Because Jesus changes everything.

Stop and think about the universe. From what we know, the universe stretches 93 billion light-years across. There are something like two trillion galaxies. Our sun is so large that a million Earths could fit inside it — and it's just one normal-sized star among hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

On the flip side, our eyeball is so complex it leaves many scientists puzzled. Go even further, into one cell, and you see something like a little miniature city — with its own power plants, waste system, communication networks, and a library of information so detailed that the DNA in a single human cell, if uncoiled, would stretch six feet long.

And all of this was spoken into existence by God. He is not contained within it. He is not impressed by it. He made it. And He holds all of it together by the word of His power. The God of the Bible did not just get this thing started and walk away. He is an infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful Creator who is personally involved in all of it. The only appropriate response is to fall on your face in awe of Him.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Something can't come from nothing

Everything that begins to exist had to have a cause. The universe began to exist — science can prove this. Therefore, the universe has a cause. Logically, that cause had to itself be uncaused, timeless, spaceless, and immensely powerful. That cause is God.

Where there's a blueprint, there's a builder

If you stumble onto a building in the middle of a field, you would never assume it built itself by chance. Its complexity points to a builder. The universe is billions of times more intricate than a building. Design on this scale points to a Designer. That Designer is God.

And yet this infinite and powerful God did something amazing: He made us in His own image. Of all creation, only people carry His likeness. That means you. You were made not merely to exist, but to know Him. That restless longing at the center of every human heart — that hunger for meaning, for love, for something that lasts — is the echo of your Maker calling you to Himself.

If that is who God is and who we were made to be, then the story of humanity is one big tragedy. We were made for Him, but we walked away. That rebellion is what the Bible calls sin, and its consequences spread like the most contagious and deadly disease ever.

Sin broke four relationships at once: our relationship with God, with ourselves, with one another, and with creation. Severed, fractured, corrupted, and cursed. Everywhere you see pain, loneliness, injustice, and death, you are seeing the consequences of this original sin.

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Not some have sinned. All. Every person to ever exist, including you. This is not a comfortable thing to hear, but it is necessary. If you were dying with a deadly disease, wouldn't you want to know? Well, you are. And what is this deadly disease, sin, going to cost you?

"For the wages of sin is death…"

This may seem like overkill, but it's not. Imagine if you were to assault a stranger — you'd face criminal charges. Assault a police officer, and the penalty is greater. Assault the President of the United States, and the consequences are worse still. Why? Because the severity of a crime is measured by the authority of the one wronged.

Now add God into the equation. Every sin is an assault on His perfect and holy character. Every sin is cosmic treason against the King of the universe — the One who holds all authority over everything. The wage, therefore, is eternal death. It is not arbitrary. It is just.

Imagine you are standing trial for treason, facing execution. You tell the judge, "But I've been kind. I gave money to the poor. I go to church and pray." What would the judge do? Laugh in your face, and then carry out the sentence. Because if he did not, he would not be a good judge. Justice requires that crimes be answered. God is a perfect judge. If we expect an earthly ruler to execute justice, what makes us think God should do the opposite? God will not wink at sin. It must be punished.

Here is where everything changes. In comes the good news. We stated that the wages of sin is death — but that verse isn't complete. It continues…

"…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

You are standing in that courtroom, guilty before the judge. The sentence is death. And then, from the back of the room someone stands up. It is the Judge's own Son. And He shouts, "I will take the sentence! I will pay for their crimes! Let them go free."

That is the gospel. That is what Jesus has done. But why? Because of love.

"But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

He was stripped, mocked, spat on, beaten, and crowned with thorns. He was made to carry His own cross, on which they threw Him down and drove nails through His wrists and feet. He hung on that Roman cross for hours, barely able to breathe. On that cross He was bearing not only physical agony, but the full wrath of God against sin. Our sin. Every lie, every act of cruelty, every hidden darkness in your life. It was all laid on Him. That death was what we deserved. He took it in our place.

But death could not hold Him. He was greater than the darkness.

"For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."

The author of those verses understood what was at stake. A few verses later he wrote, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless." The resurrection is not a footnote to Christianity — it is the foundation. Remove it, and the whole thing falls apart. Everything rises or falls on whether the resurrection of Jesus actually happened.

So did it?

The historical record gives compelling reasons to believe it did.

The evidence is straightforward, but you may not be ready to settle it today — that's fine. But consider it honestly. The tomb was empty, hundreds of witnesses claimed to see Him alive, and men who had every reason to deny it died rather than recant. Something happened. The resurrection is the only explanation that makes sense. So ask yourself: what if it's true? And if it is, what does that mean for you?

The resurrection was God's verdict on the cross: paid in full. The debt was settled. The penalty was absorbed. Christ walked out of the grave as proof, and the world has never been the same.

"Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead."

God has acted. Now He asks something of you. He doesn't want a performance, or a résumé of good deeds. He wants a response of the heart. Your heart.

"If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved… For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

This is not self-improvement. It's not behavior modification. It's not adding a little religion to your life. This is about trust — the kind of trust that transfers the weight of your life onto the only One who can handle it: Jesus.

"For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift — not from works, so that no one can boast."

Salvation is a gift. You cannot earn it. You do not deserve it. You can only receive it, by faith. Will you?

When you place your trust in Christ, something irreversible happens. The verdict changes. The relationship is restored, never to be broken again. Now that you are in His hands, He will never let you go. And what you receive from this relationship is nothing short of extraordinary.

Salvation is not the finish line — it's the start. Your new life has just begun. You have been changed from the inside out. The Bible says you have been born again. And that transformation works its way through every part of your life.

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

A living sacrifice gives everything — not out of obligation, but in response to the mercy already received. The first step you should take to symbolize this new transformation is baptism.

"For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ."

"But that is not how you came to know Christ, assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God's likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth."

You have received the greatest news in human history. You are not meant to keep it to yourself. The world is sick, and you have the remedy. You must get this medicine of the soul into the hands of as many sick people as possible.

Jesus did not call His followers to a private faith. He gave them a mission — a mission that reaches every corner of the earth and every generation of history. That mission now belongs to you.

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

By the authority of Jesus, you are sent. Into your family. Into your workplace. Into your neighborhood. Into the world. Not with a religious formula to follow, but with the good news of a Person. You are sent with the news that Jesus died for our sins and that He rose from the dead. The world needs this news.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes."