...created man to have a perfect relationship with Himself, but He didn't want to make us robots. He wanted this relationship to be based on love, so He gave man free will to choose. After all, how would you like to have someone say, "I love" when you knew they had been programmed to say it? Much better if it was said because it was meant.

...But Man (that's Us)...

...chose to go his own way. He decided to live independently of God. Sure, we are willing to say that maybe He exists, and perhaps hope He will help us when we get into a mess - but that's as far as it goes. Some are even willing to pay Him a little lip service one day a week, but we don't allow him to get involved in our everyday lives.

...we are cut off

The result of this independent, self-centred attitude (which the Bible calls 'sin') is that we are cut off from God and, inevitably, He no longer appears relevant to our daily lives.

But your sins have separated you from your God. (Isaiah 59:2)

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

AND THAT MEANS EVERYONE

Everyone is in this state because we have all failed to acknowledge God's right to be involved in a practical way in our lives. Consequently, we have fallen short of what He intended us to be. Whether we've lived comparatively good or bad lives, we've still not come up to the mark as far as God is concerned. The Bible makes it pretty clear:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

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. (Isaiah 53:6)

BUT GOD HAS provided a way back

Because God is holy as well as just He can't merely forget our sins as if they'd never happened. Sin has to be punished, which means death for us all. But in His love, God Himself came down in the form of a man (Jesus Christ), lived a perfect life, and then died on a cross. When Christ (God in the flesh) died, He was voluntarily taking upon Himself the punishment for all the wrong that we've ever done or will do. This is incredible - but true!

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24)

That's how much God loves us. He was willing to suffer Himself in order to save us. Then He rose again to show that He had defeated death.

But God shows His love to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)