a life of thanksgiving, praise, and worship that helps to keep our focus on Christ.
It's true. We love you. Don't get us wrong, we're people too. We have all the normal human emotions, and we're not perfect. No one is. We try our best to follow the example set by God's only Son, Jesus Christ. Please use the materials available on this site to help your walk with God. And please, let us know if there's anything we can do to help.
Below you'll find part of the book 'The Great Escape' by Pastor Ron Marr. It's available as a free download on our books page.
Jesus died what might be the most excruciatingly painful death ever endured by a human being. A crown of thorns was crushed into His head, blood running into his eyes, nose, and mouth, blinding and choking Him. Nails were driven through His hands and feet. As the cross was dropped cruelly into its socket in the ground, His flesh tore with searing pain. A spear pierced His side. Blood emptied from every wound until each cell in His body screamed for water and nourishment. And He died for you.
Christ's sacrifice and what it means for the human race is what this web site is about. Read on. Find out what it can mean for you!
The awful sufferings of Jesus the Christ are graphically portrayed in film.
The R rating the film received could readily stand for Realistic. The film is true at most points to the actual story as it occurred 2000 years ago.
But, why?
Why did he have to suffer so?
All because of you.
- Because you were in big trouble with God!!
And He wanted to help you out.
He's the God of Love
God is Love. I John 4:16
Yes, incredible as it may seem, He loves you so much that He sent His own Son to die this torturous death for you.
He loves you and wants always to help you and do for you the very best He can.
But, you need to face it. We all started out in bad trouble with Him.
You and I - all of us - the whole human race.
God Himself tells us,
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (His standard of perfection) Romans 3:23
and
The wages of sin is death... Romans 6:23
Now, that's really big trouble.
And it's certainly not something you want to hear.
Nor is it something I like telling you.
Nor yet is it something God planned or takes delight in.
Never.
It's just the way it is.
Inescapably, sin is the root, death is the fruit.
The same Bible that movies have been based on says so.
Oh, I wish with all my heart that I could honestly tell you it isn't so, that all of us are not under God's death sentence.
But regardless of what you or I might want - the Bible truth is that the bad news just gets worse.
The wages of sin is death. And...
It becomes quite clear.
This DEATH isn't just physical death, the last breath, the last heartbeat.
It isn't even just the end of existence...
The great God of love Himself says of the end of time as we know it now:
Death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:14,15
He continues the description of this awful destiny that awaits all who persist undeterred in their own ways:
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom... them that do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:41,42
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:46
Now, read this any way you want, it's still a picture of endless suffering that no sane person could ever want to face.
I cringe at the thought.
The very idea pains me. I want to run away from it. I don't want to face it.
I'm sure you don't either.
So, go ahead.
Get mad at me if you want.
You don't have to put up with this!
Besides, I must be wrong.
A God of love couldn't possibly consign anyone to an eternal hell! Could He?
No! He couldn't, and He won't.
It isn't God who sends any human to hell. It's man himself and His own sin.
Any person goes to hell not by God's choice, but by his own. God warns mankind of the danger of hell, and provides the most wonderful way of escape won for us at the most awful cost.
The question is, what will you do about it?
Of course, you can pretend you didn't read this, play ostrich, put your head in the sand so you don't see the terrible threat that may be about to gobble you up - or the marvelous way of escape God has provided through Christ and His passion.
But, suppose there's a chance, just a chance, that God knows something you don't.
Just suppose that a horrible hell - whatever its exact nature - awaits those who won't take His way out.
Do you really want to risk everything on the chance that God may be wrong?
Wouldn't you really rather take His word on it - and His way out?
If you take His word on it, and His way of escape, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
If you refuse, you have everything to lose, nothing to gain.
Now, get this! Everything hangs on what follows. Don't miss it!
When God gave us the bad news,
The wages of sin is death,
in the same breath He also gave us the most wonderful good news,
BUT, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23
God, in all His love, designed a way through the passion and death of Jesus Christ to give you and me, not the eternal death we deserve, but the eternal life we do not deserve.
And that eternal life we know as...
with all that word conveys...
I don't know anyone so infinitely foolish as to deliberately trade this kind of heaven in for that kind of hell, do you?
But, if we do nothing to change the direction of our lives, that's exactly what we're doing - choosing hell over heaven.
That's right! All you have to do is... nothing.
He that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. John 3:18
So, what do you do?
God Himself, has given you the answer.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
As many as received Him (Jesus), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. John 1:12
So, what should I do?
Do what millions of others around the world have done for thousands of years.
Believe that God sent Jesus to be your sufficient Savior.
