Jesus loves you. Go to Him with your burdens

@Wolfram Hello! I’d be happy to! So, all religions (and even just natural thinking) tell us we need to be good people to go to Heaven. We reap what we sow , right? Well, Christianity is the only religion that offers a solution, because we all know we make mistakes and do bad things no matter how big or small. The solution is this: that Jesus (The Son of God, fully God and Fully Man) came to this earth 2000 years ago and lived as a human —just like us and suffered like us—but never sinned. He was and is perfect. Then, He was betrayed (just as prophesied since the beginning of creation) and died on a cross. You may ask, “so what? It happened to lots of people!” Well, the difference here is that Jesus died to take all of the punishment we deserve for our sin upon Himself. He said that whoever trusts in His sacrifice will have eternal life! The Bible, which is God’s Word and lines up with our own history books, gives us this wonderful news. We are sinners but the One True God made a way for us to Him because of His love. He is Just and has to punish us for our sin. We sin so much and it hurts and angers God—why? Because He loves us and if your spouse cheats on you, you are furious because you love them. So—out of His amazing love for us , He sent His only Son to die in our place, a death He gladly accepted for our benefit so we can share in His reward. Three days later, He rose from the dead and ascended to Heaven. I know that you may think this is a fairy tale, but it is not. It simply is not. Look around you. Do you think that all of this love and happiness and joy and sadness you feel (you can’t see it) is just a bunch of chemical reactions? No. They are God given feelings because He made us for Him. There’s a hole in our hearts that only Jesus our God can fill. I’m not trying to “sell” you Jesus. I could be doing anything else right now but, because I know this is so important, I’m telling you. So , to sum up your question, we are sinners. God’s forgiveness is greater —not to brush our sin aside and let us do it over and over to “cover us”— but He showed us this love He has for us by taking that punishment we deserve (eternal separation from God in hell) and offers everybody everywhere eternal life when we die if we just put our faith and trust in Him. You don’t have to believe me, but believe Jesus and your Conscience. That was given to you for a reason. There are tons of resources online that tell you everything you want to know. I suggest : “got questions.org” Timothy Keller James White Cliff Knetchle Mike Winger

@Wolfram Yes—I really admire how you think and that you desire to learn. God doesn’t just go “ok you’re forgiven”. No—He wants a life with us and the more we live for Him the more joyful we will be. We will also go through many trials with or without Him in this life, so why not have Him to help us through them all? When we accept Jesus into our lives and hearts, He starts to work on us from the spirit, gives us new desires. We will want to be more like Him: good. We can’t be prefect, but we have the hope of that when we go to Heaven. If someone says that they love you but is indifferent on Whether you steal from a bank or not, they don’t love you because they don’t care. When someone gets mad at me because I hurt them, it’s because they love me and care , and when I do something to hurt them it really does pierce through them. None of us put God first, and that hurts Him because that’s what He made us for. He loves us. He isn’t telling us to believe in Him so we can be His minions and so He can take advantage of us—He can do anything at any time on His own, but every human soul desires above all to hear “You are Good”. Jesus was ripped apart from His everything in our place so that we could be free , not just from guilt, but from the penalty of death we deserve! We don’t expect any less of our earthly judges; if someone crashes into your car and that person gets up in court and says : “I’m sorry.” The Judge can’t say “you’re free to go, then”. He has to pay the price. Now imagine a man comes in the room and pays the fine for you. Freely. That’s what Jesus did. He took the punishment of our actions (past, present and future) so that when we trust and believe in Him, we get what He deserves: Heaven and glory in the life to come. Jesus gave up His divine power and everything for us. Why? Because His love is true and real. He gave up a thousand worlds for you. It is so simple that so many people think that they have to do this and that to be saved and go to Heaven, but really all it is is falling on Jesus Christ as our pillow, and using Him as our parachute. Living for Him by letting Him in and change us from the inside out.

@han ;) Thanks for always replying. So I have more questions. One, I didn't understand fully one thing.. Why did God create us? Also, what's with heaven and hell? Why do they exist and why should knowing the answer to that be a factor in how we behave?

