Brought Near: Part 1

"But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:13

I have been reading lately in the book of Exodus where God and Israel made the covenant at Mount Sinai (Ex. 19-24). It was very interesting how that it is mentioned that when God was speaking to the Children of Israel the people were extremely afraid and they stood far away because of the great power and majesty of God that was showed in the lightening, the thunder, the mountain smoking, and the thick cloud surrounding the mountain. In fact the people could not even touch the mountain on which God's presence was resting. Why? Because of God's great holiness. We are sinful, but God is perfectly holy. As a result, we cannot have fellowship with God. It is because of our sinfulness that we need a Savior. Our sin condemns us to eternal punishment because God is a just and holy God who has to punish all sin even the sins that we have done that we consider insignificant. Romans 6:23 says,"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Our sin separates us from God and sentences us to an eternity in hell. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved..." -Ephesians 2:4-5. God loved us wanted to have fellowship restored between mankind and Himself and He did not want us to have to spend eternity in hell. So He made a way that we could be forgiven of our sins and be brought near to Him. God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to come to earth to pay the punishment for our sins. Jesus' blood was shed as He died on the cross for us and three days later He rose from the dead. He was our substitute. On that cross He took our punishment for our sins. Because He is God, Jesus never sinned, yet He paid the price for your sins because He loved you, yes, even you. The Bible says in Romans chapter six and verse nine,"...that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord [confess that He is the Son of God and as God's Son, He is equal with God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Just pray to Jesus and tell Him that you are sorry for your sins and that you believe that He is God and that He died and rose again to save you from your sins. Ask Him to be your Savior and if you do, you are guaranteed to live with Him in heaven forever (Rom. 10:11). For all of us who have done this, we are now God's children and we have been brought near to this great and wonderful God.
This Thursday, if the Lord permits, we will look at the part the great blessings of being made near to God and how to appropriate this grace that has been given to us. So come back then, and I know you will receive a blessing.