Gospel = Good News
Can you admit…
That you need help.
That you need forgiveness.
That you need God.
There are many people who are trying to live life without knowing Who gave it to them. Is that you? Do you live as though you were not created? Are you trying to give life meaning now when you don’t believe there was meaning in the beginning?
Does that make sense? If you really think about it, nothing should really make sense if your mind is just an accidental occurrence of chemical reactions and undersigned tissue.
God created life to have meaning and made each of us with a purpose. We were made in the image and likeness of God. We were created to give God glory and to live and love as a reflection of God’s glory. Everything that God made was good. The heavens and the earth were intricately designed by God and were good. The birds of the air and the fish of the sea was good. The land and the seas were all good.
God made the first man and the woman and gave them dominion of all that was good. He planted a garden and placed man there and told him to enjoy all that was good and to tend and keep the garden. Man was given responsibility. He always gives each of us something to steward and take care of.
Then came the problem. Mankind chose to sin against God. This started when a fallen angel took the form of a serpent in God’s creation and deceived the wife of the man that was created. The devil got her to question God’s Word and Authority by saying, “Has God indeed said…” The devil or Satan suggested the idea that God was not loving and good and was holding back on them. Thus, both the first man and the first woman, Adam and Eve, ate of the forbidden fruit and sinned against God.
This original Fall at the beginning of creation resulted in the whole earth falling into cursed state. Much of the beauty was still there and mankind could still experience the goodness of the earth but now evil, sorrow, disease, death, and destruction would perpetuate in this fallen world.
The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23)
And “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23a)
Throughout the passing of time and from generation to generation, there has been a selfish pursuit of life and a prideful way of living. Mankind has accomplished many wonderful advancements but look where it has left us. There is so much greed and desire for pleasure that war inside of us and there is broken homes, broken hearts, and broken people hurting one another and hindering one another from all that God intended us to be.
We have all contributed to the sin of the world. It is easy to recognize the evil in our world and in others but do we see our own contribution to this fallen world.
Have you ever lied? Of course you have. This makes you a liar before God.
Have you ever lusted? Or course you have. This makes you an adulterer before God.
Have you ever coveted and wanted what someone else had. Then you are guilty of breaking the last commandment before God.
Ultimately, you have sinned from the very first and second commandment where you have put something or someone else above God at some point in your life and chose to worship and serve something that was made rather than the Maker Himself. Anytime a good thing becomes a god things, it become an idol in our life.
We are all guilty before God even if we think we are a good person in comparison to others.
But God had an answer from heaven to all of this. God has always been involved in the narrative of life. God chose a man to save the human race from being destroyed when He told Noah to build an ark in order to spare them from His judgment.
God chose a man named Abraham to become a father of faith for all the nations of the earth to be blessed by what would eventually come from his Seed.
Israel was a nation and a people chosen by God to bring forth His Son into this mess of the world. When Jesus was born in a humble manger in a little obscure town of Bethlehem, which is celebrated at Christmas time every year, He grew up and fulfilled many written predictions spoken about Him. These predictions were called prophecies and they declared events of the future before they ever happened.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.” (Micah 5:2)
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
Jesus lived a life of humble service toward all people and when He was 30 years of age, He began His public ministry where He preached the Gospel and taught people about the kingdom of God which would restore all things to mankind that they lost. He healed the sick and raised, cast out people who had become completely overtaken by the Devil and his dominion of evil spirits, and He even raised the dead.
And why?
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3;16-17)
Today, you must admit that you need God and His provision in Jesus Christ to solve the sin problem that we all have.
This is called the Gospel. This essential foundation of the Christian faith is understanding that God came down to us. The Gospel is the Good News of who Jesus is and what He accomplished for us.
Jesus is God’s Son who loved all people while living a sinless life. His life culminated with Him going to the cross and dying in our place. He was just dying for the unjust and He absorbed all of our sin by fulfilling what was required in the Law that we are all guilty of breaking. Jesus paid the ultimate price by taking the judgment that mankind deserved and extended mercy to all who would call upon Him who understood they needed His forgiveness.
The response that is needed today is to change our mind about the way we have been living and to trust in Jesus Christ, God’s Son and the Savior of the World. We must confess that we have sinned against God and repent of our sins and believe that Christ died and rose again to reconcile us back to God. As we place all of our trust in the work that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, we can simply and humbly pray that we desire Jesus to be the Lord of our life choosing to follow Him from this day forward.
As we declare Him to be the Lord of our life and that Jesus Christ raised from the dead, we will be saved from the penalty of our sin and from an eternal separation from God.
Pray right now doing the following three things in your own words…
Admit to God that you need Him and that you have sinned against Him.
Believe that Jesus died for your sin and rose again on the third day.
Confess Him to be the Lord of your life from this day forward and to fill you with His Spirit to enable you to live the life that you could not live on your own.
If you respond to God’s Spirit drawing you to Himself, then you are now a part of the family of God as one who now sees your need for a Savior and have received His free gift of salvation.
Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rom. 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Rom. 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Rom. 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
Rom. 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Read these Scriptures and be assured that your salvation is based on what the Scriptures teach and what the
Rom. 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
Rom. 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Rom. 10:10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom. 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.”
Rom. 10:12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
Rom. 10:13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Rom. 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom. 10:15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things!”
Rom. 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?”
Rom. 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
When you receive Jesus into your life, you become a child of God and a new creation in Christ. The old things are passed away and all things become new!
Now you must learn to grow in our relationship with God and to learn the purpose that God created you for in loving and serving other people.
Praying is how you talk with God and share your heart and listen to His still small voice directing you.
Reading and studying the Bible is how you learn more about who God is and what is the will and way of God for your life.
Fellowship is sharing your common faith in Christ with other believers. This is best done in a local church where you live that puts Christ
Discipleship is about becoming a devoted follower of Christ who lives out your faith and helps others to do the same until we all become more like Christ.