What Did Jesus Do For YOU,

There is one God, who created everything.  This one God consists of three 'persons'**: The Father, the Word (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. This God is absolutely perfect, completely without sin.

** In Roman times, actors wore masks on-stage. The Latin word persona that came to be used meant mask, not person. This one God manifests in three "ways", He is not "three people" or three deities.

God wants companions, but He wants them to accept Him freely, not by compulsion. The first man and woman He created, Adam and Eve, chose to sin. As a result of Adam's sin, every person is born with a  spiritual infection: sin.

God hates sin. God punishes sin.

God loves each and every person He has ever created, regardless of how much they have sinned. But He also is just. His sense of justice cannot let sin simply go unpunished.

What did Jesus do for you, 
 

Jesus came to Earth as a human and took the punishment for all mankind's sins – for your sins.  He let Himself be beaten, whipped and crucified.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Three days after He died, Jesus rose from the dead. Shortly after, He ascended back into Heaven.
 

How can you benefit from what Jesus did?

John 3:16-18 [16] For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. [18] Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Let us be clear:  After death, everyone lives forever. The difference is that eternal life is wonderful, but eternal condemnation, eternal punishment is horrible.
 

Romans 10:9If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, YOU WILL BE SAVED.

Jesus' sacrifice is a free gift from Jesus. We didn't deserve to have Him suffer in our place, and He had no obligation to suffer in our place. Some claim that things simply got out of hand – that Jesus couldn't stop His execution, but Jesus clearly said that no one was taking His life - He was laying it down of His own accord.

God the Father let Jesus sacrifice Himself, because the Father, too, is gracious, merciful and compassionate. Further, the Father let Jesus' sacrifice be sufficient to satisfy justice.

The Father could have said the same thing!  He could have said "Jesus, I appreciate the offer, but  is going to have to take the punishment, not You!  But because the Father is also merciful, kind, and compassionate, He gave us the gift of accepting Jesus' sacrifice for our benefit.