- Receive Him as your Savior and Lord.
Pray something like this. Mean it from your heart. If you can't, read it again and again until you can. But whatever you do, don't put off making this most important of life's decisions.
Dear God, I know I'm a sinner in need of a Savior from my sin. I've displeased and offended You.
I know that Jesus came to earth from heaven to die for me and be a sufficient sacrifice for my sin. I turn from my sin to receive Him as my Savior and Lord. I believe that right now You forgive all my sins and I'm Your child by faith, on my way to heaven.
I know that no good deeds I've done have contributed anything toward my eternal salvation. I'm saved by God's mercy alone.
I can't thank You enough for the awful sacrifice Jesus made as He suffered and died for me, but I do thank You and give You praise.
And I'll seek to love You, please You, and serve You. I'll seek to walk with You and learn from You, Your Word, and Your people all the rest of my life here.
I pray this in Jesus' name. AMEN.
Now, if you're not sure you meant this Prayer of Faith from your heart - if you're not sure you've actually received Christ as your Savior and Lord - read this Prayer of Faith again.
If necessary, read it again and again until you do mean it and you actually do receive Him as your Savior and Lord.
If you have questions, you may find the answers as you read on. If you can't find answers on this website, please call or email us. We will respond as quickly as we can. Your salvation is most important to us.
Find a Bible and read the Gospel of John, especially Chapter 3. Read it until its meaning is clear.
From time to time read this Prayer of Faith to remind you of what you have done in receiving Christ as your Savior and Lord, or if you haven't yet received Him, to help you receive Him at the earliest possible moment.
The main thing right now is to not neglect the well being of your soul any longer. It's far too dangerous a thing to do. Stick with it until you're sure your sins have been forgiven and you're on your way to heaven.
Remember, whether you're 6 or 106, you're not sure you'll draw another breath. You're not sure whether in the next second you'll stand before God to answer for what you have done - especially whether you've taken this opportunity to receive Him as your Savior and Lord, to have your name written in the book of life, and to be sure you'll live perfectly happily with Him in heaven forever.
WHAT WILL IT BE?
Let me urge you, if you still haven't prayed the Prayer of Faith with meaning, do it now.
Once you have received Jesus as your Savior and Lord, to get a good start on your walk with God:
How Do I Know?
I have only one claim to authority for what I say. The Bible, the Holy Scriptures.
There is no book like it. It speaks authoritatively to every essential issue.
When scientists said the earth was flat, the Bible spoke of the circle of the earth.
Without doubt, it gives us the highest code of morality and ethics in the ten commandments and their summary.
Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"Matthew 22:37-39
It records hundreds of prophecies that have been fulfilled. A great many of them predicted the coming of Christ Jesus to be our Savior hundreds of years in advance of its occurrence.
It has been proved to be wonderfully accurate.
I would not for a moment do other than pin all my hope for eternity on what it says.
When it says:
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12
I will do no less than put all my hope in that One, Christ Jesus my Lord and Savior.
Even if you know better than I do all that I've written about, it's not what you know that saves or condemns you. It's whether you've actually received Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior - whether your hope for eternal salvation is in Him and no one and nothing else.
It would grieve me terribly to think that you might die, perhaps suddenly and unexpectedly, and go to an eternal hell. Our wonderful Lord Jesus suffered and died for you because He loved you so much He couldn't stand the thought of that happening to you.
He died for you so He could forgive your sin and care for you and share His love and fellowship with you now and eternally.
All you need to do is turn from your sin and receive Him as your Lord and Savior. If you haven't done so yet, I ask you again to earnestly pray the Prayer of Faith that's here.
Oh, my friend, I do hope my straightforwardness doesn't offend you.
You see, I have an obligation of love to lay my heart bare with you on this subject that is of the very greatest importance to us both.
I really care for you. That's why I've prepared this message for you.
Also, Jesus Christ is very real to me, and I owe Him my love and loyalty. After all, He died for me, and when I simply received Him and His free gift of eternal salvation, He forgave my sin, made me a child of God, and graciously, sweetly came to live within me and begin the transformation I so obviously needed.
I'm honestly sorry if I'm not all you might expect. I really am. But, as flawed as I may be, I genuinely do care for you.
I hope you haven't somehow got the idea that I think, because I'm His, I'm better than somebody else. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. I've done nothing, nor could I do anything, to deserve God's free gift of eternal salvation. I just admit I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. I receive Him as my Savior and Lord.
God in His holiness, can receive into His family and His heaven only those who are morally perfect. But...the only human being who has ever met that standard is Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God.
