Tatizo la jinsi tunavyoweza kupatanishwa na Mungu ambaye anachukia uovu ndilo tatizo kubwa zaidi katika historia. Kabla hatujamwona Mungu Mbinguni, lazima tubadilike kikamilifu. Hiyo inahitaji suluhisho kuu zaidi kuwahi kubuniwa.

Hili ndilo jambo tunalopaswa kujua:

1.“Mungu akamuumba mtu kwa mfano wake mwenyewe…Mungu akaona vyote alivyoumba, na tazama, ilikuwa vizuri sana" (Mwanzo 1:27, 31).

Mungu aliumba wanadamu wenye sifa za kibinafsi na za kimahusiano kama zake Mwenyewe (Mwanzo 1:26) na alitamani kuwa na uhusiano wa kupendeza nao. Lakini kuna kosa lililotokea. Wakati Adamu na Hawa walipochagua kufuata usharui wa Shetani katika bustani ya Edeni (Mwanzo 3), dhambi ilileta dosari ulimwenguni na sasa sisi sote tumezaliwa na hamu ya kufanya mambo kwa njia yetu wenyewe na si kwa njia ya Mungu.

2.“kwa kuwa wote wametenda dhambi na kupungukiwa na utukufu wa Mungu” (Warumi 3:23).

Dhambi zetu dhidi ya Mungu mwema na mtakatifu zimetuweka mbali Naye (soma Isaya 59:2). Mungu “hawezi kuvumilia makosa” (Habakuki 1:13). Kupitia dhambi tunapoteza uhusiano na Mungu, ikiwa ni pamoja na furaha yetu. Matokeo ya hayo yote ni kifo. Kifo cha kiroho ni kutenganishwa na Mungu na kuwekwa mahali halisia panapoitwa Jehanamu. Kifo cha kimwili ndio mwisho wa nafasi yetu ya kuingia katika uhusiano na Mungu na kuepuka hukumu ya milele (Waebrania 9:27).

3.“Kwa maana mshahara wa dhambi ni mauti, bali karama ya Mungu ni uzima wa milele katika Kristo Yesu Bwana wetu” (Warumi 6:23).

Kamwe hakuna tunaloweza kufanya ili kujirejesha kwa Mungu. Yeye ni mtakatifu, lakini sisi si watakatifu. Hakika, hata anasema kwamba matendo yetu mema ni kama matambaa  machafu (soma Isaya 64:6). Lakini Mungu alitupenda sana hata akamtuma Mwanawe Yesu, Mungu kamili, na mwanadamu kamili, ili atukomboe kutoka katika kifo na kutupa uzima (Yohana 3:16). “Lakini Mungu anaudhihirisha upendo wake kwetu … tungali wenye dhambi, Kristo alikufa kwa ajili yetu” (Warumi 5:8).

Yesu alikwenda msalabani ili kulipa gharama ya dhambi zetu. Alitufanyia kile ambacho hatungeweza kujifanyia wenyewe. Yesu alipokufa kwa ajili yetu, alisema, “Imekwisha” (Yohana 19:30). Neno la Kigiriki lililotafsiriwa “imekwisha” liliandikwa kwenye hati za madeni ambayo yalikuwa yamefutwa. Ilimaanisha kuwa deni “lilikuwa limelipwa kikamilifu.” Kisha baadaye Yesu alifufuka kutoka kaburini, akashinda dhambi na mauti (soma 1 Wakorintho 15:3-4).

4.“Kwa maana mmeokolewa kwa neema, kwa njia ya imani, wala si kwa matendo yenu mema. Hii ni zawadi kutoka kwa Mungu, si kwa matendo, ili mtu yeyote asije akajisifu” (Waefeso 2:8-9).

Zawadi kuu zaidi ya Mungu ni kuwa na uhusiano uliorejeshwa na yeye, akitukomboa kutoka kwenye Jehanamu na kutupa nafasi ya kuingia Mbinguni (Yohana 3:36). Zawadi hii haitegemei ustahiki wetu, bali inategemea kazi ya neema ya Kristo kwa ajili yetu msalabani (Soma Tito 3:5). Yeye ndiye njia pekee ya kwenda kwa Mungu. Alisema, “Mimi ndimi njia na kweli na uzima. Mtu hawezi kuja kwa Baba isipokuwa kwa kupitia kwangu” (Yohana 14:6).

