The Good News!

Here’s some good news from God just for you! The one true God loves you, and cares about you more than most can imagine. This is not something new, but it is ‘good news’! God wants to have a personal relationship with you. Does this sound too good to be true? The Scriptures indicate that God the Son always existed, Jesus said, "‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’" (Rev. 1:8) To show how much He cares, God the Son became flesh, that is, He became a man. The Bible says with clarity, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:1&14) Do you see it now? God became a man and His name is Jesus. We may wonder, “Why did God become a man?” He told us why, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10b). God wants you to have ‘life… to the full’! He considers you to be valuable. He has a special interest in you and cares for you as an individual. That is good news! Do you still doubt it?

To see how much value God places on people, we can look in the book of Matthew (the first book in the New Testament):

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you O you of little faith?” (Matt. 6: 26-30)

Yes, it is true God loves you and values you; He cares about every minute detail of your life, even the smallest things that may not seem so important to you. Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matt.10:29-31)

Jesus became a man who was on a mission, a crusade of love for you and me. He said, “...the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) To be “lost” in the biblical sense of the word means we cannot find our way to God because of our sin. Sadly, we cannot comprehend or relate to Him who is gloriously holy. In Romans 3:23 we read this all-inclusive statement, “...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” Everyone, at some time or another, in some way, has demonstrated willful rebellion (in word, thought and/or deed) toward the loving God of all creation. This is what the Bible calls sin, and this is why we are lost. Left up to our selves we would never look for God, as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.” (Romans 3:10-11) Perhaps you have observed that this is not “good news”, to the contrary it is bad news. That is one reason why Jesus came, He is seeking us, He wants us to have a relationship with Him and escape this awful judgment.

Yes, my friends, the Bible speaks about judgment. Judgment is going to be met. We deserve judgment because of our sin. “How will this judgment be made?” one may ask. The Bible says, “...man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment...” (Heb 9:27) Each one of us has sinned individually. Those of us who die in our sin will be judged individually. “…God, who does not lie…” (Titus 1:2), and in accordance with His Word, has made it plain, we will all be JUDGED!!! We all have sinned, and therefore we all deserve death, condemnation (Hell). “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23a) It is our own sins that we will bring before the all seeing, holy and righteous Judge. Like skeletons from the closet, they will march before Him who knows every secret of our hearts. God cannot and will not allow sin into His holy heaven. This is not “good news” this is really bad news. Where then is the hope?

The good news is: the same God that cannot and will not allow sin into His heaven has provided a means of entry for every sinner. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) The Lord Jesus Christ took our place! We deserve eternal torment, but Jesus Christ, who knew no sin (cf. 2Cor. 5:21), and therefore was free from the consequences of sin (i.e. death and Hell), voluntarily took upon Himself our punishment. (See John 10:17-18) Now that is good news!

He took our place! He died for my sin! He died for your sin! Amazingly, after taking on the immense punishment of the sins of the world, He died and rose from the dead, showing his incredible power over the death that we deserve because of our sins. 1Cor. 15 records the following:

Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the good news I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this good news you are saved: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time... Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles...

Remember the two verses we pointed to earlier where Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” And, “...the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) With these in mind do you understand that God is… right now, seeking a relationship with you? This good news reaches all the way into the 21st century right to you just now. This is no fairy tale based on make believe that someone cleverly dreamed up. Many people saw Jesus live, die and then live again after he was dead for 3 days. This is serious business.

Ephesians 2: 8-9 proclaims: “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.” Someone that works or labors earns a wage. A reward is earned or merited in return for something one has done. A gift is not something one works for, nor is a gift something someone can earn. A gift is something given freely by the giver. A gift can either be received or rejected. To drive this point home, let’s look at an illustration from the Bible. Jesus said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3: 20) Notice, in order to eat with Him, it is not enough to hear His Word. One must open the door, too! Jesus and His gift must be received into our lives.

God is offering you the gift of eternal life. He alone can do this because of the judgment Christ took for you when He died on the cross. He also wants a Father/child relationship with you now, through Jesus Christ. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12). God, who made you, will give you a new heart that will be able to know Him and please Him. God’s Holy Spirit will live right in you if you accept His gift! John chapter 3 calls this a “spiritual birth” or being “born again.”

You may receive this precious gift right now! “As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2Cor.6:1-2).

Admit to God that you have sinned and are in need of His forgiveness.

Believe in your heart that the Lord Jesus Christ alone qualifies as Savior.

Confess with your mouth that He died for your sin and rose from the dead. (See Rom 10:9)

A good way to express your heart to God is to pray out loud something like this:
Dear God, I come to You just as I am, a sinner. I realize that You alone, Jesus, have paid the penalty that I deserve when you died on the cross. Thank You, Jesus for dying for my sins. I am opening to you the door of my life and I welcome You to come in. I want this free gift of forgiveness! Thank You God, that I can now call You Father, Amen

God knows your heart; He will hear your prayer.
When anyone believes the good news and accepts God’s gift, that person becomes saved (from life without God now, and Hell in the future). He/she is born again into a new relationship with God and a new family with all who are born-again! To get to know your heavenly Father, like in any other relationship, you must communicate with Him. The more someone communicates with God, the closer and more meaningful that heavenly relationship becomes.

God will speak to you through His Word the Bible. Read it as often as you can (you may wish to start with the book of John). Ask God to show you what He wants you to know about Himself, through His Word.

Prayer is talking to God. Remember to pray often (any time, any place). If your complete trust is in the resurrected Christ of the Bible, you are now a child of God. He delights in listening to you!
Go to a church where they teach and preach that the Bible alone is God’s Word, His complete and final authority to man. Once you find such a church, you will want to publicly declare your faith by being baptized (all believers should be immersed and added to a local church). This is also an act of obedience to your new Father (see Acts 2:41-42; Matt. 28:19-20).

Tell others of your new life and what God is doing for you. Believers will be encouraged, and unbelievers may want to know about Jesus Christ’s good-news gift and accept Him, just as you have!

Email me if:

• you have put your confidence in Jesus Christ and received His gift of forgiveness. We will delight with you, and send you some helpful literature if you wish.
• you have further questions. I will do my best to help you in any way I can.
• you live in the Toledo area and would like someone to call you or visit you.
  

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Questions and/or comments are welcomed and appreciated. All correspondences are confidential. They may be sent directly to the author who is solely responsible for the content herein. Publications on other topics are available upon request.
This publication may be copied and distributed in its entirety without consent or permission. “Freely you have received, freely give” Matt. 10:8.