God, Jesus, and salvation explained
God is the creator of the world and everything in it. Since He created humans, He loves us very much. So much that He allows us to make our own choices rather than just forcing us to do what He wants us to do.
Since God is the creator, it’s only fair that He gets to make the rules about how His world should go. God wants people to love Him more than they love anyone or anything else, because, well, He is the reason everything exists. He also wants people to be respectful of themselves and others. If everyone adhered to God’s high standards of living, the world would be a perfect place.
But we don’t. Because we can’t. It’s impossible for a human to be as perfect and holy as God. Even if you try your hardest, you’ll mess up and make mistakes.
Enter JESUS. Jesus is God’s Son. He came to earth as a baby roughly 2,000 years ago. He grew up as a flesh-and-blood human being, just like you or I. But He also had all of God’s power and authority. Jesus healed the sick and performed many miracles. He taught people about God and encouraged them to make better choices. He was friends with the outcasts and the lowly.
The leaders of the day didn’t like Jesus’ power and strange teachings. They killed him by nailing him to a cross—an excruciatingly long and painful way to die. Jesus could have stopped it in an instant. But he didn’t.
God has always had a plan to make a perfect world someday, in which everyone is happy and there’s no such thing as pain or sadness or death. Since we all sometimes do things that go against God’s vision for a perfect world, none of us deserve to live there. We all deserve to die and be punished instead.
Jesus didn’t deserve to die and be punished. He allowed himself to be tortured and killed in our place. If you believe with all your heart that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he died to save you from your own poor choices, then you will someday get to live in God’s perfect world.
Since God is the creator, it’s only fair that He gets to make the rules about how His world should go. God wants people to love Him more than they love anyone or anything else, because, well, He is the reason everything exists. He also wants people to be respectful of themselves and others. If everyone adhered to God’s high standards of living, the world would be a perfect place.
But we don’t. Because we can’t. It’s impossible for a human to be as perfect and holy as God. Even if you try your hardest, you’ll mess up and make mistakes.
Enter JESUS. Jesus is God’s Son. He came to earth as a baby roughly 2,000 years ago. He grew up as a flesh-and-blood human being, just like you or I. But He also had all of God’s power and authority. Jesus healed the sick and performed many miracles. He taught people about God and encouraged them to make better choices. He was friends with the outcasts and the lowly.
The leaders of the day didn’t like Jesus’ power and strange teachings. They killed him by nailing him to a cross—an excruciatingly long and painful way to die. Jesus could have stopped it in an instant. But he didn’t.
God has always had a plan to make a perfect world someday, in which everyone is happy and there’s no such thing as pain or sadness or death. Since we all sometimes do things that go against God’s vision for a perfect world, none of us deserve to live there. We all deserve to die and be punished instead.
Jesus didn’t deserve to die and be punished. He allowed himself to be tortured and killed in our place. If you believe with all your heart that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he died to save you from your own poor choices, then you will someday get to live in God’s perfect world.
Do i have to be good to go to heaven?
The Bible explicitly says that salvation can’t be earned. Salvation comes ONLY through believing in Jesus as God’s Son who died in your place. No matter what you’ve done, you can be saved if you choose to place your trust in Jesus.
That doesn’t mean that it’s okay to do things that God doesn’t like. Think about being in a relationship with a person. When you love someone, you want them to be happy, right? If your love is sincere, you’ll consciously make an effort to do the kinds of things that make them happy, and avoid the kinds of things that upset them. There will be times when you mess up, of course, but if their love for you is sincere, they’ll forgive you.
That’s how it is with God. It makes Him sad and angry when we disobey Him. But it does not make Him stop loving us. It does not cause Him to take your salvation away. He is always ready to forgive us if we’re truly sorry about what we’ve done.
We can’t earn God’s love by doing good things. We can’t lose His love by doing bad things. But because He loves us, we should aim to please Him.
