This is the story of Jesus.

Before anything else, there was God. The Bible opens with God making the world on purpose: light and water, land and living things, all of it called good (see Genesis 1). The world is no accident, and neither is any one of us.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Man there means all of humankind. We are made to reflect something of what God is like; that is where our dignity and worth come from. We were made to know and love Him, to love one another, and to care for His world (see Genesis 2:15; Mark 12:30-31).

But the world is not as it should be, and we long for it to be put right. If we are honest, the break does not only run around us. It runs through us too. The Bible calls the cause sin, and leaves none of us out:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

God's glory is His goodness and greatness, which we were made to reflect. Sin separates us from God, the source of life, and damages how we treat each other (see Isaiah 59:2; Genesis 3). Its end is death (see Romans 6:23).

Two things stay true at once. We still bear God's image, and we are responsible for what we have done. We cannot mend the break ourselves.

God did not leave us to fix ourselves. He came Himself. Jesus is the Son of God, fully God and fully human.

John's account of His life, one of four in the Bible, calls Him the Word, the one who makes God known. He was with God in the beginning and was God (see John 1:1-2, 18). Then John writes:

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.

To become flesh is to become fully human. Jesus was born into a Jewish family and worked as a carpenter (see Luke 2:21-24; Mark 6:3). He grew tired (see John 4:6) and wept over the death of a friend (see John 11:32-36).

He came close to people others kept at a distance. He touched and healed a man with leprosy (see Mark 1:40-42). He ate with people others looked down on (see Mark 2:15-17). He welcomed children (see Mark 10:13-16). He asked a Samaritan woman for a drink and talked with her, though Jews and Samaritans kept apart (see John 4:7-9).

He was tempted as we are, yet He never sinned (see Hebrews 4:15). He lived the life we were made for. He said He came to call sinners, and His welcome reached the overlooked, the ashamed, and those who felt far from God (see Mark 2:17).

Jesus knew where His path was leading (see Mark 10:33-34), and He went willingly. He said no one would take His life from Him; He would lay it down by His own choice (see John 10:17-18).

One of His own followers, Judas, handed Him over. Some of the religious leaders brought Him to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who sentenced Him to death. Jesus was mocked and beaten. Roman soldiers crucified Him, and He died (see Mark 14:43-46; 15:1-39).

Jesus was Jewish, and so were His first followers. No one people is to blame for His death.

Why did He die? The Bible's answer is that He gave His life for our sins. He took on Himself the judgment our wrongdoing deserves, in our place, to bring us to God (see Isaiah 53:5-6; 1 Peter 3:18).

This was God's own love at work. The Father gave His Son (see John 3:16), and the Son gave Himself (see Galatians 2:20). Rarely will anyone die even for a good person (see Romans 5:7).

But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Through the cross, the way back to God is open. We can be reconciled to Him (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-19).

Jesus truly died (see Mark 15:44-45).

Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body. He wrapped it in linen cloth, laid it in a tomb cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone across the entrance (see Luke 23:50-53; Mark 15:46).

The women who had followed Jesus from Galilee saw where His body was laid. Then came the Sabbath, the weekly day of rest, and they rested (see Luke 23:54-56).

His followers had hoped He was the one who would rescue God's people (see Luke 24:19-21).

As far as anyone could see, it was over.

Very early on Sunday, the women came back to the tomb with spices. The stone had been moved, and His body was not there (see Luke 24:1-3).

Two men in shining clothes stood beside them (see Luke 24:4). They said:

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!

At first the others did not believe the women. Their words seemed like nonsense (see Luke 24:9-11).

Then Jesus Himself stood among His followers. He was not a ghost or a memory. He invited them to touch Him. He asked for food and ate it as they watched (see Luke 24:36-43).

Christians call this the resurrection. It is not a figure of speech. It is the claim that Jesus, who had truly died, rose bodily from the dead on the third day, to a life that death can never end (see Romans 6:9). It rests on the word of those who said they saw Him.

Paul, an early Christian leader, called this message the gospel, which means good news (see 1 Corinthians 15:1). He wrote:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

The Scriptures here are the Jewish Scriptures, which Christians call the Old Testament. Jesus died on Friday. Counting that day as the first, as people then did, Sunday was the third (see Mark 15:42; Luke 24:21). This page takes its name from that morning.

Paul then names people who saw Jesus alive, among them Peter and more than five hundred at once, most still living when he wrote (see 1 Corinthians 15:5-8). Because Jesus is alive, His death for our sins was not a defeat, and death does not have the last word (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

Forgiveness, and being made right with God, are not a reward for becoming good enough. They are God's gift through Jesus, given by grace.

For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.

To be saved is to be rescued from sin and the death it brings, and given life with God (see Romans 6:23). We receive that gift by trusting and turning, which the Bible calls faith and repentance.

Forgiveness means God no longer holds our wrongs against us (see 2 Corinthians 5:19). We are welcomed back as His children (see John 1:12). New life means God's own Spirit, the Holy Spirit, begins to change us from within, slowly and truly (see Romans 8:9-11).

Following Jesus does not remove every hardship. He told His followers plainly that they would have trouble, and He promised to be with them always (see John 16:33; Matthew 28:20). We still grieve and we still die, but not without hope. The Bible looks ahead to a day when God will raise His people to life and wipe away every tear (see 1 Corinthians 15:20-23; Revelation 21:4).

The invitation comes from Jesus Himself:

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

That includes you. You do not need to clean yourself up first. To come to Him is to turn from sin toward God and to trust Him with your life. You can tell Him so in your own words. The promise is that everyone who calls on Him will be saved (see Romans 10:12-13).

Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God, that You died for my sins and rose again. I have turned away from You, and I am sorry. Please forgive me. I turn from my sin and put my trust in You. Help me to follow You.

If you are not ready, it is good to be honest about that. You are welcome to take your time, to read about Jesus for yourself with all your doubts, and to bring your questions.

If you are hurting, God is near to people whose hearts are broken (see Psalm 34:18). Please do not carry it alone. Talk with someone you trust, and if you are in danger, contact your local emergency services.

What following Jesus means

Following Jesus begins with trusting Him and goes on as a life lived with Him.

It means praying, which is talking with God in your own words, and reading the Bible, starting with John. It means belonging to a local church, a community of Christians, where you can ask about baptism (the sign with water that marks belonging to Jesus).

It means turning from what is wrong and, when you fail, coming back to Him for forgiveness (see 1 John 1:9). Life will still be hard at times, but He is with you (see Matthew 28:20).