God is the holy and loving Creator who made Man in his image. There was a time immediately after creation when the first humans lived in perfect relationship with God. But we rebelled against God's rule and choose evil and sin. Even then, in the midst of our sin, God enacted a rescue mission: Jesus, the Son of God, fully God and fully man, entered our world and lived a perfect, sinless life. Sinful men crucified him, but this was the plan of God, for it was through his death on the cross that he became the perfect sacrifice for fallen humanity. As Jesus hung on the cross God placed upon him the sins of all who would believe in him. Three days later Christ rose from the dead and was seen by many who testified to the risen Christ. He lives today, and offers us forgiveness and a restored relationship with the living God. Our response to his offer of mercy is to turn from sin and put our entire lives in God's hands. When we put our complete faith in Christ's work on the cross and trust him as our Savior, we become the forgiven children of God and heirs of eternal salvation. We see this change in our lives by a new and growing desire to follow God as the leader of our lives in all that we do.
(Genesis 2-3; Mark 1:1; Luke 24:46-47; John 3:16-18; Romans 1:18-25; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 2:2; 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 4:1-6; 9:13; Galatians 1:6-9; Ephesians 1:7-10; Colossians 1:19-20; 2 Timothy 1:8-14; 2 Peter 3:11-13; Jude 3-4; Revelation 21-22)