In the next few minutes you are going to hear the greatest news that you have ever heard in your whole life! First I have a question for you. If you were to die today, do you think you would go to heaven? If your answer is "I am not sure" or "I do not know if there is heaven", this is your day! Do you think the bible is all about religious rules and rituals to keep and obey? Then you are missing the whole point. These are all secondary and minor issues. The most important purpose of the bible is to show us that we are not finished by death and that there is eternal life. "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life"(1 John 5:13).

First of all the good news is that this eternal life is a free gift from God, and is not what we work for or earn by good works. In fact the most precious things in life such as air, Sun light and our very life are all gifts from God or parents, for which we do not even pay a penny. "The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). My point will be much more clear to you when we understand who we are and who God is. The bible says we are all sinners. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). God looks into the root cause of sin, not just its result, namely, greed for stealing, hatred for murder, lust for adultery and so on. Sin in thought is the same as sin in deed to God. Because we are all sinners, we cannot save ourselves. A drowning person cannot rescue himself no matter how hard he struggles. On the other hand, the bible says that God is loving and gracious so that he wants to give all of us the eternal life as a gift. "God is love" (1 John 4:8). But the same bible also says that he is just and righteous so that the appropriate consequence of sin must be paid. "Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished" (Exodus 34:7). "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23) God loves us but has to punish us because of our sin, and because of his justice and righteousness, creating a dilemma for God. He solved this problem in Jesus Christ.

God laid on Jesus all our sins and punished him on our behalf to spare us from the punishment. "He bore the sin of many" (Isaiah 53:12). "He was crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5)". Christ in our place, as our substitute, paid the penalty for our sin, providing us the way to eternal life that is reserved for those whose sin is cleared for good. Now God did all his part, and the rest is ours. A great feast of eternal life was already prepared and ready for us, and it is us who decide to pick up the food and eat it. We receive this wonderful gift of eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (as a sacrifice for our sins) that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). With Jesus in your heart you are about to experience an incredible transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly. You will fly high into the world of joy, thanks and freedom forever, which you were born for and which you deserve. Are you hungry for true excitement and joy? Are you hungry for a fulfilled life? Do you want to live like a butterfly instead of a caterpillar? There is a hope. Your best days are still right in front of you with Jesus Christ. Most of all, you were born for much better than who you are now. You are the focus of God's mighty love. You deserve much better than who you are now.