Every other human, including me and you, has fallen short of that standard of perfection. We were born in sin, and we have sinned ever since. Only Jesus was born without sin and never sinned.
He taught and lived the highest standard of moral behavior.
For 2000 years He has lifted the defiled, the degraded, and the destructive, and elevated them to places of usefulness, and hopefulness, and helpfulness.
When we come to Him for the forgiveness of our sin, receiving Him as our Savior and Lord, God places all His perfect righteousness to our account. And, right then, we are justified in the sight of God just as though we had never sinned.
We are born again into God's family, forgiven, and given eternal spiritual life and His perfect righteousness. (John 3:16, Romans 4:5)
From there on we can come to Him freely for the forgiveness of each new sin as He brings it to our attention.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9
Then as we walk in fellowship with Him, as our ongoing Savior He forgives all our unrecognized sin.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses (keeps on cleansing) us from all sin. I John 1:7
I hope you've already received Christ as your Savior and Lord.
If not, why?
How can you give so much attention to things that last for such a short time? Cars, houses, money, stocks and bonds, popularity, passing pleasures. You can't take earthly possessions with you into eternity.
On the other hand, how can you give so little attention to things that last forever?
...especially your eternal salvation, and all that God gives to those He has saved from their sin.
Your soul's salvation, from eternal damnation in a horrible hell, to eternal life in a marvelous heaven, is the only thing that is really worthy of your attention. Until that is settled, nothing else matters.
I would be the most unkind, uncaring, unfeeling person imaginable if I didn't make it my foremost work in life lovingly to tell you so.
Don't put it off. If you haven't yet received Christ as Savior and Lord, do it now.
Someone has said, "There's a God- shaped empty spot in everyone." Pleasure cannot fill it. Popularity can't fill it. Profit and prosperity can't fill it. Not even health or happiness can fill it, as desirable as they may be.
Nor yet can any degree of human peace, though it may top the list.
Mankind was made by God to live in harmony with Him, to enjoy fellowship with Him; and mankind can be satisfied with nothing less. Only God can fill that God-shaped empty spot that's in every one of us.
It is by God's mercy alone that we are saved, as we simply trust Him. Even the faith we exercise in receiving Him and His salvation is the free gift of God.
There is simply nothing we can do to earn our salvation. It is all of Him through His free grace and mercy, totally undeserved. So we have absolutely no grounds for pride or boasting. Left to our own devices we're not only without God but without hope.
By grace (God's mercy) are you saved through faith (by believing), and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8,9
Salvation is God's free gift bought for us by the death of Jesus. Not a thing we do, no matter how good, can mean anything toward our salvation.
To the contrary, if we think we can somehow earn our salvation, all we're doing is adding to our sin and rebellion against God.
Our great sin is prideful independence from God, and by trying somehow to earn our salvation instead of admitting there isn't a good thing in us that God can value, we only demonstrate the justice of His judgment against us.
We can't come to Jesus for His free gift of salvation and simultaneously seek to hold onto our own ways against God's ways. After all, that is the very essence of sinful rebellion against the God to whom we say we're coming.
At the same time, we must not give credence to the whisper of the evil one that God's demands of us are too high, that we can't live up to His expectations.
Jesus says:
Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
It is no burden to follow Jesus, but the most wonderful privilege in all the world, as well as the only preparation for eternity. Moreover, He always enables what He asks.
Either Jesus is what He claims, the perfect Son of God, the Savior of all who believe on Him, or He is a fool, a liar, or self-deceived. Your answer may determine your decision and where you will spend eternity.
He came to pay a debt He didn't owe, because we owed a debt we couldn't pay.
Some people believe quite sincerely that it doesn't make much difference what God you believe in.
Suppose I believe quite sincerely that a certain medication is good for me, when in fact it will kill me. I will no less surely die when I take it.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
Any other way, any other supposed truth will not give you life, but death eternal.
Being sure that you are saved, born again, a child of God, on your way to heaven is not a matter of feelings but of faith. God said it. I believe it. That settles it.
For the Christian, physical death is only a promotion to eternal glory. Oh, glorious day!
To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Phillipians 1:23
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. II Corinthians 5:8
Oh, what joy to be a child of the King and look forward to eternal bliss with Him forever and ever ...and in the meantime to walk and to talk with the King.
God offers us peace that passes understanding.
In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7
Thank you for hearing me out. I value it more than you can ever know. I love you and long that you may be Jesus' more than I can say.
The material you have read here today has been adapted from the book "The Great Escape", by pastor Ron Marr. It is only part of the book, which is available for free by clicking here.