When God made us He did so with the design to be in a close relationship with us. Back to His relationship with Adam in the Book of Genesis chapters 1 & 2, God cared for Adam and looked after his needs. God walked in the garden “in the cool of the day" (Genesis 3:8). God was not distant, but regularly spent time with Adam, as He desires that for us today!

But there was a problem…

God had told Adam not to do something and Adam chose to do it. This hurt their relationship. It broke the relationship that God had intended for Adam. The penalty was separation from God. When this happened to Adam, it introduced sin into the human race. The Devil is real, and his job is to keep us in spiritual death (John 10:10a) Scripture explains that everyone has sinned and therefore we are all guilty like Adam (see Romans 3:23). Because of that the penalty is separation from God, which is spiritual death (Romans 6:23).

But God loves us and provided a solution to the problem.

God loves us so much that He didn’t wait for us to come to Him. From the time Adam failed He put a plan into place to restore the relationship that was broken (See Romans 5:8). The Solution is Jesus. He came so that we could once again live spiritually and have a relationship with God (John 10:10b). Jesus is the only way back into relationship with the God (John 14:6). This is because Jesus did what no other person could do, He lived a perfect life and gave His life to pay for our sins. This is something we could not do on our own! But there is something that we must do…

We cannot earn what Jesus did for us, but like any gift that is given, it must be received. To receive His free gift of restoration into relationship with God, we simply must believe!

Romans 10:9 says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”!!!

It’s just that simple…

Upon reading this truth, Jesus asks us to respond: If you would like to receive His gift and be saved, pray this prayer:

Jesus, I want my relationship with God restored. I believe that You paid the price for my sins and I ask You to forgive me. I believe that You died and rose again, and I invite You to save me and come into my heart. Jesus, I invite you to be the Lord of my life. Amen

If you made the decision and prayed that prayer for the first time, congratulations! We want to encourage you to do 5 things to keep on the right track and grow in your relationship with God:

    * Talk to God daily in prayer

    * Read the Bible daily to learn what God is like

    * Find a Bible teaching church to help you grow (you are always welcome at Garner Christian Fellowship)

    * Tell your friends and family of your decision

    * Tell us about your decision, so that we can pray for you and provide you with some valuable information!