Good News

the Gospel is Good News.

Literally. That’s what the word “gospel” actually means–which is why I’m so excited about Jesus: because He is good news.

paradise lost

God created us to worship Him. He designed us to thrive by being in relationship with Him. We lived in perfect paradise and harmony in a perfect world. But Adam and Eve–the first humans God created–chose not to trust God’s righteous decree to enjoy all of creation except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They disobeyed Him, and sin entered the heart of mankind. Because of their decision, all of humanity is sinful by nature and the world is broken as a result of our wickedness. (We see that today in big ways like murder, prejudice, abuse, hatred, and seemingly smaller ones like pride, lust, jealousy, gossip, lying, etc.) That perfect relationship was broken by our disobedience against God. God is holy (which means set apart) and just, and He can’t be associated with our sin (that is: our offense against wonderful, perfect, Almighty God). Our sin against Him demands His justice and punishment. Humanity was separated from God because we rebelled against Him. (Genesis 1-3; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1-3, 4:18)

good works ≠ peace with God

Naturally we love sin, but it only brings death. Even if we try to live decent lives, no matter how “good” we try to be, we can never achieve holiness to be accepted by God. Our goodness is like filthy rags We’re totally incapable of earning our way into God’s favor. We can’t become holy by trying to be a good person or doing the “right” things. And since He’s Judge, we deserve the rightful consequence for every single sin: eternal punishment and God’s wrath in Hell. (Psalm 9:7-8; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 2:2-5; Ephesians 2:1-3; James 2:10; Revelation 21:8)

But the story doesn’t end there.

enter: Jesus

But God loves us so deeply that He restored the relationship we broke for His glory and our good. He had absolutely no reason to, except out of His mercy and grace. The Lord did this by sending His Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life as fully God and fully man here on earth. Even though Jesus was tempted just like us, He never sinned. As God, He lived a life that was truly good. When He was put to death on a cross (a criminal’s tortuous death), He took on all the wrath of God for the sins of those He would save. On the third day God raised Him to life. (John 1:14, 3:16; Matthew 27-28; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:6; 8:3-4; 1 Peter 2:24)

redeemed

Because Jesus bore our shame on the cross, we can wear His righteousness. By cancelling the debt of our sin, He credited us with His righteousness. The cross bridged the cavern between us and God. By repenting of our sins, surrendering to Christ as Lord, and believing that God resurrected Jesus, we not only are forgiven of every single sin–past, present, and future–but we can walk in freedom even in this broken world. Once we place our faith and hope in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, to convict us of our old, sin-loving ways and empower us to honor God, Who gave Himself up for us. We have the joyful anticipation of spending eternity with God in perfect relationship, worshipping Him forever and ever in Heaven and the new earth. Until then, we have the privilege of sharing this GOOD NEWS of God’s mercy and grace with others!!! (Psalm 103:10-13; Matthew 28:19-21; John 1:12; Acts 13:38-39; Romans 5:1-11, 6:23, 10:9, 13:14; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 1:13-14; Philippians 1:21; Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 1:9)

How to become a follower of Jesus

Becoming a disciple or follower of Jesus means accepting this incredible free gift of salvation and forgiveness by turning away from sin and instead trusting in and pursuing Christ. There’s no magical or specially-worded vow to begin a relationship with Jesus. It’s a prayer: a conversation with God in a confession of repentance and belief. To make that decision, in your own words, looks like this:

ADMIT – Admit you’re a sinner. You need Christ. It all starts with looking inward and seeing no matter how good you try to be or how you chase after happiness, you’re dead inside. We’re lost. We’re broken. We’re doomed without God. We’re desperately wicked. We have to realize and fully acknowledge we need a Savior in order to be saved. (1 John 1:8)

BELIEVE – Believe in your heart that Jesus, the Son of God, lived a perfect life, was crucified, buried, and risen back to life on the third day to bear the punishment for your sins that you deserved, but Jesus mercifully took on instead so that you could be made right with God. (John 3:16, 6:40; Acts 2:21)

CONFESS – Confess that this is true. Your decision to follow Christ is an acceptance of your identity bought by Jesus and a declaration of Who you’re living for: the God Who saved you. Genuine belief will spur on actions, to live for Jesus and like Jesus and share the good news (the Gospel) of Jesus with others. Genuine believe will bear fruit. (Romans 10:9; 1 Timothy 6:12; Galatians 5:16-26; 2 Peter 1:3-11)

It’s the absolute BEST decision you will ever make.

I would love to help you get plugged into solid resources that will cultivate your relationship with Christ or help you further understand what the Gospel is! You can email contact me here. 

No matter what you’ve done, no matter what you’ve faced or will go through in this life, Jesus has overcome, and He will comfort and sustain His people through it all. And His love never changes. Even though we still struggle with sin, we’re no longer slaves to it. We’re bound to righteousness because of Christ our Savior. He is gracious, forgiving, merciful, and faithful. All who are His are adopted into His family as children of God. He will never leave or forsake those who are His. (John 1:12-13; Romans 6:6-7, 6:14; Ephesians 1:5-6; Hebrews 13:5).