In order to understand this, let us go back to why this all started in the first place—why we came to need a Saviour. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, He gave them one condition that they had to follow: they could eat of any tree in the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In other words, perfect and perpetual obedience. Unfortunately, Adam and Eve did not heed this condition, and gave in to the temptation to eat of the fruit.

What now? They violated the one rule God gave them. As you can imagine, they were very afraid, and even hid from God. They knew the punishment was death, that they wouldn’t be allowed to live after sin, right? Yes, it’s true that God told them that if they ate of the fruit they would die, but they didn’t, at least not right away. Was God being untruthful? Did He suddenly change His mind?

Of course not. God’s law is, after all, unchangeable. But by nature, man was not an eternal being—and now he had forfeited the way to become one. There was now an abyss between God and man, and there was no longer a way to cross it. This is where the plan of salvation came in. Since God’s law is unchangeable, it still demanded the death of the transgressor. A price still needed to be paid. It seemed like there was no way out for humanity, unless someone equal to God stepped in and took their place. That is exactly what Christ did. In order to pull the human race out of the abyss and free them from the penalty, Christ intervened, and the plan of salvation was brought forth.

Was the plan of salvation thought of in that moment, though? Did Jesus come up with it on the spot? Certainly not! In fact, the plan of salvation was always in existence. It wasn’t an afterthought, but something planned by God from the very beginning—from all eternity! The Spirit of Prophecy tells us that “The plan of salvation had been laid before the creation of the earth; for Christ is ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8).”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 63. At the time the world was created, the plan of salvation had already existed in advance. That’s how much God loves us.

Now you may be wondering, if the plan of salvation existed this whole time, this also means God knew man would fall into sin. Why did He allow that? Why did He put the tree in the garden so Eve would be tempted? Why did He allow Satan to tempt Eve? It is because God didn’t create us to mindlessly follow Him. He created us with a free will because He wanted loving Him to be a choice we make on our own. Even the angels have free will, shown by how Satan went against God. Man was created perfect and sinless in the image of God. But he could still fall, and he did.

“God placed man under law, as an indispensable condition of his very existence. He was a subject of the divine government, and there can be no government without law. God might have created man without the power to transgress His law; He might have withheld the hand of Adam from touching the forbidden fruit; but in that case man would have been, not a free moral agent, but a mere automaton. Without freedom of choice, his obedience would not have been voluntary, but forced. There could have been no development of character. Such a course would have been contrary to God’s plan in dealing with the inhabitants of other worlds. It would have been unworthy of man as an intelligent being, and would have sustained Satan’s charge of God’s arbitrary rule.”—Ibid., p. 49.

In relation, there was also another purpose for the plan of salvation. Ever since Satan was cast out of heaven, there would have to come a time when he would be defeated. There will come a time when sin is eradicated forever. But in order for it to be shown that God is just, the rest of heaven would have to see Satan proven wrong. Aside from saving fallen man, the plan of salvation was also meant to vindicate the law and character of God. “In the opening of the great controversy, Satan had declared that the law of God could not be obeyed, that justice was inconsistent with mercy, and that, should the law be broken, it would be impossible for the sinner to be pardoned.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 761.

Satan was overjoyed when man fell, so he insisted that there was fault in God’s law—that no matter how hard man tried, this law could never be obeyed, and as a result, none from the human race could ever be saved. There was nothing that could be done; humanity had to face their punishment because if God took them back, that would make Him inconsistent. It wouldn’t be just. But of course, the plan of salvation was already there. In putting the plan into action, God would show the universe, and Satan, that there was hope. Man could be saved. By dying on the cross, Christ would also reveal the character of Satan to the universe, and the angels and unfallen worlds would see through his deception.

Christ is He “who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14).

So, what then, does this mean for us? How has the plan of salvation changed things for fallen humanity? How important is it for us? What does it do for us? One of the main things the plan of salvation does for us is to give redemption from sin. Through Christ, we no longer have to be connected to the world. Through redemption, we are free from the control that sin has upon us, because Christ has delivered us from the authority of sin.

He also frees us from spiritual death. When man fell into sin, he experienced spiritual death. All of us are now born in sin, and we have a natural tendency toward it. We became corrupt, but through Christ we can be born again and have new life. The Bible tells us that “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)” (Ephesians 2:5).

We live in darkness, and without God’s intervention we would never be able to get out of it. The plan of salvation sheds light in the darkness and allows us to be saved. We are bound by sin, and only God is able to free us from it. Only Christ frees us from that burden. The plan of salvation means that we have a second chance, that we are able to once again cross that abyss through the grace of Christ.

This is why salvation is important to us. It is why this is all such a big deal for us. If it weren’t for the plan of salvation and the mercy of God, we would all be lost. There would be no hope left for us, but with the plan of salvation, we are able to have a relationship with Christ. He is our Mediator—the bridge between the gap. He loves us so much that he left heaven and took on our lowly human flesh, so that we could experience eternity with Him in heaven. He took our sin upon Himself—without actually committing any sin Himself—and thus paid the price so that we could be saved. It’s a beautiful gift, isn’t it? And it is one that is free to take.

“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21, NIV).

We have spoken here about why the plan of salvation exists in the first place, and have explained what it means for us and how important it is for us. So how do we receive it? How can we experience the blessings that salvation has to offer us? That all starts with repentance.

What is repentance? The official definition says it is “the action of repenting; sincere regret or remorse.” Repentance means to genuinely feel guilty for something wrong that you’ve done, and to strive to change it. It is having a change of heart. It means turning away from sin and embracing God and His word. When we truly repent, we no longer want to live in the darkness of sin, but rather in the light of Christ.

With repentance comes the confession of sins. In fact, confession will come as a result of that repentance. Confession is absolutely essential, because if we don’t confess, there is no repentance. God is constantly calling us to repent and confess our sins. He longs for us to come to Him. The Bible tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Simply believing is not enough. There needs to be action; there needs to be a genuine change of heart. But it is not a choice that God can make for us. This is a choice we all need to make as individuals. We can ask God for help, but in order to receive it, we need to make the decision to turn from sin and follow Him. We need to give our heart and make the decision to allow God to make that change in our life.

Once we receive that gift, we need to maintain it. It doesn’t stop there. In fact, we need to be meditating daily on God’s word. We also need to maintain that connection with God through prayer. The more we do that, “clearer and still clearer will be our perception of truth, higher, holier, our desire for purity of heart and clearness of thought. The soul dwelling in the pure atmosphere of holy thought will be transformed by communion with God through the study of Scriptures.”—The Call to Stand Apart, p. 24. Are you ready to make that change?

The plan of salvation is the greatest gift that ever could be given to us. When we fell into sin, and when it seemed like there was no longer any hope for humanity, Christ stepped in as our Mediator. He became our Saviour, and without Him we would be lost. Not only that, but the plan of salvation was also meant to prove Satan wrong—to show that God’s law could indeed be obeyed. Christ became our example on how to abide in God’s ways. Salvation is what frees us from sin, and it is what allows us to draw closer to God.

Christ has given this gift of love to us. Are we ready to accept it? Sometimes we may think that we can’t, that we aren’t ready. We might think that we need to prepare ourselves and be perfect before taking this step. I’ve felt this way before; I’ve been that person who thinks that way—but if anything, I learned that you can’t wait around because there will never be that right moment. Unless you go to God and ask for His help, you can never reach perfection on your own. That is not the point. The point is realizing that you have a need, going to God with genuine repentance, and asking Him to help you. God knows your heart and your whole life. “Freely will He pardon all who come to Him for forgiveness and restoration.”—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 118.