The Bible shows us how God, who is the Creator of all things, created the world through His Word. In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1) and created light (Gen. 1:3).

But just as God established, through His power, the laws that govern the physical universe, so too did He establish spiritual laws to govern our relationship with Him.

God created man for the purpose of manifesting His love toward him. However, through man’s disobedience to God, sin took root in his heart. Man was tempted in the Garden of Eden by a fallen angel who had fallen from the glory of God—the Serpent, called the Devil and Satan (Rev. 20:2), one of the most cunning creatures, with the following words: “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any of the trees in the garden’?” The woman replied to the serpent: ‘We may eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden. But regarding the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, “You must not eat it or even touch it, or you will die.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will certainly not die, but God knows that on the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it too. Then the eyes of both of them were opened; they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths (Gen. 3:1–7).

The price of man’s disobedience was, first, his separation from God (spiritual death), and then physical death.

But just as the first man was separated from God by committing sin, so too do our transgressions today erect a wall of separation between us and God, preventing Him from hearing our prayers: “Your transgressions have erected a wall of separation between you and your God; your sins hide His face from you and prevent Him from hearing you!” (Isaiah 59:2).

But God, in His love, chose to send His one and only beloved Son to die in our place as “a ransom for our sins” (1 Timothy 2:6). He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23).

Just as God created light in the physical universe through His Word, so too did God bring spiritual light through His Word, the Lord Jesus, to the earth (John 1:1) so that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Next, we will explain the effects of sin on our souls and how we can be saved from the consequences of sin and from God’s coming wrath.

  II. SIN

 A. What Is Sin?

Sin is, first and foremost, disobedience to God’s will. Adam and Eve disobeyed His word in the Garden of Eden and paid the price for their disobedience by being separated from God. Likewise, when the Israelites left Egypt, they rebelled against His will—which was to free them from the bondage of slavery—and God was angry with them and did not allow them to enter the Promised Land. The Apostle Paul told the believers in Rome that because people did not seek to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to the desires of their depraved minds, to do what is unseemly, and they received in themselves the due penalty for their error (Rom. 1:27–28). Therefore, sin is both a violation of the law ordained by God^[1] and defiance or rebellion against His will.^[2]

 B. Examples of Common Sins

In God’s Word it is written that lying is a sin, and that bearing true witness is one of the 10 commandments God gave to mankind.^[3] Every time we tell a lie, we are fulfilling the will of the evil one, not God’s. Jesus told the unbelieving Jews that the devil is their father and that they do his will when they do not speak the truth.^[4]

Another sin mentioned in the Bible is pride. Jesus teaches us through a parable how the sin of pride manifests itself in the hearts of religious people: Two men went up to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and began to pray to himself, saying, “God, I thank You that I am not like other people—robbers, the unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all my income.” The tax collector stood at a distance and did not even dare to lift his eyes to heaven; instead, he beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” I tell you, this man went home justified before God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10–14).

Another sin mentioned in the Bible is idolatry. God spoke to His people, whom He had brought out of Egyptian slavery, as follows: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, who punishes the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, and show mercy to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exodus 20:2–6).

God also spoke to the Jewish people through the prophet Isaiah, saying: “Those who make idols are all vanity, and their finest works are of no use. They themselves bear witness to this: they have neither sight nor understanding, so that they may be put to shame. Who is the one who has made a god or cast an idol and yet gained no benefit from it? Behold, all who worship them will be put to shame, for even their makers are merely human; let them all gather together, let them come forward—yet they will all tremble and be covered with shame. The blacksmith forges an axe, works with coals, shapes it, and gives it form with hammer blows, and works it with the strength of his arm; but if he is hungry, he is weak; if he does not drink water, he is drained of strength. The carpenter stretches a string, draws a line with a pencil, planes the wood with a plane, and marks its dimensions with a compass; he shapes a human figure, a beautiful human form, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, oaks, and pines, which he chooses from among the trees in the forest. He plants firs, and the rain makes them grow. These trees serve man as fuel; he takes them and warms himself with them. He puts them on the fire to bake bread, and from them he also makes a god whom he worships; he makes an idol out of them and kneels before it! He burns some of this wood in the fire; with the rest, he boils meat, prepares a roast, and satisfies his hunger; he warms himself and says, “Ha! Ha! I’m warm now; I feel the fire!” But with what remains, he makes a god—his idol. He kneels before it, worships it, calls upon it, and cries out: “Save me, for you are my god!” They do not perceive or understand, for their eyes have been sealed so they cannot see, and their hearts so they cannot understand. None of them turns inward, and none has the mind or understanding to say to himself: “I have burned part of it in the fire, baked bread on coals, roasted meat, and eaten it—and now I am to turn the other part into an abomination? Am I to bow down before a piece of wood?” He feeds on ashes; his deluded heart leads him astray, so that he does not save his soul and does not say, “Do I not hold a lie in my hand?” (Isaiah 44:9–20).

