But, I’m a good person!

When I first ask Jesus into my heart, I was so excited I couldn’t wait to tell everyone! My first “victim” was my drug-dealing roommate (to be fair I wasn’t completely innocent in that regard, so I’m not judging!). Before I could get a word out of my mouth though, he said,

“I don’t want to hear about Jesus, I’m a good person, I’ve never killed anyone; I pay my taxes. If that’s not good enough for God, I guess I will go to hell!” (That’s a pretty low bar if you think about it.)

And just like that he neatly condemned himself to hell. He said essentially to God, “I make my own rules. it’s my way or the highway.” Just like Adam in the Garden of Eden, he chose for himself the right to decide what was “good,” and what was “evil.”

That was decades ago, and I hope he has long since changed his mind, because I don’t want anyone to suffer eternal damnation!

Why do we need to be Saved?

It wasn’t an apple

The Garden of Eden — The Real Story

Alright, so let’s clear something up: it wasn’t an apple. I know, every picture shows Eve holding this shiny red apple, but the Bible never actually says what kind of fruit it was. The fruit itself wasn’t the point — it was about trust and obedience.

See, when God created Adam and Eve, He gave them this perfect place to live. No pain. No hunger. No sadness. They had purpose — taking care of the garden and making it even better — and they had a close relationship with God. Honestly, it was paradise. And there was only one rule:

Don’t eat from that one tree.

That’s it. One rule. God even told them why: “If you eat from it, you’ll die.” Not a trick, not a trap — just the truth.

But then the enemy shows up — the devil — and he starts twisting the truth. He basically tells them:

"God just doesn’t want you to eat it because when you do, you’ll be like Him. You’ll know good and evil for yourself."

And honestly? That was the temptation. The real temptation wasn’t the fruit. It was the idea that you could be your own god. That you could make your own rules. Decide for yourself what’s good and what’s evil. Run your own life.

But here’s the truth: we were never created to do life on our own. Adam and Eve already had everything they needed — love, purpose, peace, and an unbroken relationship with God. But they chose to chase after being “their own gods” instead.

And God had been clear from the start: if you choose to walk away from Me, if you choose your own way over Mine, the result is death. Not because God was standing there waiting to punish them, but because life without Him is no life at all.

And here’s the part that hits home: that one choice didn’t just mess up Adam and Eve’s lives — it broke the world. That’s why we see pain, hate, sickness, and war today. It all started with that moment.

And the same choice is still in front of us. People all over the world are still trying to write their own version of “right and wrong.” Still trying to live without God. And the world is still broken because of it.

But the good news? God didn’t leave us in that brokenness. He already had a plan to fix it — and that plan is Jesus.

The other Garden

The Problem — and the Fix

Here’s the thing: the choice Adam made in the Garden didn’t just mess up his life — it messed up all of ours too.

Whether we like it or not, that decision got passed down to every single human. It’s like it’s wired into us. Doing the wrong thing isn’t just some random accident — it’s built into our DNA.

Now don’t get me wrong, people can still do good things. We see it all the time. But here’s the problem: we can’t count on ourselves to always do what’s right. No matter how hard we try, sooner or later we mess up. Even when we want to do the right thing, we end up doing the wrong thing anyway.

And the Bible actually calls this out perfectly:

“For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but the evil I don’t want to do — this I keep on doing.”
— Romans 7:19

Can anyone relate to that? Because I sure can.

But here’s the good news: Jesus came to fix the problem.

And the way He did it is wild — it started in another garden.

The night before He was crucified, Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew what was coming. He knew the pain, the betrayal, the cross — all of it. And the Bible says He was so stressed, so crushed by the weight of it, that He actually sweat drops of blood.

And in that moment, Jesus prayed. Twice He asked God if there was any other way. But in the end, He said:

“…Your will be done.”

See, Adam said “No” to God in the Garden. Jesus said “Yes.”

Where Adam disobeyed, Jesus obeyed. And when Jesus went to the cross, He didn’t just take Adam’s punishment — He took ours too.

And here’s why that matters for you and me:

Because of Jesus, we’re no longer stuck in that cycle. The chains that kept us locked into sin — broken. The guilt, the shame, the fear — wiped clean.

And it’s not just about avoiding hell. Jesus set us free so that we can actually live the way we were always meant to live. Now, with His help, we can choose to do the right thing. We can live in a way that actually pleases God.

That’s the difference Jesus makes.

So here’s the deal:

Adam’s choice broke the world, and we’ve all felt the effects of it. None of us can escape it on our own — not by being “good enough,” not by trying harder, not by pretending we’ve got it all together.

But Jesus stepped in. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He faced the weight of the world, and He chose obedience. He chose the cross. He chose us.

Because of what Jesus did, you don’t have to stay stuck in guilt, sin, and failure. You don’t have to be trapped by your past. You don’t have to carry the weight of shame.

The chains are broken. You’ve been set free.

Now you get to live like it. Not out of fear, but out of love for the God who rescued you. You get to wake up every day and know you can choose to do the right thing — not on your own, but with Jesus leading the way.

Sin doesn’t have to own you anymore.