Screened Rooms, Patio Covers, Pergolas,
  Porch Enclosure Systems, Awnings and
  Modularized Sunrooms

1.844.404.0484

We are always
ready to talk!

The Gospel of God

The Good News
The Christian Scriptures speak of good news. This good news is called the gospel. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16)

The gospel concerns Jesus Christ: "...that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scripture.” (I Corinthians 15:3-4)
 

The Bad News
To understand just how good this news is, you must understand the bad news: we are all born sin. In other words it is not that we, as a 2 year old told our first lie and then became indebted to a holy God because of it. It is because we are sin, from the time we were conceived "Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me." (Psalm 51:5) . As such we can only act according to what we are. We were not taught to lie. Nor was it modeled to us, for we would have to know what a lie was to respond with a choice. We first lied because we acted according to what we are... sin, and therefore we are always falling short of being 'a good person.' As such we owe God a death. To be born is to be indebted (because we are sin!) and our death settles the account. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23) and “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

The word death in the passage above means separation. One of the attributes of God's character is Holiness, perfect righteousness. It cannot suffer the presence of unrighteousness, tainted holiness. For us that is bad news. This separation is what we owe God (wages) because of our sin. Our only hope of truly knowing God is that someone pays the debt of sin we owe Him. That someone would need to meet or match the standard of God's holiness. In spite of such an impossible standard, there is hope. “...and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 2:2)
 

Our Hope
That hope is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ (God Himself, come down, putting on human flesh, living a perfect life in thought and deed) died as the satisfactory payment for our sins! “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) God did for us what we cannot do for ourselves... pay a debt that can only be satisfied by God Himself.

John the Baptist (John 1:15-34) declared that the man coming after him is more than anyone ever dreamed. He is the God of the Old Testament—only now he is man as well as God. “This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’” The point is that John is emphasizing Jesus’ rank. He is absolutely before John. Jesus is from eternity. He is the uncreated Creator. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-5, 14).

And the reason for saying it here is that John wants to underline, in verses 29-34 what it takes for Jesus to be “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” No ordinary human being can be “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” Everything he has told us is essential to Jesus being the sin-removing Lamb of God. Jesus is the Lord God of Isaiah 40.

It is about Justice

Despite what you may have been taught, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about love. It is motivated by love but it is not about love. Love for Christ, self, and the brethren is evidence that we have received the Gospel but it is not what the Gospel is. The Gospel is about justice – not social justice (feeding the hungry etc) - but true moral justice. You were born rebelling against God and His justice demands death. The good news is that Christ’s death and resurrection has satisfied God’s demand for justice. Receiving this gift, this truth, is evidenced in a faith that repents, turns away from all manner of sin, actively pursues the righteousness that is only found in Christ, and subsequently desires to bring others to Christ – for their sake and God’s glory.

What it is NOT

The true Gospel message has been replaced by selling Christianity as satisfying a desire to feel morally superior: to feel as if you stand on the right side of a deeply moral argument. It has become a therapeutic faith that is more focused on surviving the world and measured by personal happiness. That is not the Gospel. It is a lie to assume that because you affirm some of the truth’s presented in the Bible that you automatically possess the things of which the Bible speaks. For example you may agree with the definition of faith found in Hebrews 11, but it is wrong to assume that you already possess such a faith, especially if all of your life choices prove otherwise.

To Conclude…

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:16-21)

The Apostle Paul in the above verses, after providing doctrinal truths about the God who saves, prays for the Ephesians to grasp all that doctrinal truth, internalize it, and live in it. It is the application of truth to our hearts and minds that forms the bridge between right thinking about God and right living with God. Any thoughts about God that are according to our own ideas will leave us dead in our sin and under the penalty of death.

In other words, the moment you put your faith in Christ, who died for your sins according to the Scriptures and rose again, as proof of eternal life, you can share in all of the promises of God that are YES in Jesus Christ! Eternal life is a gift, given by God, to anyone who will put their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. This is called grace, because God is doing for us something we don’t deserve - paying a debt we cannot pay and offering a new life to be lived forever with Him. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Someone may have told you that there are many ways to get to heaven, or any number of paths to God; but this is not true. Jesus Christ is the only way to God. His death & resurrection made the way possible, and it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that you can come to know the Living, Eternal God. You are welcome to dismiss the historical evidences of Jesus, his life, death and resurrection, however it does not render the claims of biblical Christianity as being without evidence. The Bible quotes Jesus, speaking about Himself: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except by Me” (John 14:6)

According to the Bible, God offers to all, eternal life, and that life is yours if you will trust Jesus Christ as your Savior.

In all things we remain yours to answer any questions you might have.

We urge you to think on these things.

Close Window