@Wolfram No problem! Thank you for asking! I’m not going to pretend to know all the answers—we don’t know the mind of God to the full extent—His mind is so much higher than ours. Why did God make us?—well, that is a hard question to know the answer to. And we can’t know for sure. From the Bible we can get the idea that He wanted to make us in order share His incredible and never ending love with us. He wasn’t lonely , but He wanted to demonstrate His love to us. And you may wonder, if He knows everything why did He let us sin? Well, He didn’t create us robots, He gave us a free will to an extent. He shows us the truth and we can deny or accept it. He still loves us but He isn’t going to force us to live in eternity with Him. But the important thing is that He did create us , and we are here. And we have to go from there. Now. About your second question, often people will think that God is the angry man in the sky who sends us to hell without a problem. This is simply not true. How do I know this? Because in His Word we learn that He is Just—which means He can’t send us to Heaven after we reject Him. Then Heaven would be defiled and just like earth again!—no longer Heaven. He is also loving and sent His only Son to die in our place—so that when God looks at us He sees His perfect Son. The Bible tells us that we are clothed in Christ’s Righteousness when we believe in Him. SOMEONE has to suffer in the restoring of any relationship. Someone has to either take action to forgive or the offender will pay. In this case, Jesus paid our debt that we can’t pay on our own. In the end, Jesus is the only One who will stay with us through everything. God created us, as stated in the Bible in Genesis, in HIS IMAGE, meaning our souls reflect Him; of course He is perfect and we are not , but things like creativity and love and joy mirror His Heart. We are amazing creatures if you think about it!—we have feelings and souls and hearts and understanding , which animals don’t. When an animal dies it goes to the earth and is gone for good. When a person dies, because God created us eternal beings in His image, we either go to live eternally in Hell (separated form God and everyone) or Heaven (with God and with everyone) just like we wanted. God gives us the amazing choice now, whether to accept His sacrifice or reject it. People who think that people are like animals and not eternal are going against themselves and their own thinking!—I mean, if that’s true and we’re just a bunch of molecules—then if someone murders a child , it isn’t wrong or right—it’s just a chemical reaction you had in your mind and you took action. You CAN’T say that there is no God and say there is right or wrong. What standard would that be measured by? Why would it be bad to murder if there is no God to judge us? People will, but why? If there is no eternal consequence why do people attempt to make order and good people? Because God made it that way. So, everyone knows right and wrong because God gave us a conscience. We should feel guilty if we do awful things. Right? Well, that’s how our eternal lives tie into what we do here. If we accept Jesus and live for Him in this life (simply believing in Him, coming to the end of ourselves and trusting in His sacrifice for us) then we will be with Him forever in perfect Heaven where there is no pain or suffering or tears. We as humans even accept the fact that what choices we make have consequences in our lives. Christianity is not “being a good person” like other religions. It’s accepting that we can’t be good and taking on the robe of Righteousness of Jesus Christ, and not go on living in sin. If there is no Heaven or hell and we just go to the ground forever when we die, then we could do whatever we want and have no consequences! But why do you think many people, religious or not, try to be a good person? It’s because God have them that instinct! He gave them that desire to be good. I hope this helps

@han ;) It helps a little. I'm confused why hell would exist though. I see lots of contradictions

@Wolfram Maybe if we compare our legal system to it : Why does jail exist? To keep people who are a danger away from other people. Well, if God only allowed people to go to Heaven and there was no such thing as hell, then Heaven would be simply another earth! And with no “jails”. You see? Also—most importantly, it was God’s Will. We can’t question God’s Will because He knows all. Just like your other question about why God created people, we can see little parts but not everything. He reveals to us what He wills. When Jesus says we are saved by “FAITH”, that means trusting Him even tho we can’t see the whole picture. There is a poem that helps me understand this: My Life is but a weaving between my Lord and me; I cannot choose the colours He worketh steadily. Oft times He weaveth sorrow And I, in foolish pride, Forget He sees the upper, And I the underside. Not till the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly, Shall God unroll the canvas And explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful In the Weaver's skilful hand, as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned. He knows, He loves, He cares, nothing this truth can dim. He gives His very best to those who leave the choice with Him.

@Wolfram Here is an answer from got questions: The Bible says that God created hell for Satan and the wicked angels who rebelled against Him, but there are people in hell also (Matthew 25:41). Both angelic beings and human beings are in hell for the same reason, sin (Romans 6:23). Because God is completely righteous and morally perfect (Psalm 18:30), He always does what is right—there is no “darkness” in God, not the smallest speck of imperfection (1 John 1:5). God Himself is the standard for what is right, good, and moral. If it were not for God being the standard of moral perfection, created beings would have nothing to measure themselves against. In other words, if God is perfectly righteous, then anything that falls short of said perfection is sinful, and every human being who has ever lived, since Adam’s fall from grace, has committed sin (Romans 3:23). Because Adam sinned, the entire human race now has a sinful nature (Romans 5:12). But people do not go to hell because of Adam’s sin; they go to hell because of their own sin, which they freely choose (James 1:13–16). Since God is eternal, immutable, and infinite, and all sins are fundamentally against God, God has decreed the just punishment for sin must also be eternal (Matthew 25:46). There is another aspect to consider, which is that God also created people to live eternally. So when someone commits a sin against another person, the offended person has also been eternally wronged. God, therefore, has deemed all who commit sin will go to hell because they have failed to meet His righteous standard; they have broken His Law of moral perfection. If God did not send people to hell for breaking His laws, it could be said that God is not just (Psalm 7:11). A good analogy is a court of law with a judge and a lawbreaker. A just judge will always convict the person who has been found guilty. If that judge did not pursue justice for the crime, he would not be a just judge (Deuteronomy 32:4). However, the good news is that God is also merciful. In His rich mercy, He made a way for sinners to avoid the punishment of hell by trusting in the atoning work of His Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:9). For Christians, the penalty of sin has been removed and placed upon Christ on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). Because of the sacrifice of Christ, God is still just—the sin is punished—yet He is also merciful to all who believe.