The Lord Jesus Himself told His disciples that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every idle word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned (Matt. 12:36–37). Likewise, James, the Lord Jesus’ brother, said that the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. Behold, a small fire that sets a great forest ablaze! The tongue, too, is a fire; it is a world of iniquity. It is the one among our members that defiles the whole body and sets the wheel of life ablaze when it is kindled by the fire of hell. All kinds of beasts, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are tamed and have been tamed by the human race, but no one can tame the tongue. It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and our Father, and with it we also curse people, who are made in the likeness of God. Both blessing and cursing come from the same mouth! It should not be this way, my brothers and sisters! (James 3:5–10).

The Apostle Paul told the believers in Rome that the wise men of this world boasted of their wisdom, went mad, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them over to impurity, to follow the desires of their hearts; so that they dishonor their own bodies; for they have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and have served and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason, God gave them over to vile passions; for their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature; and likewise, the men abandoned the natural use of women, became inflamed with lust for one another, committed abominable acts with men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Since they did not seek to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to the depraved desires of their minds, to commit what is unseemly (Rom. 1:22–28).

  C. All People Have Sinned          

The Word of God tells us that all people have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and that no one seeks God: The fool says in his heart, “There is no God!” People have become corrupt; they do evil deeds; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from the heights of heaven upon the children of men, to see if there is anyone who has understanding and who seeks God. But all have gone astray; all have become worthless; there is no one who does good—not even one. All who commit iniquity have lost their minds; they devour My people as they devour bread, and do not call upon the Lord? They will tremble with fear when God appears among the righteous nation. You mock the hope of the afflicted… but his deliverance is the Lord. Oh, if only the deliverance of Israel would come from Zion!… When the Lord brings back the captives of His people, Jacob will rejoice, and Israel will be glad (Ps. 14).

  D. The Consequences of Sin

The first consequence of sin is that it brings misery to the earth. When Adam and Eve sinned against God through their disobedience, God communicated His judgment to them: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it at all,’ the ground is now cursed because of you. In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.” (Gen. 3:17–19).

Likewise, the prophet Jeremiah spoke on God’s behalf to his people as follows: “But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they rebel and turn away, and do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives us rain in its season—the early and the late rains—and preserves for us the appointed weeks for the harvest.’” (Jer. 5:23–24).

Because of people’s disobedience, God first sends temporary punishments (storms, floods, fire, drought, earthquakes, climate change, harmful animals or insects, etc.). When the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem, He first prayed and wept for Jerusalem, because He knew that God’s punishment would strike the holy city—which had rejected God—without mercy.^[5] And that is exactly what happened. In A.D. 70, the Roman general Titus razed the temple and the holy city to the ground.

Whoever persists in sin not only breaks God’s commandments and suffers the consequences of sin, but also mocks the One who does His will and God Himself. Thus, the Jewish people hardened their hearts because of sin and ended up mocking the Son of God: When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that the uproar was growing, he took water, washed his hands before the crowd, and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man. It is your responsibility!” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children.” (Matt. 27:24–25). Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town; so that all the innocent blood that has been shed on earth may come upon you—from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this nation (Matt. 23:34–36).

But it is not only the chosen people who have rejected Him; we too today^[6] mock Him and crucify the Lord Jesus through our sins.

When God pours out the cup of His wrath in those days, people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death will flee from them (Rev. 9:6). But God does not punish sin merely temporarily during our time on earth. John the Baptist said of the Lord Jesus that He has the winnowing fork in His hand; He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn, while the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire (Luke 3:17).

