The Gospel is good news.
John 3:16(ESV) says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
That’s Good NEWS!!
Why?
We must first begin with God. God is Holy. Isaiah 6:3 (ESV) says, “…Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” Because God is holy, he cannot allow anything unholy to be in his presence. He is good, he is righteous, and he is just.
God created man, male and female, in his image. Adam was the first man created. He was made from the dust of the earth and the Bible says God breathed into the nostrils of the man and he became a living creature (Genesis 2:7). He was caused to go into a sleep and from his rib, God created his wife, Eve. From the very beginning of creation, God required Adam and Eve to follow his commands or else they would die. Being tempted by Satan, Adam and his wife disobeyed God and violated the command he gave them. This violation is called sin. Because of this sin, death entered into the world both physical and spiritual. This death and sin nature were given to all mankind from that point on even to today.
Romans 5:12 (ESV) “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”
Romans 3:23 (ESV) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – every one – to his own way;”
Romans 6:23 (ESV) “For the wages of sin is death,..”
Reference also Romans 3:10-18.
Now with the understanding of God, and the nature of man, we can see that there is a problem. God is good and man is not. Because God is just he must punish sinners. Because he is an everlasting Holy God, and the sin of man is a trespass against him, the punishment is therefore everlasting. After the physical death of a person, he or she will be cast into eternal torment in Hell, the lake of fire, an unquenchable fire, where the worm dies not, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, outer darkness, and the absence of God’s merciful love. The wrath of Holy God is there poured out on those who have sinned against him forever and ever. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. Angry at the sin and trespasses against him each one of us commit. Be assured, no one who is in Hell will be there unjustly. God is not unjust. He is love and he is merciful.
Remember the first verse at the top of the page? Go read it, Ill wait…
Oh that is good news.
Why?
Because God sent his son Jesus Christ into the world to live the life of righteousness God requires of each of us. Jesus never sinned because He was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and thus did not inherit the sin nature of Adam. No, rather Jesus is God. The God man Jesus Christ lived a perfect life before Father God and it pleased the Father. Jesus never sinned and therefore did not owe a death. He kept the law and the commands of God, every one of them. Jesus then being the perfect sinless man bore the sins of man in his body and died a death not his own. Jesus was given over to be killed on a Roman cross. On the cross he bore in his body the sins of man and died in the place of others. That fierce wrath of God spoken about earlier was poured out on his son and it pleased the Lord to crush him (reference Isaiah 53:10). The blood of Christ was poured out as a sin offering to God and his death on the cross atoned for the sins of those who would believe on the name of Jesus. Therefore, God’s wrath was satisfied. By this satisfaction or propitiation, God could be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. (Reference Romans 3:25-26) The story does not end there. Jesus did die on the cross and was placed in a borrowed grave. Three days later he rose from the dead in his physical body and ascended into heaven at the right hand of the Father. He is coming back. He is coming back to gather those who have placed their trust in the name of Jesus for salvation so that they can dwell with him in everlasting life forever and ever.
Isn’t that good news?!! Oh dear reader, I ask you today to place your faith in Jesus Christ. Because of God’s great love you can be saved by his grace through faith. You must believe on the name of Jesus Christ and repent of your sins. To believe is to trust and to repent is to turn from those sins and turn to Jesus Christ as your hope of everlasting life with God.
Acts 4:12 (ESV) “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Romans 10:9-10 (ESV) “..if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
John 14:6 (ESV) “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'”
Come to Christ. There is no other way to everlasting life. You cannot simply try and live a good life and gather up all these good deeds to present them to God when you die. No, you must repent of your sin and trust in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. Today is the day of salvation. Call out to Jesus to save you.
Luke 18:13-14 (ESV) “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (emphasis added).
(If you have any questions or would like to talk, please contact me through the contacts page on this site.)
May the Lord gain the full reward of his suffering. Amen.