5. “Kwa sababu kama ukikiri kwa kinywa chako kwamba “Yesu ni Bwana,” na kuamini moyoni mwako kwamba Mungu alimfufua kutoka kwa wafu, utaokoka” (Warumi 10:9).

Ili tuwe na uhusiano sahihi na Mungu, ni lazima tukubali kuwa mioyo na matendo yetu ni ya dhambi, na kumwomba msamaha. Tukifanya hivyo, anaahidi kwa neema kwamba tutapata msamaha kamili: “Kama tukiziungama dhambi zetu, yeye ni mwaminifu na wa haki, atatusamehe dhambi zetu na kutusafisha kutoka kwenye udhalimu wote” (1 Yohana 1:9).

6.“Yeyote anayesikia maneno yangu na kumwamini yeye aliyenituma, anao uzima wa milele, naye hatahukumiwa, bali amepita kutoka mautini, na kuingia uzimani” (Yohana 5:24).

Maisha tunayotamani tumepewa bure katika Kristo. Tunaweza kuamini ahadi yake na kumwita atuokoe, tukikubali kwa unyenyekevu zawadi yake ya uzima wa milele: “Kila itu atakayeliitia Jina la Bwana, ataokolewa” (Warumi 10:13). Roho Mtakatifu wa Mungu hukaa ndani yetu na hutusaidia kumtii Mungu (soma 2 Timotheo 1:14). 

Injili inaitwa “habari njema ya furaha” (Isaya 52:7). Yesu alisema, “Mimi nimekuja ili wapate uzima kisha wawe nao tele” (Yohana 10:10). Hapa kuna ombi  linaloweza kukusaidia kuweka imani yako katika Yesu. Hakuna muujiza katika kuyasema maneno haya, lakini yanaweza kukusaidia kumweleza Mungu yaliyo moyoni mwako:

Mungu, ninaamini ulimtuma Mwanao Yesu kufa msalabani ili kulipa gharama ya dhambi zangu zote. Ninaamini kwamba Yesu alishinda dhambi na mauti kupitia ufufuo wake kutoka kwa wafu. Kwa kadri ninavyoona jambo lolote kati ya haya kuwa gumu kuamini, ninaomba ufanye kazi ndani ya moyo wangu na akili yangu ili kushinda kutoamini kwangu. Nisaidie kuamini kile ambacho Biblia inasema—kwamba wewe, Yesu, ni Mungu ambaye pia ni mwanadamu na ulikuja kunikomboa kutoka katika dhambi na kifo na kunirejesha kwa Baba.

Ninajutia na ninataka kutubu dhambi zangu, pamoja na ubinafsi wangu. Ninaungama dhambi zangu, nikitambua kuwa bado sijazifahamu zote, lakini nakuomba unifahamishe zaidi kuzihusu. Kwa nguvu zako nataka kuacha kutenda maovu, na kuachana na sehemu yoyote ya maisha yangu ambayo haikupendezi—si tu matendo yangu pekee bali na mitazamo yangu pia. Ninataka kupata furaha ya kuwa kiumbe kipya na kuishi maisha mapya. Ninajisalimisha kwako.

Kwa shukrani ninapokea msamaha wako na kukuomba uwe Mwokozi na Bwana na Mfalme wangu. Tafadhali ingia ndani yangu na uniwezeshe kuishi maisha mapya. Nijaze upendo wako. Nisaidie kujifunza kutoka kwa Neno lako na kufuata namna ya maisha ya mtu aliyebadilika na ambaye anapenda na kusamehe wengine kama vile unavyonipenda na kunisamehe. Asante.

Haya yote ninaomba katika jina la Yesu. Amen.

Pindi unapomkubali Kristo kama Mwokozi wako, mojawapo ya mambo muhimu unayohitaji kufanya ni kuwa sehemu ya familia ya Wakristo ambayo inaitwa kanisa. Kanisa zuri litafundisha Neno la Mungu, litaonyesha upendo na kutoa msaada. Iwapo uko na maswali zaidi kuhusu Yesu, unaweza kupata majibu katika kanisa hilo. Tafuta watu wanaojua Neno la Mungu na wanaoweza kukusaidia kukua katika uhusiano wako na Yesu! Soma Biblia, sali, shiriki imani yako, na ukutane mara kwa mara na waumini wengine wa Mungu. “Kueni katika neema na katika kumjua Bwana na Mwokozi wetu Yesu Kristo” (2 Petro 3:18).

