Whoever you are

"God loves you. He loves you so much that He gave His Son to die on the cross for our sins. And He loves you so much that He will come into your life and change the direction of your life and make you a new person, whoever you are." - Billy Graham

This section of his sermon really caught my attention. I love his directness, and his simplicity in getting to the point. After all, this is really what it boils down to. This is the basic message of Jesus. God loves you. Jesus died for you. It's that personal. If you alone were the only person He would have made salvation available to by dying as He did, He still would have done it. And He still would have done it knowing full well the possibility that you might not acknowledge Him, might reject Him altogether. He loves you that much - that He died for the possibility that you would accept Him and learn to return love to Him. Just the possibility. Because the alternative to Him - not making a way for you - was not an acceptable option for Him.

If we choose to reject Him, we continue on, in bondage to sin, and under the condemnation that the law brings. We live out a life that is seemingly void of purpose, and ultimately we face eternity in the absence of God - that is, in the absence of love, happiness, joy, peace, and all that is good. If you really pause to think about this, it is a fate worse than death.

If we choose to accept what Christ has done, everything about our spiritual situation changes. His sacrifice goes before God on our behalf, cleansing us of every sin, every imperfection. The Bible says we are made new in Christ, our sins are forgiven, our old life passes away and is forgotten, and we get to start fresh with Jesus. We no longer have to feel condemned when we do wrong because we are assured that if we confess our sins, they will be instantly forgiven. We now have free, uninhibited,open access to approach, talk to, make requests of, and form a deep friendship with God. All of this we are able to do through Jesus.

Just as Billy Graham said, whoever you are, God will do this - has already done this - for you. It is a matter of choosing to accept it and receive it.