Ever since I learned that the teenager next door hung himself, it dawned on me that, for most people, there is no hope in this world.  Every day is a blind adventure into the unknown.  We live in the most prosperous, most blessed nation in the history of the world, yet people are more miserable than ever. How could this be?  What could cause someone to take his own life, a life filled with opportunity in a land flowing with freedom?  Why are people all around us drowning in despair?  The answer: they have no hope.  They are burdened by everyday worries, troubles, finances, relationships, current affairs and yes, they are burdened by the weight of their sin.

    When John the Baptist saw Jesus Christ walking in the countryside, he exclaimed "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." My friend, were you aware that there is a record in heaven of every sin you have ever committed? Did you know that the Bible speaks of books containing the events of our lives one day being opened before us in sort of a courtroom-like trial?  Are you in fact ready to one day give an account of your life in the face of an infinitely holy God?

    However, there is hope… guaranteed!  Remember, Jesus Christ came to "take away" the sins of the world.  He came to literally remove the sins from the account of anyone who truly puts their trust in him to do so.  Anyone!  Isaiah 53:5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities…and with his stripes we are healed."  I Peter 2:24, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree."  Because Christ was perfect and sinless, he alone was eligible to pay for our sins by dying on the cross of Calvary.  He willingly died the death we surely deserve and shed his blood, so that if we place our trust solely in this finished work, God will honor his death as a perfect payment for our sins.  Christ will literally "lift off" the burden of all our sins!  My friend, this is not religion, it’s SALVATION!  It’s not an opinion, it’s HEAVEN or HELL! Jesus Christ has paid your sin debt in full so that you can have a right standing before God and a reservation for a home in heaven. It’s true!  It’s true!