That doesn’t mean that it’s okay to do things that God doesn’t like. Think about being in a relationship with a person. When you love someone, you want them to be happy, right? If your love is sincere, you’ll consciously make an effort to do the kinds of things that make them happy, and avoid the kinds of things that upset them. There will be times when you mess up, of course, but if their love for you is sincere, they’ll forgive you.
That’s how it is with God. It makes Him sad and angry when we disobey Him. But it does not make Him stop loving us. It does not cause Him to take your salvation away. He is always ready to forgive us if we’re truly sorry about what we’ve done.
We can’t earn God’s love by doing good things. We can’t lose His love by doing bad things. But because He loves us, we should aim to please Him.
why would a loving God send people to hell?
The following story comes from Christian author Karen Kingsbury’s Facebook page (Her books are wonderful; I encourage you to check them out!):
The other day one of my younger sons said, "Mom, why do you think God would send nice people to hell? I mean, just because they don't have Jesus as their Savior? Shouldn't hell be only for bad people?"
I said, "God doesn't look at it that way. The Bible teaches that ALL people are sinners and ALL people go to hell - without Jesus. See, son, Jesus is the only way out alive. He holds His hand out to ALL people so that we might have a way to escape the sin we were born with. But He won't force His gift on any of us. It's our choice."
“Picture a churning stormy sea covering the whole earth,” I told him. “See it? All people around the world are drowning. Then overhead comes a helicopter with a life-line. The life-line is Jesus. Anyone can grab it and if you do, then the churning sea of life cannot harm you and you will never die. Ignore it and you drown. Eternally.”
His look changed, as if he understood for the first time. "I think I get it. It's not about who is being sent to hell. It's who is being rescued from hell. Rescued because they choose the free gift of salvation in Christ."
Hell is what we all deserve. Jesus is the way out. If you put your trust in Him, believing that He died in your place and accepting his free gift of salvation, you are forever rescued from the punishment you deserve.
The other day one of my younger sons said, "Mom, why do you think God would send nice people to hell? I mean, just because they don't have Jesus as their Savior? Shouldn't hell be only for bad people?"
I said, "God doesn't look at it that way. The Bible teaches that ALL people are sinners and ALL people go to hell - without Jesus. See, son, Jesus is the only way out alive. He holds His hand out to ALL people so that we might have a way to escape the sin we were born with. But He won't force His gift on any of us. It's our choice."
“Picture a churning stormy sea covering the whole earth,” I told him. “See it? All people around the world are drowning. Then overhead comes a helicopter with a life-line. The life-line is Jesus. Anyone can grab it and if you do, then the churning sea of life cannot harm you and you will never die. Ignore it and you drown. Eternally.”
His look changed, as if he understood for the first time. "I think I get it. It's not about who is being sent to hell. It's who is being rescued from hell. Rescued because they choose the free gift of salvation in Christ."
Hell is what we all deserve. Jesus is the way out. If you put your trust in Him, believing that He died in your place and accepting his free gift of salvation, you are forever rescued from the punishment you deserve.
what does it mean to trust in Jesus?
There’s a difference between believing about Jesus and believing in Jesus. Think about flying in an airplane. You don’t just believe that there is a pilot; you trust that the pilot knows how to fly and will get you safely to your destination. When you buy food from the grocery store, you don’t just believe that it exists; you trust that it was prepared safely and won’t poison you. You commit your life into the hands of people you’ve never met, trusting that you’ll be safe.
If you believe that Jesus existed, and that He died for you, that’s great! The next step is choosing to place your trust in Him and commit your life to Him. That means that you acknowledge that He knows better than you do. You trust that God has a plan for your life and that even though you don’t understand everything right now, He’s working everything together for good. Rather than going your own way and making your own rules, you do what He wants you to do, knowing that the end result will be better than anything you could come up with.
If you believe that Jesus existed, and that He died for you, that’s great! The next step is choosing to place your trust in Him and commit your life to Him. That means that you acknowledge that He knows better than you do. You trust that God has a plan for your life and that even though you don’t understand everything right now, He’s working everything together for good. Rather than going your own way and making your own rules, you do what He wants you to do, knowing that the end result will be better than anything you could come up with.
