This Bible verse from 2 Samuel 14:14 says that God isn’t happy that people are banished from having a positive relationship with him. God doesn’t want the consequences of sin to eternally separate us and him. He’s the kind of God who wants to make a way for outcasts like us, who are banished by sin, to return to positive relationship with himself. The good news is that this is exactly the kind of plan that God has made.

In sacrificial love, God has provided a way for us to escape the consequences of sin. The Bible says Jesus chose to die—he wasn’t forced. Jesus chose this in obedience to God, his Father’s decision. God the Father wanted his son Jesus to die because only Jesus’ death and resurrection can solve our sin problem. Only Jesus’ death and resurrection can bring us back into a positive relationship with God.

There are two things that Jesus’ death and resurrection achieve that create a way for us to return to a restored relationship with God.

1. Jesus takes away sin

We’ve said that sin eternally divides us and God. I also said that sin results in punishment. Well, to remove the punishment of our sin from us, Jesus took it on himself. In other words, sin has bad consequences for us, so on the cross, Jesus took those consequences onto himself. Jesus died, was forsaken by God, and judged, even though he was innocent. Jesus paid the price for our sin. He took our place and suffered under God’s anger for us. Jesus suffered the judgement God’s people deserved for their sin. By taking away our sin problem, Jesus creates a way for us to have a new and restored relationship with God.

2. Jesus gives us his heavenly status

Jesus not only takes away the sin of people who turn to him, but he also gives them something important. Jesus has a perfect relationship with God the Father because he lives a sinless life. If Jesus only removed our sin, we’d still lack the record of perfect love and goodness that Jesus’ life displayed, which is needed for us to dwell with God. To have a positive relationship with God, we need to be perfect. As humans, we don’t have the strength to live the life of perfect love and goodness that Jesus did. We don’t have Jesus’ record of a perfect life, which we need to enter into God’s presence. To solve this problem, at the cross Jesus transfers the heavenly status of his perfect life to us. Now, because Jesus’ perfectly good life can be counted as ours, it’s possible for us to have a new and restored relationship with God.

In summary, Jesus’ death and resurrection can make us perfect in God’s sight. Jesus takes away our sinful record and gives us the record of his perfect life. In other words, Jesus swaps his perfection for our sinful imperfection. By this exchange, we can be restored to a positive relationship with God. These ideas are difficult to understand but are explained in more detail in our subscriber content—especially how this offer is received by genuine faith.

Can you see God’s incredible love? God the Father lovingly sacrificed his only son. God did this so that we could escape the consequences of our sin and be restored in relationship with him. God loves us deeply and wants to bless us eternally! The next page will show that to benefit from this gospel offer, we only need to receive it like a gift.