God warns us that there is eternal punishment for committing sin on earth:

• “And that worthless servant, throw him into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30);
• Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather out of His Kingdom all things that cause sin and those who commit lawlessness, and will cast them into the fiery furnace; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears to hear listen (13:40–43);
• But as for the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their portion is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, that is, the second death (21:8);

  III. THE JUDGMENT

 A. God Judges Sin

God always judges sin, for He is holy and righteous, so every person will appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of how they lived their lives on this earth: The Lord descended in a cloud, stood there beside him, and proclaimed the Name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed: “The Lord God is a God full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, who maintains His love for thousands of generations, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet does not clear the guilty, but visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation!” (Exodus 34:5–7).

Therefore, we must sanctify our lives and live in purity and with the fear of God: But just as the One who called you is holy, so you also must be holy in all your conduct. For it is written: “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:15–16).

God will first bring judgment upon the earth:

• To put the righteous to death along with the wicked, so that the righteous should share the same fate as the wicked—far be it from You! Far be it from You! Will not the One who judges the whole earth do what is right? (18:25);
• He judges the world with justice; He judges the peoples with fairness (9:8);
• Behold, how great is God! Yet we cannot comprehend Him; no one has fathomed the number of His years. For He draws up the drops of water, turns them into vapor, and sends down the rain, which the clouds pour out and let fall upon the multitude of people. And who can comprehend the tearing of the cloud and the rumbling of His tent? Behold, He spreads His light around Him and covers the depths of the sea. Through these means, He judges the nations and provides an abundance of food. He takes the lightning in His hand and hurls it at His enemies. He makes His presence known with a thunderclap, and even the flocks sense His approach (Job 36:26–33);
• But God is the One who judges: He brings one down and exalts another (75:7).

... and then He will render an eternal judgment:

• God—yes, God the Lord speaks and summons the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Zion, which is the embodiment of perfect beauty, from there God shines forth. Our God comes and does not remain silent. A consuming fire goes before Him, and a mighty storm surrounds Him. He cries out to the heavens above and to the earth, to judge His people: “Gather My faithful ones to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me through sacrifice!” – Then the heavens will proclaim His righteousness, for God is the Judge. But God says to the wicked: “Why do you keep reciting My laws and having My covenant on your lips, when you hate My rebukes and cast My words behind you? When you see a thief, you join forces with him, and you associate with adulterers. You let your mouth speak evil, and your tongue devises deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. This is what you have done, and I have remained silent. You have imagined that I am like you. But I will rebuke you and lay everything before your eyes! (Ps. 50:1–6, 16–21);
• And if you call Him “Father”—who judges everyone impartially according to their deeds—conduct yourselves with reverence during your time of exile (1:17);
• Then I saw a great, white throne and the One seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before the throne. Some books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in those books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it; Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. Each was judged according to his deeds. And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire (20:11–15).

God has set a day when He will judge the world with justice through the Lord Jesus^[7]:

• I will display signs in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the Day of the Lord comes—that great and dreadful day (Joel 2:30–31);
• And the present heavens and earth are being reserved and kept by the same word for the fire of the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly (3:7).

  B. Christ Is the Judge

Christ is the Judge, He who gave His life to redeem each one of us from the condemnation of judgment. God has entrusted all judgment to His beloved Son:

• The Father does not judge anyone, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son (John 5:22);
• Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse appeared! The one sitting on it is called “Faithful” and “True,” and He judges and makes war in righteousness (19:11);

… and every person will appear before Him for judgment:

• But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (14:10);
• For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for the things done while in the body, whether good or evil (5:10).

  C. The Judgment Will Be Just

God’s judgment will be just and in accordance with the truth found within you: We know, in truth, that God’s judgment against those who do such things is in accordance with the truth. And do you think, O man, that you—who judge those who do such things, yet do them yourself—will escape God’s judgment? Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, forbearance, and long-suffering? Do you not see that God’s goodness urges you to repentance? But by hardening your heart, which refuses to repent, you are storing up for yourself a treasure of wrath for the day of God’s wrath and the revelation of His righteous judgment, when He will repay each person according to their deeds. Namely, He will grant eternal life to those who, through perseverance in doing good, seek glory, honor, and immortality; and will give wrath and punishment to those who, out of a spirit of strife, oppose the truth and obey lawlessness. Trouble and distress will come upon every human soul that does evil: first upon the Jew, then upon the Greek. But glory, honor, and peace will come upon everyone who does good: first upon the Jew, then upon the Greek. For God does not show partiality (Rom. 2:2–11).

