It should be clear that our world has a problem. One need only turn on the news for a few moments or scan the headlines to see that things are not as we know they should be. Wars, brutality, violence, rape, murder, scandal, immorality, sickness, suffering and death are just some of the many problems our world faces.

However, the world is not alone. Things are not as they ought to be on the worldwide scene because they are not as they should be on the personal level. No doubt all of us have felt the pain of damaged or broken relationships, the emptiness of wrong pursuits, and the sting of a guilty conscience.

What is the world’s problem? More to the point, what is our problem? God’s answer to these questions is clear: sinful hearts.  All of us have sinned against our Creator.

Romans 3:9-11 - "What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God."

Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

Romans 3:20 - "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

If a man breaks the law by robbing a bank, he is arrested, taken before a judge, and tried. If found guilty, a sentence is passed and justice is served. It would not be just for the judge to turn a blind eye to the offence. Nor would it do for the judge to simply give the man a slap on the wrist. The law was broken and justice demands that the thief face the legal penalty for his actions.

What is true in the government of our land is true in the government of the universe. Those who have broken God’s law have been tried and found guilty. As the just Judge of the universe, God cannot turn a blind eye to sin. Nor can He merely give a slap on the wrist. Sentence has been passed and a penalty set. While it is a terrible thing to fall under the judgment of human courts, it is another thing altogether to fall under the judgment of a holy God.

Romans 1:18  "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;"

Hebrews 9:27  "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" 

Revelation 20:14  "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  Rev 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."  

From the very beginning of history, the blood sacrifice of an innocent animal has played a part in man’s relationship with God. After Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, God killed an innocent lamb so they would have clothing for their naked bodies. Later, their sons, Cain and Abel, were instructed to sacrifice an innocent lamb and offer it to God.

When the nation of Israel was formed, it was given specific instructions regarding the establishment of a priesthood and sacrificial system. Again, innocent lambs would be regularly sacrificed for sins. Once a year, Israel’s high priest would kill a spotless lamb and take the blood into the “most holy place” (the part of the temple in which God manifested His presence) to present it before the LORD so that the sins of the nation would be atoned for (covered).

All of these sacrifices served as pictures of a final and perfect sacrifice that God Himself would make for the sins of the world.  That Sacrifice would be the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ, who suffered the just wrath of God in our place and the rose again from the dead.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 1:29 "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

I Peter 3:18 - "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:"

Romans 1:3-4  "Concerning his [God's] Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:  

Imagine that only a few moments before his execution, a condemned criminal is notified that his lawyer has secured a full pardon for him. The condemned man no longer has to face the legal penalty of execution. His record will be cleared and he can go free. There is only one step left: the condemned man must receive the pardon offered to him. Unless he does so, he will remain in his condemned state and face the full penalty of the law, death.

Sinful men are under the legal condemnation of God and await His eternal judgment. In His love, God has secured the means to have them fully and completely pardoned. The effective sacrifice of His Son has met the just demands of His holiness. Now, He freely (apart from our good works or religious ceremonies) offers complete forgiveness. However, in order to escape judgment, the condemned sinner must repent and receive this gracious pardon by faith. Apart from this, he remains under judgment for his sin.

Luke 24:46-47 - "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Romans 4:3-5 - "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."  

Romans 10:13 - "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."