The Bible answers life's greatest questions. Why are we here? Because God created us, and we are here to please him and to prepare to live with him forever. Who are we? We are the only creatures made in the image of God. We are more than mere animals and every human is of great worth and value. And why do we suffer and die? It is because Adam sinned and it is because we sin that we suffer and die.

Next question: What has God done to save us from sin and all the consequences of sin? I am eager to share the good news with you. You remember that the penalty God announced for sin was death. Sin is such an evil thing because it is rebellion against God, the eternal God, the almighty God, the just God who will punish every sin, and the good and loving God who desires only what is for our good. It is against such a God that we sin. And every single sin has what it takes to kill. Which sin is most deadly? Every sin has what it takes to kill! "The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23)

One of our greatest historians is Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He said he often heard the same complaint from those who survived the Bolshevik revolution. They said the reason Russia had been plunged into political and economic darkness was because, "We have forgotten God." After researching for fifty years the history of the revolution, Solzhenitsyn said he was unable to find a better explanation for the problems that befell Russia. "We have forgotten God."

The truth is that we have all forgotten this God. The God who is there. The true and the living God. We have all lived at times as though he were not even there. And so it isn't only Adam and Eve who deserve to die. We all deserve to die. All of us deserve to die and so the sentence of death has fallen on us all.

But Jesus brings us good news. God has done amazing things to save us from sin. He sent his only Son Jesus to pay our penalty, to bear the horrible punishment we deserve for sin, to die the death to which we have all been condemned.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Romans 5:7-8 "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Isaiah 53:6 "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

In basketball there are players who start the game and there are players who substitute. A substitute is one who takes the place of another. God sent Jesus to be our substitute, to take our place and to bear our sin. Here is a true story to illustrate what God has done for us.

In 1939 when the Nazi's invaded his homeland, Maxim Kolby was 45-years-old, a Polish priest in the Roman Catholic Church. He lived in a village near Warsaw. In that year Adolph Hitler was stirring up the people in Germany for war. Whole nations had already fallen to Hitler and to the Nazi's. In September of 1939 the Nazi's attacked Poland. To Hitler the Jews and Slavic peoples were subhuman and their cultures and cities were to be erased from the earth.

In February of 1941, the Polish underground smuggled word to Kolby that his name was on a Gestapo list. He was about to be arrested. One morning soon after, the priest was at his desk saying his morning prayers when he was interrupted with the sound of heavy trucks outside his window. The Nazi's had come. They put him on a train to Aushwitz.

By this time Aushwitz was working like a well-oiled killing machine. The camp's five chimneys never stopped smoking. The stench was terrible. Every hour 8,000 Jews could be stripped, gassed and cremated. The only problem was the occasional prisoner who escaped.

One July night the air was suddenly filled the baying of dogs, the cursing of soldiers and the roar of motorcycles. A man had escaped from Barracks 14. That prisoner made it out of Aushwitz. And that meant certain death for some who remained. By evening roll call the commandant was ready to announce his decision. Commandant Fritsch began to speak. "The fugitive has not been found. Ten of you will die in the starvation bunker."

Anything was better than the starvation bunker. Death by hanging, a bullet in the head, even the gas chambers. All of these were quick compared to starvation. Commandant Fritsch walked the rows of prisoners choosing the victims like animals. Those chosen began to groan. "My poor wife!" one man cried. "My poor children. What will they do?"

Suddenly there was commotion among the prisoners. One of the men had broken out of the line calling for the commandant. It was Kolby, the priest who was always sharing his meals and trying to comfort the other inmates. The priest spoke softly when he spoke to the Nazi butcher. "Sir, I would like to die in place of one of the men you have condemned. I am an old man and good for nothing. My life will serve no purpose."

Surprised the commandant asked, "In whose place do you want to die?"

"For that one," Kolby responded, pointing to the one who was crying about his wife and kids. Fritsch looked at his assistant and nodded. So Kolby joined the group sentenced to death by starvation.

This is a picture of what Jesus did for you. Mark 15:16-39

Here is what Jesus did for you. He died for you, in your place. He has already paid the death penalty and endured the punishment for sin. And now you can be forgiven of sin and delivered from death. God will provide for you a resurrection the same as he did for his son Jesus. And you can live with him and his people forever in the world to come. All that remains is for you to accept the gift.

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The conditions are simple.

Acts 16:31 "They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved--you and your household.'"

Acts 2:38-39 "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.'"

Years ago a father and daughter were walking through the grass on the prairie. In the distance, they saw a prairie fire and they realized it eventually would engulf them. The father knew there was only one way to escape. They would quickly build a fire right where they were and burn a large area of grass around them.

When the fire would come near, they would then stand on the section of land that had already burned. When the fire finally approached, the girl was terrified by the raging flames. But her father assured her, "The fire can't get to us. We are standing where the fire has already burned."

When you depend on Jesus, you are secure. You are where the fire has already burned. "Jesus will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord." Better go where the fire has already burned!