@han ;) OK but why punish those who may not understand? I don't feel they deserve to go to hell just because the trials in this life were too difficult. Some people get trials more difficult than others, and because they struggle to see there way out, hell is the option? I understand keeping dangerous people in jail regarding the safety of the public but giving up on someone you were too hard on is a bit much

@Wolfram Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

@Wolfram Hi! How are you? This is a wonderful sermon that made me think of you and your questions. I hope you listen and it helps! https://open.spotify.com/episode/3uorqMagygFHxocJq2oQrC?si=bjZuqgs3RrWJUQJyW-AUMg&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A5hYDVSeY9KWSpkI4YlSzKF

@han ;) Spotify doesn't work for me. I'd want to give it a listen in all honesty.

@Wolfram Ok I will send it through Google. Let me know if this doesn’t work. 😁. Also happy Easter! https://gospelinlife.com/sermon/the-hour-of-darkness/

@han ;) Happy Easter. Thank you

I think I mostly understand now.

@Wolfram That is wonderful!! I’m so glad that it helped 🙏❤️

@han ;) So the 10 commandments. If I for example broke one of them, is there any form of redemption?

@Wolfram Yes we have all broken the Ten Commandments. The Bible says we all fall short of the glory of God and that none of us is good. But God made a way of redemption for us through His Son, Jesus Christ. You’ve probably heard that Jesus died for our sins, but do you know what that means for you 2000 years later? Well, it means that Jesus lived a perfect life that no human can live—then He died on a cross and took all of the Just wrath of God against our sin, upon Himself. He went to hell for us!—so all we have to do is humble ourselves by acknowledging that we can’t save ourselves, and trust in Jesus. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, God sees us as spotless and perfect and all of our sins are gone (past, present and future sins). If you are in court and have a lot of fines to pay, and the judge says “you are free to go because someone else has paid your fine”. —that’s what Jesus did for us. He paid our debt IN FULL. When He died He said “It is finished” which means all of the sins of those who accept His sacrifice will be saved and all their sins washed away. This way, God is JUST because He isn’t letting us go for free (which is actually unjust), but is paying our debt for us. Do you understand?

@han ;) Yeh I understand. And what?? Jesus went to hell? How have I never heard that?

@Wolfram Well, in a sense. Sort of meant it as an metaphor but also not. Because, hell is being separated from God completely and eternally. To some this may not sound so bad but it is actually the worst thing that could ever happen. No human is fully separate from God here; it’s through Him that we live and have being and are ourselves. When Jesus died, He was completely abandoned by God the Father, His everything (therefore taking our punishment on Him). God wasn’t being cruel, but rather loves us so much that He gave up everything for us. His everything.

@han ;) Honestly, I cannot thank you enough for the education you have provided. I might not be a Christian and out right believe in everything but I do believe in something and what this all stands for. I think I can actually move on from past troubles now. I don't know what's real and what isn't but I know better now than I did before and I think I know my path even though its narrow, I'm going to try my best to walk it.

@Wolfram I am so glad that this helped. I enjoyed talking to you about Jesus. I hope and pray that you will think about this seriously and put your faith in Jesus. “Today is the day of salvation,” as the Bible says. don’t wait for some other day. You never know how long you have ❤️. I will be praying for you and thinking about you. I really admire your interest in gaining knowledge. Yes ! And what you said about the narrow path reminds me of this scripture in Matthew: ”Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.“ ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/114/mat.7.14.NKJV

@han ;) I've only prayed a handful of times in life, and they were all answered. I might pray tonight and make it a big one. Thank you for your prayers, they won't go to waste

@Wolfram 🙏❤️ this makes me so happy.🥲 ”I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.“ ‭‭Luke‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://bible.com/bible/114/luk.15.7.NKJV

@Wolfram Thank you for being so open and willing to learn

@han ;) This is another answer form some experts