 IV. THE LORD JESUS IS THE SAVIOR

The Lord Jesus is God’s sacrificial Lamb who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), who was judged by God in our place:

• But He was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed (Isa. 53:5);
• He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21);

…and who paid the penalty for our sins in His own body:

• He bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed (1 Pet. 2:24);
• I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3);
• For you know that it was not with perishable things—such as silver or gold— were you ransomed from the futile way of life inherited from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb without blemish or defect (1 Pet. 1:18–19).

Through this, the Lord Jesus became the author of eternal salvation:

• And after He had been made perfect, He became, for all who obey Him, the author of eternal salvation (5:9);
• He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy, through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (3:5).

  V. WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

The Gospel is the good news that God is reconciled with humanity and is the power of God for the salvation of those who believe in His name.^[8]

The Apostle Paul said that he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16).

The Lord Jesus commanded His disciples to go into all the world and make disciples. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned (Mark 16:15). But what is the message of the Gospel?...

  A. Repentance

When the Lord Jesus began to preach the Gospel, He told people to repent because the kingdom of God is near:

• “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (3:2);
• “The time has come, and the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the Gospel” (1:15);
• I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all perish just the same. Or do you think that those eighteen people on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were more sinful than all the other people living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way (13:3, 5).

The apostles also preached the same truth:

• “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38);
• God does not take into account the times of ignorance, but now commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

 B. Faith

One can enter into a state of reconciliation with God only through the narrow gate of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus as Lord and Savior of each person’s life:

• But to all who received Him—that is, to those who believe in His name—He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12);
• For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16);
• “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; but whoever does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36);
• But Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Luke 7:50);
• Paul and Silas replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved” (Acts 16:31);
• If, then, you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved, as the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame” (10:9–11);
• And without faith, it is impossible to please Him! For whoever draws near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him (11:6);
• Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within him; whoever does not believe God makes Him a liar, because he does not believe the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you so that you may know that you who believe in the name of the Son of God have eternal life (5:10–13).

 C. Forgiveness of Sins

When we confess our sins to God, He forgives our sins, gives us His righteousness in exchange, and clothes us in a new, clean, and radiant garment as an expression of His holiness:

• All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives, through His Name, the forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43);
• In Him we have redemption—the forgiveness of sins through His blood—according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7);
• If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

 D. Being Born Again: A Child of God

In order to be saved by God, a spiritual birth must take place within us, through the Spirit of the Lord, bringing about a radical transformation of our personal lives. Without sincere repentance—which consists of a broken heart—this new birth cannot take place:

• He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him—that is, to those who believe in His name—He gave the right to become children of God; born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:11–13);
• In reply, Jesus said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3);
• He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy, through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).

 E. Eternal Life

God has promised those who believe in His Name and who are born of the Holy Spirit that He will forgive their sins and give them eternal life as a free gift:

• For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life (3:16);
• For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord (6:23);
• Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me has eternal life (John 6:47);
• Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made that beautiful confession before many witnesses (6:12).

  F. Receiving Christ as Savior and Lord

The Word of God tells us that it is not enough to receive Jesus merely as our Savior; we must also receive Him as Lord of our lives. This means that we should live a holy and pure life, always seeking to fulfill God’s will for our lives:

• “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one whom I send receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me” (13:20);
• Therefore, rid yourselves of all impurity and every form of wickedness, and receive with gentleness the Word planted within you, which can save your souls. Be doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who deceive yourselves (James 1:21–27);
• For if anyone hears the Word and does not put it into practice, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looked like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law—the law of liberty—and continues in it, not as a forgetful hearer but as a doer of the work, will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks he is religious but does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, but deceives his own heart, his religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God our Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world (James 1:23–27)

^[1] Everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4).

^[2] For the mind set on the things of the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not submit to God’s Law, nor can it do so (Rom. 8:7).

^[3] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (Exodus 20:16).

^[4] You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning; and he does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).

^[5] Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Behold, your house is left to you desolate; for I tell you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ (Matt. 23:37–39).

^[6] Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, like them, gave themselves over to sexual immorality and lusted after the flesh of others, stand before us as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire (Jude 1:7).

^[7] God does not take into account the times of ignorance, but now commands all people everywhere to repent; for He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice, through the Man whom He has appointed for this purpose, and of whom He has given all people an undeniable proof by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:31).

^[8] He came to bring the good news of peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near (Ephesians 2:17).