The most important decision you will ever make is one about eternity.

Did you know that you were made for eternity?  Not your physical body – but definitely your soul. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

God made you for a relationship with Himself and to bring Him pleasure. The same God who created the heavens and the universe and yes…even you… wants more than a lifetime relationship with you.  He wants to be involved in YOUR life.  HE wants you to be His friend and He wants to spend eternity with YOU!

God didn’t create robots – people who would automatically love Him – He gave us the power to choose. You see, God created mankind perfect and Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, blew it! God gave them one command to obey and they didn’t listen to what God said. He even warned them that their disobedience would result in death and they chose to disobey anyway.  (Genesis 2:16-17; Genesis 3)

We, like Adam and Eve, have chosen to disobey God and sin against Him.  All of us have done wrong and failed to do what is right.  (Romans 3:23) We may not consider ourselves more sinful than our neighbor, or we may be far worse than anyone we know, it does not matter.  Either way, we are guilty before God.  And just like God told Adam and Eve, sin earns death.

We will all spend eternity in one of two places – eternal life in heaven with God or eternal death in hell separated from Him.  

God is perfect, completely good, and always right. He cannot tolerate sin. He cannot simply overlook the fact that we have chosen to disobey Him. The Bible says, "the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) This means that the fair payment for our rebellion against God is death. It is the punishment that we deserve.

But, God loves us and wants a relationship with us – so, while we were still sinners, God showed us His love for us – Christ Jesus died in our place. (Romans 5:8) Jesus, the one and only Son of God, came to earth and lived a perfect sinless life. He was crucified even though He was completely innocent. He received the punishment that we deserved. He was the perfect sacrifice. He was put into our place and took on Himself the sentence of death that should have been ours.  (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Jesus was separated from God the Father on the cross so that we never have to be.  The Bible says that Jesus was crucified, buried, and then rose from the dead three days later – and was even seen by over 500 people at the same time! (I Corinthians 15:3-8) He later ascended up into heaven and told His followers that He is coming back for those of us who have been saved.

“How can I be saved?” you may ask.  The only way to get to God the Father is through the Son.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one gets to the Father unless he comes through me.”  (John 14:6) Jesus paved the way for us to have a relationship with God.

True Christianity is not about attending a particular church, or how your parents raised you, or what country you were born in. Being a Christian means that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that He is your Savior. It's not good enough that your priest, pastor, mother, or aunt knows Jesus ~ you must know Him for yourself. They cannot believe in Him for you, you must believe for yourself. 

It’s more than just believing information about who Jesus was – it’s trusting Jesus alone to save you. Recognizing that nothing you can do will earn you heaven – Jesus’ death on the cross is the only way we can be saved. It doesn't matter what you have done in the past, if you cry out to Jesus for forgiveness, He will not reject you.

You can make this decision no matter where you are or what you are doing.  It can be made in a church with a pastor, kneeling beside your bed, in an office, or at a computer!  It doesn’t matter where you are…God will hear your prayer.

Are you ready to receive Him?  The gift of salvation is free – because Christ bought it for you with His blood.  (I Corinthians 6:20) If you are ready to accept Christ, you can pray in your own words something like this:

“God, I know that I have sinned against You.  I know that I have chosen to sin and I am responsible for it.  I know that I deserve death.  I am totally and completely relying on what Jesus did on the cross to pay for my sin.  I believe Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead and that He is the only one who can save me.  I accept Your free gift of eternal life.  Please come into my life right now.  Thank you that I have been born into Your family and you have washed me clean and have made me a new person.”

If you have accepted Christ we would enjoy encouraging your in your new faith – or maybe you just have some questions and would like to talk with someone.  We would love to hear from you.  Please e-mail us at info@ironcity.org or give us a call at (256) 238-1293.