Genesis 1:26 tells us, "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and overall the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

We, that is you and I, are made in the image of God. This means we are the crown jewel of ALL of creation. We are special, because we are made in God's image. But then something horrible happened.

Romans 5:19a "For as by the one man's (Adam's) disobedience the many were made sinners..."

Due to the fall (this is when Adam and Even took of the fruit they were commanded not to eat and ate it), we all fell into sin, because we were all in Adam, so to speak. So we became sinners in Adam which is why we sin.

Sin, simplistically speaking, is any deviation from performing God's law perfectly in attitude and action. Another way to put it, we do not love God and love others with ALL of our being (our body, soul, spirit, and emotions).

The prophet, Isaiah, tells us, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment."  This means, even our best GOOD (deed or thought) is like a polluted garment.  And the polluted garment? Well, let's just say it's a feminine product and leave it at that.

In other words, We are miserable failures even at our BEST of times!

Have you ever thought, "wow, I did a good job, but THIS could have been improved," or have you found yourself NOT doing what you've told other people to do? The apostle Paul tells us in Romans that even WE do not live up to OUR OWN standards and expectations, little alone God's standard of righteousness. So this leaves us in a VERY precarious spot.

The apostle Paul further explains that our sin DESERVES to be punished. And not just with any punishment but by the punishment of DEATH (Romans 6:23).This is why there is death in the world. This is why, one day, you will die.

BUT there is GOOD NEWS!

Romans 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, ... For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith."

So, what is this Gospel? This Good News?

The Gospel is: Jesus and His life, death, burial, and resurrection.

But what does the Gospel mean?

The Gospel means that Jesus fulfilled EVERYTHING God requires of YOU and ME. You know those Ten Commandments? Jesus fulfilled them. Perfectly. In word, deed, action, thought, emotion - He loved God and loved others as Himself for us and in our place! There is nothing left for us to do!

Romans 5:19b "..."so by the one man's (Jesus Christ) obedience the many will be made righteous."

Jesus is Who saves you, and He saves you through faith in Him. It's as simple as that.

It is the same for those of us who have already believed in Jesus as Savior.  We continue to believe in Him.  And it is through our faith that He continues to save and sanctify us. 

Sanctify is a word that means, we grow in grace and continue to be conformed into the image or likeness of Jesus.

Philippians tells us, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ". This is a guarantee!  It's a done deal.  It's as good as done!

This is why Christmas is so important to Christians.  IT commemorates the birth of Jesus, God the Father's Son.  His birth brought him under the curse of the law even unto death, even the death of the cross FOR US and in OUR place.  This is why Easter is so vital. Easter is the culmination what Christmas began.

Be blessed as you celebrate Christmas, but more importantly, believe in Jesus for He will save His people from their sins. He is the inexpressable gift!