The Gospel

However you found this page on the internet, the following message is the most important message you’ll ever hear. It’s the message that has caused countless people to abandon their lives and go to the far reaches of the world to be abused, maligned and even killed. They did so out of love for complete strangers. What would make a person who makes a decent wage, with great possessions, give all of that up, and go talk to the poor and downtrodden? The answer is a very special message that comes from God to humankind, and it’s called the Gospel, or “Good news”.

The Bad News

The Bible tells us that God created the entire world (Gen. 1:1), space, time and everything in between (John 1:1-3) in a perfect state, with humans at the center of it. With great love, God created everything from light (Gen. 1:3), to trees, to birds, and fish (Gen. 1:20), every other animal on earth, the stars, the moon and sun, and everything we can touch, feel, and sense. Everything was well made and good. He placed us in a garden, and we lived in peace, with pleasure and freedom. He even walked with the first humans. However, He gave us one rule. We disobeyed that rule and man sinned for the first time. Sin is anything that goes against the moral nature and decree of God. That first sin brought with it many consequences. One of which is death (Gen. 2:16-17, Ro. 5:12, Psa 51:5), but also disease, decay, thorns, thistles, increased pain in child birth, and general suffering. The worst consequence of all, is that our sin separated us from God. The Bible also says that ALL of mankind has sinned against Him, and that our best efforts to please God through the good things we do are like a menstrual rag to God. That’s pretty disgusting. Our best days on earth are not something to be proud of!

Who God Is

God is not simply the embodiment of what is love, but He is also holy and just. The bad news for us is that He promises to punish sin. When we die, then comes the judgment, a time where God takes our sin account and judges us from what we’ve done in this life. You may be wondering why God decided to punish us like that, and that’s a good question, and I want to explore that more with you on this blog. You must keep in mind though, that God does not think like us, and act like us. He is infinitely different and knows all things, and in Him, all things continue to hold their substance. He knows all of the hairs on our head, and what is in our own thoughts and heart. Nobody wants to be sentenced to this place of punishment called Hell, and if the story stopped here we would all be lost. But thank God, it doesn’t.

God’s Plan

When Adam and Eve (the first humans) sinned, God killed animals for the first time as yet another consequence of our sin. This signified that sin was very serious, and required death. If you keep reading in the Bible you will eventually get to Leviticus and see a lot of sacrificing of animals being slaughtered for sin. The sacrificial system for the Jews never dealt with sin permanently, but pointed us towards the final sacrifice, the perfect “Lamb” of God. That was God’s plan, to send His Son Jesus to live a perfect life that we could not live ourselves, and die the death we deserved, and make a way to be reconciled to God (John 3:16-17). Jesus died, and as the Scriptures say, He rose again demonstrating His power and authority over death, and He declares that death no longer is the end. He not only offers us eternal life, but complete communion with Him forever. That means, that anyone who is forgiven their sins through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross will not be punished in Hell. God not only offers us eternal life, but also commands us to trust in Him. God does not desire anyone to die in their sins, but that everyone would have communion with Him forever.

Grace through faith

Several times during the life of Jesus, we see people ask Him what do they have to do to be saved (saved from being punished in Hell for their sin)? Jesus didn’t always answer them the way one would expect, but He always touched on the matter of their heart. Our heart speaks volumes when sometimes our mouth doesn’t even move. Our heart inwardly tells us that there’s a problem that we need to attend to, and that we’ve done wrong things. Jesus invites everyone, everywhere, irregardless of status, nationality, ethnicity, religious background, etc., to repent (turn from our unbelief) and trust Him, to believe He died for your sins on the cross. A pastor I know once used the expression, “the great swap”. Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God is exchanged for a filthy sinner (myself and you). To be saved, you simply must believe that Jesus, who is God in the flesh, died for your sins and He was resurrected again. Running down an aisle in church, saying a prayer, participating in a religious rite, or being baptized does not save you. You cannot physically DO something to earn or deserve this free gift of salvation. In says in Ephesians:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 LSB

We cannot earn this gift that God gives, we can only accept it, and be grateful. The apostle Paul talks about grace and faith continually in his letters, but in Romans he seems to summarize everything with the following verses:

That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 LSB

I invite you to place your faith entirely in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He sent His perfect Son to die for you and give you eternal life with Him. Let me know if you want to talk more about this, if so, I would love to discuss it with you.

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