For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
The Basic Bible Truth
Everyone human being has a critical problem called sin. We fall short of the perfection of God, and the consequence of that is the death penalty. We all deserve death and Hell. Left to our own devices, we would never search for God. But God…the most amazing two words in the Bible. God loves us. That truth is impossible to explain completely. God loved us so much that He sent Jesus to the cross to pay the price for our sins and save us from the punishment we deserved. We don’t like to talk about Hell, but it is a very real place reserved for all of those who in this life reject the Saviour. At death, the Bible teaches that everyone continues somewhere. And there are only two choices listed in the Bible. And the choice is made prior to death. After death, the decision cannot be changed. We will either spend an eternity burning in the torment of Hell, or we will spend eternity enjoying the grandeurs of Heaven.
The Object
One Piece Of Paper A Scissors
This object lesson is a “simple to prepare” visual presentation of the Gospel in a relatively small group setting. The piece of paper is folded as follows:
After the cut has been made, unfold all of the individual pieces of paper that have now been created. You will need each. They can be arranged in the following two ways:
The Lesson
The lesson is a simple presentation of the truth about salvation. That we all have a problem called sin. The penalty for any and all sin is death and punishment in an eternal place called Hell. Hell is an unimaginably terrible place. Some may say that a loving God cannot sentence people to that kind of eternity. The Bible says that He can and will. It is that simple. We don’t make the rules, He does.
On the other side of the coin, for those who have accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, an eternity of incredible beauty and wonder awaits. It is a place called Heaven. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. II Corinthians 2:9. While this verse may well be talking about things here on this earth, I believe that it is also talking of Heaven, the place God has prepared for those who love Him. Think the most fantastic thought you can think about how wonderful Heaven might be someday. And know that you are not even close to imagining how incredible it will be. Our minds are not capable of comprehending the full glory of God. And God offers this incredible gift to anyone—anyone who acknowledges that Jesus is God and that He came to save us from ourselves and our sin.
God is love. It is such a simple statement but has a profound truth behind it. We often see love as simply an emotion or a feeling and we live our lives governed by that description. Rarely do we love as God loves—unconditionally. God could have told us over and over what true loves looks like and we might have developed a reasonable understanding of the truth. But He chose to demonstrate His love. And that demonstration was so incredible, even the angels is Heaven are watching this thing called salvation play out here on this earth in wide eyed wonder.
We cannot pay the price for our failures. We simply cannot suffice a holy God with anything that we can offer. We have nothing of value to give in exchange for our souls. The best that we can offer is as filthy rags compared to the absolute perfect holiness of God. Without someone stepping in with the ability to pay the cost, we would surely die because we deserve it. We have earned a place in Hell, but God’s love steps in that no one need perish in the fires of Hell. His grace is deeper than the deepest pit of Hell. But the requirement is that we accept and believe Him. That last step is difficult for many.
The Creator of the universe stepped out of Heaven and came to us as one of us, as a human being, and lived among us. Laying aside His Heavenly prerogatives, He suffered an unimaginably painful beating and voluntarily died to pay the ultimate and complete price for our sins. We must see this for what the Bible claims it to be, and that is the fact that had only one person in all of history accepted His gift of salvation, Christ would have gone to the cross for that one. His love is that deep and awesome. But He also went to the cross for those who reject Him as well.
The final result is that God can now point to the cross and with confidence proclaim that it is finished; love has been demonstrated for all to see and to consider. Eternity hangs in the balance and we hold the key to our future. Where we spend forever depends on the choice we make today.