For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome. Psalms 5:4

But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom." Hebrews 1:8

These first two statements in the 60 second gospel message are the beginning of the message of salvation. God created you and loves His creation. He loves you.
But God is a holy God and a just God. He is perfect (holy) and without sin.  As a just God, He cannot tolerate sin.

Unfortunately...

* Even if you are a "good" person...

A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart. Proverbs 21:2

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

*...You have not lived a perfect life...

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;..." Romans 3:10

*...And neither has anyone else.

...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:23

* Your sin has separated you from God.

But your iniquities have separated you from God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:2

* And your payment for sin is death.

...for the wages of sin is death,... Romans 6:23

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. James 1:15

So,
God loves you.
But He is a perfect and holy God and cannot stand sin (unholiness).
We (all of us) are sinners and our sin separates us from a just and holy God.

It sounds like a horrible ending awaits all of us!

But there is Good News!
Jesus died for you!

More tomorrow...

John <><

Pg 2: Jesus Died for You