Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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My friend Stan was having some new computer systems installed in his office. In the course of their work, the installers asked him what his password was. Well, in order to understand his answer, you need to know that Stan has experienced a dramatic life change because of something that happened to him spiritually a few years ago. He told the computer guys, "My password is 'Jesus.'" Needless to say, they weren't exactly ready for that one. One of them said, "So you can't get in without Jesus?" My friend smiled and said, "Exactly."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Just One Password."
"You can't get in without Jesus." That's not just my friend's computer systems. That's you and me going to heaven. The ultimate object of every religion is that we might end up with eternal life. The ultimate hope of every religious person is that they will make it to heaven when they die. But heaven is God's place, and we can only get there God's way.
In Acts 4:12, our word for today from the Word of God, He makes that way very clear. Speaking of Jesus, He says, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Notice the "life-or-deathness" of the words God chooses: "salvation" and "saved." See, those are words about a rescuer getting us out of a deadly situation. He says that's Jesus. Our eternal problem is that there is a spiritual death penalty for us running our own lives, for all the things we've done our way instead of God's way. And just as if we were trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building or drowning, our only hope is a Rescuer. And thank God, He sent one - but only one.
This isn't about the superiority of one religion over another; it's about the availability of only one Savior from the penalty of our sin. No one else even claimed to pay that death penalty for us. And that's our only hope of heaven, because we can't get into heaven with our sin, and only the One who paid for our sin can remove it. If a religion could get us to God, take your pick. But it's a Savior we need, and only Jesus paid the price to be that.
So the sobering reality is this: if you're depending on anything or anyone other than Jesus to get you to heaven, you're not going to make it. Even if your religion is all about Jesus, that's not enough. It's about you totally depending on Jesus to forgive your sin and get you to heaven. The question is: has there ever been a time in your life when you have explicitly told Jesus Christ that you're putting your total trust in Him and what He did on the cross for you? If not, this could be that time. Please do not risk another day without knowing that you belong to Jesus Christ. This might be the day for you to begin that relationship.
There is no greater peace. There's no greater security than to know for sure that there has been a time when you put your life in the hands of Jesus Christ. You can talk to Him right where you are right now in words something like this: "Jesus, I resign from the running of my own life. I will not drive any more. You will. Forgive me for all the times I have done things against You; things that are against the way you put me here to live. And I am putting all my trust in You because You died for me to remove my death penalty from my sin. And because You love me so much, I know I can trust You. Beginning today, I am Yours."
If you'd like to know for sure that you belong to Him and would like to see some of the statements in the Bible that will guarantee you that, I would encourage you to check out our website at your first opportunity today. That's what it's all about YoursForLife.net. Or I could send you my little booklet Yours For Life with similar information in it if you just call us toll free. The number is 877-741-1200.
There is no greater sense of security than to know that you're going to heaven when you die. You can know that today because you have trusted Jesus to take you there.