Principle Two: All of us are sinful and separated from God. Therefore we cannot know and experience God's love and plan for our life.

The fact is, we need Jesus. The Bible says, "...all fall short of God's glorious standard" (Romans 3:23b). Though God intended for us to have a relationship with Him, we naturally want to do things our own way. We're stubborn, selfish, and frequently unable to follow through on our promises. Try as we might, we just keep stumbling.

Deep down, our attitude may be one of active rebellion or passive indifference, but it's all evidence of what the Bible calls sin -- an old archery term which literally means "missing the mark."

The Bible says the result of sin in our lives is death--spiritual separation from God (Romans 6:23). Although we may try to reach God through our own effort, we inevitably fail. We just can't ever be good enough.

This diagram shows the great gap that exists between us and God. The arrows illustrate that we are always trying to reach God and find a meaningful life through our own efforts. We may try to do good things or adopt a new guiding philosophy--but we inevitably fail.

Next: How can we bridge this gulf?