not important for salvation.

Relationships and Love "In the Beginning"
When God created man (both male and female), God intended for there to be a relationship between man and God. You can read about this in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. God actually walked through the Garden of Eden (the place where God had placed Adam and Eve, the first two people) and talked to Adam and Eve face-to-face. Obviously, God cared about these two people! Since few relationships are one-way, we're sure that Adam and Eve also talked to God. After all, a relationship with God is deeper than any other relationship we know, and even the most shallow relationships need two-way communication.

Read about this in the Bible

Trees, Sin, and "The Snake"
A serpent (which we believe to be Satan, or the devil) talked Adam and Eve into eating a piece of fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. By eating this piece of fruit, both Adam and Eve committed the first sin (which was nothing more than doing something that God commanded them not to do). As a result, both Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden. But, even worse, they also were separated from God, who used to walk through the garden in physical form.

Read about this in the Bible

Sacrifices to spare the guilty
Some time later, we can read about Moses receiving the "law". The law covered many practical areas, such as health & safety, marriage, crimes, and even civil law. Also included was rules and regulations relating to worship of God, such as keeping the Sabbath (the Jewish holy day) holy (unpolluted) and offering sacrifices. The sacrifices served many purposes, but the most important was the atonement of sin (that is, the forgiveness of sin). When God's people sin, they are rejecting their relationship with God. However, God always desires his people to come back to him, and provided a way through the sacrifice. God provided this way back through the shedding of an innocent animal's blood, and through the Israelites identifying with the sacrifice by recognizing it was their sin that caused the death of that animal. This seems strange and out of place in our culture, but we know that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. Even so, we know, too, that God didn't desire dead animals, but rather a broken heart, a heart that recognizes the pain caused to God (read about it). God knew that Israel couldn't live without sin - no matter how hard they tried. Human effort simply wasn't enough.

Read about this in the Bible

A king is born!
Israel knew that God would someday give them a king, a king who rules eternally. In addition to being just a king, this person would also be the high priest, acting on behalf of the world so that the world's sins might be forgiven. To accomplish this, Jesus Christ offered himself as a sacrifice, to give all who would believe forgiveness from their sins. This sacrifice only needed to be performed once, because Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice. He was without sin, something no man could claim. In the end, Jesus was sentenced to death by the Roman governor of Israel. He had committed no crime, but he had made known the hypocrisy of the religious leadership, who later brought him before the governor to face death.

Read about the birth of Jesus
Read about his sacrifice
Read about how one sacrifice was enough

Risen from the dead
After Jesus died, his followers grieved together over the great loss. After all, they believed that this man would be the king, and lead all of Israel! As many of them were grieving, some of the women had returned to the tomb of Jesus to give his body the customary treatments of perfume and spices. However, when they arrived at the tomb, not only was the huge stone with a Roman seal rolled away from the guarded tomb (an offense punishable by death), but there was no body inside. As the women looked on in shock, two angels appeared and explained that Christ had risen from the dead, and was now alive again. In amazement, they ran and told the other followers what had happened. That same day, Jesus appeared to two of his followers and explained that the Christ had to suffer death before he could enter his glory. Once they had realized what had happened, the followers gathered together and praised God. Now that he had entered his glory, they knew they truly had a redeemer and king.

The Spirit is given
After Christ had risen, the followers gathered together and prayed with each other. Christ told them not to leave Jerusalem until they were baptized with the holy spirit. So, they waited for this baptism together, in Jerusalem. One day was different than all the others before it. A sound like a violent wind filled the house! Tongues of fire appeared, and rested on each of them. And then, they began to speak in languages (or tongues) they didn't know. This led to a community of believers who lived in love with each other and God. In addition to this community, many believers went out, telling others of the news of Jesus Christ's resurrection and the freedom from sin that it has brought.

You can have your sins forgiven!
Jesus Christ died for you! He has offered this forgiveness to you. All you need to do to have life again, without the burdens of sin, is accept what Christ has done for you. Without this forgiveness, you can't experience life to the fullness, either in your lifetime or after it. But, once you accept what Jesus did for you, you enter into a relationship with God. In this relationship, he gives you the privilege of being able to be in his presence anytime you want, able to share your life with you. You will learn what the heart of God really is. We also know that the wages of sin is death. It only takes one wrong to be condemned to hell for eternity. But, it only takes accepting what Christ has done to live in a relationship with him, not only now, but for all of eternity, too.

How do I accept Christ?
The Bible says that we must believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is God, and that he has risen from the dead. (Read about it). Doing this is simple:

Realize that it doesn't matter how much good you do, for you have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Read about it)

Believe that Jesus Christ, the son of God, and God himself, came to earth to die in your place. (Read about it)

Believe that Jesus Christ rose from the grave.

Ask God to forgive you of your sins and give your life over to him

Tell someone (confess with your mouth)

What now?
After you do these, things, you'll want to grow in your relationship with Christ. Here are some suggestions:

Find a local Bible teaching church. Find a church that is willing to help you understand Christian beliefs, and places the Bible above all other sources of inspiration. The Bible should have final say on all issues, because God wrote it, through the human writers. God will never contradict himself. Feel free to E-mail us (mkingman@uwyo.edu) if you would like our assistance in finding a local church. Be sure to tell us what city you live in.

Read the Bible. This is God's word. He wrote it so that we could understand him, and so that we could gain strength. If you've never read the Bible, it may be helpful to start in John. While most people start reading books from the beginning, John describes the fundamentals of the faith very clearly, and doesn't assume an understanding of Jewish culture.

Spend time with God in prayer. This is the time to share your heart with God. Remember, that this isn't just a time to get out a "shopping list" and ask God to do a bunch of stuff! Rather, it is a time to build a two-way relationship with God. Sharing your needs is a natural part of this, but that is just one part of the relationship. Remember to listen to God, for he speaks to us.

Finally, we would love to hear that you came to know Christ! We realize that it is sometimes intimidating to talk about your new relationship with Christ, but doing so would encourage and strengthen us!