God, our Creator and Father, sent His Son to earth as a human, and yet, He was still fully divine. Jesus wasn't just a deity and He wasn't just a man. He experienced everything we have experienced. He was tempted in all the ways that we have been tempted, and yet, He remained perfect; He never once sinned.

The problem: For all of history, humans offered sacrifices on behalf of their sins, prayed fervently for favor from God, and spent lifetimes dedicated to His service. It wasn't enough.

God knew what was required. In His great love, He chose to sacrifice His Son, Jesus, for the salvation of all humanity. In the Bible, the book of Hebrews speaks of one single sacrifice that could accomplish our salvation. So, God allowed His Son to be broken and murdered as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.

All of us have done wrong things. We have all fallen short in some way. We continue to distance ourselves from God with each act...

But there is a hope! Jesus' death on a cross is not the end of the story. After having been buried for three days, Jesus showed His divinity by coming back to life. Through this process, Jesus completed His work on our behalf.

Complete salvation is the result of our declaration that Jesus is our Savior, coupled with our true belief that He was raised from the dead in completion of God's plan.

For Christ-followers, the process of receiving salvation is just the beginning. It's more than a prayer we pray or a decision we make. The rest of our life is all about responding to the vast love of God, our Father.

Even though we have salvation through Jesus, asking Him for help in living our lives the right way is imperative. Showing kindness to others, loving our families and friends selflessly, giving generously to those in need, and caring for the world around us are all manifestations of Jesus' presence in our day-to-day life.

You can almost think of it like a new lens through which we look at life. Our new identity is in Christ and the way we view the world has changed.

One of the songs we sing here at Lighthouse begins with this text: "Are you broken and hurting within? Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin? Jesus is calling." This perfectly describes the "everything" relationship we have with Jesus. He is not a vending machine that exists to take our requests. He isn't a cold and distant deity, deaf to the hurts and trials we experience. Nor is Jesus vindictive and ruthless.

Jesus is kind, just, merciful, loving. He convicts us when we're on the wrong road. He corrects our missteps and forgives our massive mess-ups. The truth is that there's nothing we can do to stop His love and His forgiveness. We keep coming back to Him and, in His kindness, He forgives us, and takes us back again.

Jesus is our everything and the answer to all our questions.