The Passion: Why?

Because ... God loves you God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. Real love isn't our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. (1 John 4:9, 10) Your wrongdoings separate you from God�����¯�¿�½���¯���¿���½�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¢�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¯�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¿�����¯�¿�½��â�š���½�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¯�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¿�����¯�¿�½��â�š���½s love All of us have sinned and fallen short of God�����¯�¿�½���¯���¿���½�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¢�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¯�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¿�����¯�¿�½��â�š���½�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¯�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¿�����¯�¿�½��â�š���½s glory. (Romans 3:23) �����¯�¿�½���¯���¿���½�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¢�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¯�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¿�����¯�¿�½��â�š���½�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¯�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¿�����¯�¿�½��â�š���½No one is acceptable to God! Not one of them understands or even searches for God. They have all turned away and are worthless. There isn�����¯�¿�½���¯���¿���½�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¢�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¯�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¿�����¯�¿�½��â�š���½�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¯�����¯�¿�½��â�š���¿�����¯�¿�½��â�š���½t one person who does right." (Romans 3:10-12) Jesus loves you and died for you But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful. (Romans 5:8) God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. (Romans 8:32) Christ carried the burden of our sins. He was nailed to the cross, so that we would stop sinning and start living right. By his cuts and bruises you are healed. You had wandered away like sheep. Now you have returned to the one who is your shepherd and protector. (1 Peter 2:24, 25) Know Jesus���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½ death brings you back to God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s love God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. (John 3:16) But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s blood, we will also be kept safe from God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s anger. Even when we were God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s life. (Romans 5:9, 10) ���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½. . . nothing can separate us from God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s love���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½ (Romans 8:38, 39) Now respond to God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s love and love one another We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world. (2 Peter 1:3, 4) We love because God loved us first. But if we say we love God and don���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½t love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½t love the people we can see? The commandment that God has given us is: ���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½Love God and love each other!���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½ (1 John 4:19-21) Now put your faith in Jesus So you will be saved, if you honestly say, ���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½Jesus is Lord,���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½ and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others. The Scriptures say that no one who has faith will be disappointed. . . . [The Lord] is generous to everyone who asks for his help. All who call out to the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:9-13) This prayer: Dear God, thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to die for my personal wrongdoings. Forgive me for the wrong things I have done and for neglecting the things I ought to do. Take control of my life. I believe that Jesus is alive today, and commit myself to live for you. Help me grow in loving you and others. In Jesus���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½ name I pray, Amen. You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord. Now keep on following him. Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught. And be grateful. (Colossians 2:6, 7) Build your relationship with God by: 1. Listening to God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s teaching in the Bible. Everything in the Scriptures is God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. The Scriptures train God���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½s servants to do all kinds of good deeds. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) 2. Talking to God regularly. Always be joyful and never stop praying. Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) 3. Attending church regularly. Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other. (Hebrews 10:25) When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. Always use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything. (Ephesians 5:19, 20) 4. Resisting evil. Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you. . . . Are any of you wise or sensible? Then show it by living right and by being humble and wise in everything you do. But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½t brag or lie to cover up the truth. That kind of wisdom doesn���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½t come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself. Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice. (James 4:7, 8; 3:13-18) . . . Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. (Romans 12:9) 5. Letting God help you whenever you fail. If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth. But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away. If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½t in our hearts. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his message isn���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½t in our hearts. (1 John 1:6-10) 6. Deepening your faith in Christ. Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love. If you keep growing in this way, it will show that what you know about our Lord Jesus Christ has made your lives useful and meaningful. But if you don���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½t grow, you are like someone who is nearsighted or blind, and you have forgotten that your past sins are forgiven. (2 Peter 1:5-9) 7. Sharing your faith with others. How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them? (Romans 10:14) Explore this helpful resource: www.bibleresourcecenter.org/ThePassion. This is a Selection of Holy Scripture in the Contemporary English Version. For a free catalog of other Scripture publications, call the American Bible Society at 1-800-800-32-BIBLE, or write to 1865 Broadway, New York, NY 10023-7505. Copyright ��â�š���© 1995, American Bible Society Printed in the United States of America Eng. Sel. CEV860P ���¢�¯�¿�½�¯�¿�½ 113058 ABS-2/04-300,000-USW