Hi, my name is Tammy Gray. I'm one of the pastors here at Bent Tree. Did you know it's been said that the entire Bible can be summarized in a single verse, the entire message from Genesis to Revelation, which we also call the good news of the gospel, can be summarized in a single verse.
I'd love to unpack that verse with you today and look at it word by word so we can understand what it's saying. The verse I'm talking about is Romans 6:23, which says, "for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord."
The first word that we want to take a look at is the word wages. What are wages? Well, it's just very simply what we earn for the work that we do, the things we do. So if I were to work all day, and the person I was working for didn't pay me at the end of the day, I think we would all agree that seems kind of unfair, right? Because deep down, we know that everyone should get what they deserve.
The second word that we want to look at is the word sin. Now we've heard this word, but what does it really mean? Well, in the original language, it means to miss the mark. So picture a bullseye. And it's the mark for our lives; how we should live our lives is perfection, and anything that misses that center bullseye is sin. There are things that we shouldn't do that we do, there are things we should do that we don't do. All of those things are called sin in the Bible is really clear that we all have sinned and we fall short of God's standard.
The third word that we want to look at is death. Now, this isn't just physical death; this is actually a separation from God that begins now and goes into all eternity.
Now, don't leave yet I know that the news hasn't been so great so far. The next word we want to look at indicates that we're going to have a shift, and is the word, but it gives us hope that, hey, we're gonna shift now from bad news to great news. So the word but is the next word.
And then we look at the word gift; what is a gift? Well, a gift is freely given. It can't be earned, and it can't be deserved. So it's, it's the opposite of wages, right? And this verse tells us that God wants to give as a gift; it's the gift of God. And that gift is eternal life. And just like death that we talked about is eternal separation from God, eternal life is eternity with God in relationship with Him. Starts now and goes into all of eternity.
So let's review again, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. How do you receive a gift? Well, you have to take it right? If it's offered, you have to take it. How is this gift of eternal life received? Well, the end of the verse tells us it's in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God sent Jesus to earth to live a perfect life, to die on the cross to take care of our sin problems so that we could be forgiven. And then he didn't stay dead. He came alive again, conquering sin and death forever. So this sounds pretty good, right? But how do you receive that gift, you simply say yes to Jesus. And this is what we call faith.
Faith is believing that I have a sin problem. And what Jesus did on the cross was sufficient to take care of my sin problem, give me eternal life with God put me back into that relationship with God that I was always meant to have. Now, often, we kind of stopped here. But here's what I want to say to you today. Maybe you've heard this story your whole life. And maybe it's just stayed right here. But it's never traveled to here. Can I just invite you today? If you've never said yes to Jesus? Would you do that today?
The Bible says that today is a day of salvation. And there aren't any magic words to say. But I'd love to lead you in a prayer that you can pray silently in your heart. Or you can say out loud that just expresses your desire to place your faith in Jesus. So pray along with me. Jesus, thank you so much for coming to earth, for living a perfect life, and for dying on the cross in my place. And then for coming to life again. I recognize that I have sin in my life that I don't know how to deal with, but I recognize it because of what you did on the cross. I can be forgiven. Please forgive me for my sins. Come live inside of me and make me a new creation. Thank you for what you've done. And thank you for my new life in Christ. In Jesus' name. Amen.
If that's a prayer that you prayed today, I'd love to talk to you. Would you just email me? My name is Tammy Gray, and my email is . Love to have a conversation with you and help you understand, okay, you've made this decision. What are some next steps for you in your new relationship with Jesus? Thanks for taking the time, and I look forward to talking to you.