Our Problem, God’s Solution

The problem of how we could possibly be reconciled with a God who hates evil is the greatest problem of history. Before we can see God in Heaven, something must radically change. This calls for no less than the greatest solution ever devised.

Here is what we need to know:

1. “God created mankind in his own image...God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:27, 31).

God made human beings with personal and relational qualities like His own (Genesis 1:26) and desired to have a delightful relationship with them. But something went terribly wrong. When Adam and Eve chose to follow Satan’s advice in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), sin poisoned the world and now we are all born with the desire to do things our own way, not God’s.

2. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Our sins against a good and holy God have distanced us from Him (see Isaiah 59:2). God “cannot tolerate wrongdoing” (Habakkuk 1:13). Through sin we forfeit a relationship with God, and along with it our happiness.  The result of all this is death. Spiritual death is separation from God in a very real place called Hell. Physical death marks the end of our opportunity to enter into a relationship with God and avoid eternal condemnation (Hebrews 9:27).

3. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

There is absolutely nothing we can do to restore ourselves to God. He is holy, we are not. In fact, He says even our good deeds are like filthy rags (see Isaiah 64:6). But God loved us so much He sent us His Son Jesus, fully God and fully man, to deliver us from death and give us life (John 3:16).  "God demonstrates His own love toward us…while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Jesus went to the cross to pay the price for our sins. He did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. When Jesus died for us, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The Greek word translated “it is finished” was written across certificates of debt when they were canceled. It meant “paid in full.” Jesus then rose from the grave, conquering sin and death (see 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

4. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God’s greatest gift is a restored relationship with Himself, delivering us from Hell and granting us entry into Heaven (John 3:36). This gift depends not on our merit but solely on Christ’s work of grace for us on the cross (see Titus 3:5). He is the one and only way to God. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

5. “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).

To be right with God, we must admit our sinful hearts and actions, and ask God’s forgiveness. If we do, He graciously promises full forgiveness: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Then we are to affirm to others that the resurrected Jesus is our Lord.

6. "Whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24).

The life we long for is freely offered to us in Christ. We can believe His promise and call on Him to save us, humbly accepting His gift of eternal life: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). God’s Holy Spirit indwells us and helps us obey Him (see 2 Timothy 1:14). 

The gospel is called the “good news of happiness” (Isaiah 52:7). Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). God offers us in Christ the life and happiness we crave and He wants us to enjoy forever. Here’s a prayer that may help you affirm your faith in Jesus. There’s no magic in just saying the words, but they may help you genuinely express to God what’s in your heart:

God, I believe you sent your Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price for all my sins. I believe Jesus conquered sin and death through His resurrection from the dead. To the degree I find any of this difficult to believe, I ask that you work in my heart and mind to overcome my unbelief. Help me to trust what the Bible says—that you, Jesus, are the God-man who came to rescue me from sin and death and to restore me to the Father.

I am sorry for and want to repent of my sins, including my self-centeredness. I confess my sins, realizing I’m not yet aware of all of them, but I ask you to make me more aware. With your strength I want to turn away from doing wrong, and give up every part of my life that doesn’t please you—not just my actions but my attitudes. I want to experience the joy of being a new person and living a new life. I surrender myself to you.

I gratefully receive your forgiveness and ask you to be my Savior and Lord and King. Please come to indwell me and empower me to live a new life. Fill me with your love. Help me to learn from your Word and your followers how to live as a transformed person who loves and forgives others as you love and forgive me. Thank you.

I ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Once you’ve accepted Christ as your Savior, one of the most important things you need to do is become part of a family of Christians called a church.  A good church will teach God’s Word and provide love, help, and support. If you have further questions about Jesus, you can find answers there. Seek out people who know God’s Word and can help you grow in your relationship with Jesus! Read the Bible, pray, share your faith, and gather regularly with God’s people. “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

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