This world is not our home
Have you ever seen one of those television programs telling real life stories about children who have been abducted and after living several years with their captor they are brainwashed to think they belong where they are? Can you imagine how the real parents of these children feel when they have been forgotten and are looked upon as strangers? Perhaps you thought to yourself, “I just don’t understand how these children could forget a real parent, much less grow to love someone who stole them from their home.” The fact is we are all guilty of forgetting our real Parent and growing to love the one who has kidnapped us from our real home. God made our ancestors, Adam and Eve, for Himself; they were His children and the Garden of Eden was their home. Then one day Satan, a fallen angel known as “the Serpent” or “the Devil”, came along and kidnapped them. Just as kidnappers use candy or toys to entice children, the Serpent lured them with the one thing they could not resist, and then took them from their home in the Garden to his home, the world of sin.
Satan’s slaves
Like most kidnappers, Satan does not treat people as his children but as his servants. He does not care about them or love them; he just wants them to do what he wants and keep them away from God as revenge because God loved man more than him. The Holy Bible, a series of books inspired by God, records in the Book of John chapter 8, verse 23 how God’s Son Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
Debt had to be paid
Like any loving parent, God the Father did what He could to save His children. He paid a ransom to get us back ‐ this ransom was the blood of His Son Jesus Christ and what an expensive price it was to pay. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”. Also, Romans 6:23 adds, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Sin is disobedience to God and it is this sin which separates us from Him. However, we have a choice – we do not have to continue to be enslaved by sin. This is the gift spoken of in Romans 6:23.
The Good News!
Since someone had to die to pay the wages due for our sin, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to Earth to do just that. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” This refers to the perfect life Jesus lived (He never sinned) which ended in His execution on a Roman cross.
It is not something you earn
Believing that Jesus died for your sins and accepting Him as your Savior is the only way for you to be a child of God. It is not something you earn or work for, it is a free gift from God and it is a gift you can have today if you will only trust in Jesus with all of your heart.
Mount Nebo Baptist Church - Fred, Texas 