As Christians, we all know that Jesus is the Christ who came to take away the sins of the world. But did you know that salvation is not just a general observation— that it’s really personal? Did you know that YOU are the reason He came—and that YOU were the object of the cross?

Jesus came from Heaven and lived among us, and then became the Lamb of God that was sacrificed for our sins so that all of our sins would be pardoned.—“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. “—John 1:29. He did this because He loves us. He was willing to become the ultimate sacrifice for us so that we could be saved from the wrath and judgment of God that will soon come upon this earth.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”—John 3:16

God loves every person who was ever born, BUT not every person will accept His love and His salvation for them.  Only those who accept it, believe it, repent from their old life and serve Him will be saved.  Some false doctrines today teach that everyone is automatically saved because it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”. Yet they don’t follow the rest of what Jesus told them, and that is to repent and be born again.

“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: ² The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. ³ Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. ⁴ Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? ⁵ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” … John 3:1-6

When the disciples were preaching the gospel of Christ, they taught the people that to be born again they needed to repent of their sins and then turn away from that old lifestyle and follow Jesus.

“Then Peter said unto them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.’” … Acts 2:38

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” … 2 Corinthians 5:17

It’s not an automatic membership into Heaven. We need to realize that we are sinners in need of a savior, and then we need to accept that God Himself provided a means for us to be forgiven of those sins. And He provided this for every single person ever born because He loves every single person ever born.

Many people cannot understand or appreciate the depth of God’s love that He has for us. He loves the sinners and we know this because we are one!—Romans 3:23. He sacrificed Himself for us before we even knew Him. He had no reservations about anyone because we are all His creation and He loves us with an unconditional love, which is the love of a father.

Unfortunately, many people don’t want His love. They mock Jesus, persecute Christians and enjoy living in the sinful world. They like who they are and they don’t care about God. Yet, God continues to love them and is the force behind Christians getting out there and preaching to them so they’ll get saved. We read in John 3:15 that God doesn’t want a single person to die lost.

Some people think that God hates the people of the world and is taking pleasure in sending them to hell. But the truth is that He hates the sin in the world and the lifestyle that is killing His children. He doesn’t want anyone going to hell. We could better understand this if we saw it from our own point of view.

Suppose you had two children and both challenged your parenting skills as they were growing up. One child got into messes but never failed to show their love to you and to respect you and always be there for you. They’re not perfect, but they love you. The other child, however, has fallen into the lifestyle of a bad crowd and is doing things that are not only wrong, but are dangerous for their own soul. You warn them and plead with them to change because if they continue on you know that they just may go too far and not be able to turn back. But they ignore you, curse your ideals and continue. And then one day, they commit a hideous crime and have to stand before a judge.

As a parent, your heart would ache more than you could ever imagine because you know that this child who you love so much will now have to stand before the judge and be sentenced for a crime that will separate them from you forever. And you know that you’ll never see this child again. You will always love them, but the sin they committed was judged by the law, and it was the law that sentenced them to eternal prison.

This is how God sees things, too. He loves us all so much, but not every child will listen to Him or obey Him, and when people leave this earth they won’t automatically go to Heaven. They first have to stand before the greatest judge of all—Jesus—who will weigh their actions against the law. It’s the law that will judge them and it’s Christ who will sentence them because they didn’t accept His pardon for their sins and they now stand alone in front of Him wearing all their sins.

God loves us all with so much passion that He constantly arranges situations for the unsaved people to accept Him, but the time is growing short and the devil is working hard to keep the people of the world from finding Him. God loves us all, but only those who “—believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”—John 3:16

There’s still time to pray for the lost people of this world and to do all we can do to reveal Jesus to them. Let’s work together and fight the good fight of faith and get the message of the gospel out there. People’s lives literally depend on it, and eternity is a long time to spend in a dark, evil place without God.

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”—Matthew 7:13-14