God's Good News

The God of heaven has made all things through his word and by his power he has blessed us all with life and breath and everything. [God gave us life as a spirit with a body (Genesis 2:7).] God gave us life so that we could have a loving relationship with him and others. However, ever since the beginning of the world, all men have turned away from God (Romans 3:12) because we have all broken God's righteous laws, which is sin (Romans 3:23, 1 John 3:4, 1 John 1:8). [If we have ever committed a sin (eg, lying, stealing, coveting another's possessions, etc.) in our lives then we are not innocent but we are guilty of breaking God's laws.] God gave us the responsibility of ruling over his world (Genesis 1:26) but due to our sinful nature, we flooded the Earth with sin and we failed to live according to God's perfect standard. [We are all tainted with a sinful nature, however, our sinful nature does not give us the right to commit a sin.]

Since God is perfect, his perfect justice demands punishment as the payment for all sin (Job 10:14). [Justice is the law of punishing wrongdoing and protecting the innocent. God will not simply let every sin go unpunished because God is a perfect judge and God has even higher standards than a human judge. God demands justice to prove that all sin is wrong and to prove his divine hatred for sin.] Due to God's love and temperance, he has been holding back the due punishment of wrath for our sins even though his hatred for every sin is eternal (Nahum 1:3, Joel 2:13). [God hates all sin because God is good and sin is evil. Every single sin is a serious offense to God because every time we commit a sin we are insulting God's laws (Leviticus 26:15-39).] We are all guilty of sin and since God is perfect and just, he can not deny his justice in the judgment of any sin (Job 8:3-4, Job 34:12). [Even all our good deeds can not take away the fact that we are guilty of committing sin (Isaiah 64:6) and God demands punishment for all sin because God is a perfect judge. God will not simply forgive every sinner without demanding punishment because God is too righteous to neglect bringing justice against any sin and God's mercy can not cancel out his justice.] Therefore, since God is a righteous judge and since he can not let any sin go unpunished, how can we possibly escape penalization from God's judgment (Job 25:4-6)? Due to God's love and wisdom, he devised a perfect plan to save us (Titus 2:11). [Instead of destroying mankind immediately after we sinned, God was compassionate enough to make a plan for us to be saved from our sins. God made a plan that would demonstrate both his perfect justice and his perfect mercy through Jesus' death and resurrection.]

Jesus the Christ became a man (John 1:14, Philippians 2:6-8) and God sent him into the world to freely lay down his sinless life as the perfect sacrifice to pay the fine for our sins and the sins of the whole world so that we might be saved through him (1 John 2:2, John 14:6, John 3:16-17, John 10:15,17-18, 1 John 3:5, Matthew 1.21, Acts 10:43). [Jesus is named the "Christ" which means "Anointed One" because God was pleased with him enough to anoint him with his Holy Spirit and with all power over creation (Colossians 1:19-20, Acts 10:38, Colossians 1:15-20, Matthew 28:18). Jesus is the visible representation of the invisible God because the fullness of God is connected to him (Colossians 1:15-19, Hebrews 1:3). Jesus Christ was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2) and he was sent into the world in the form of a man but he did not inherit the sinful nature of men because he was revealed by the power of God's Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35).] The life of a man is in the blood (Leviticus 17:14) and Jesus' blood was shed when he died for us on a cross so that his perfectly righteous life might replace our sinful lives (Romans 3:25). And, through Jesus Christ, God has made the bridge for us to cross over from death to eternal life (John 5:24). [The consequence of sin is death but the gift of God through Jesus Christ is eternal life (Romans 6:23).] Jesus' body became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and Jesus kindly accepted God's wrath for sin on the cross by suffering death in his body (Isaiah 53:4-6). [Jesus' body on the cross was the representation of sin and the shamefulness of sin. Jesus showed the perfect humility by accepting crucifixion so that we might be saved through his sacrifice and the reason why Jesus did this for us was because he loved us more than his own honor (Philippians 2:6-11, Ephesians 3:18-19).] Therefore, God's wrath for sin was paid in full through the death of Jesus' body so that we might be justified in God's presence (Romans 3:25-26, Romans 8:3). [God is so holy and so righteous that we can not even stand in his heavenly presence unless our sins are taken away and Jesus sacrificed his body so that our sins of the past, present, and future might be put to death through his body (John 1:29, Hebrews 9:28).]

God is righteousness and he hates unrighteousness therefore he wants us to become righteous like him through the perfect righteousness of God's Son, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). [The term "Son of God" is a metaphor used of Jesus Christ to emphasize his close, spiritual relationship with God and to acknowledge the fact that he came from God (John 8:42, John 17:8).] And, since Jesus humbly died for us, God raised him from the dead on the third day (Acts 10:38-40, Luke 24:45-46), giving proof to all men that Jesus was sent to save us (1 John 4:14, 1 Timothy 1:15), and now he sits at the right hand of God (Hebrews 1:3, Mark 16:19). [Even though Jesus' body died, his Spirit lived. And, God rewarded Jesus' sinless life and his sacrifice by giving Jesus the power to rise from the dead to a new life in a glorified body. After Jesus' resurrection, he ascended to the right hand of God in heaven.] Also, since sin and death were defeated through Jesus' death and resurrection, God has given him authority to judge the world (Acts 10:41-43, 2 Timothy 4:1, Matthew 28:18). And, God has appointed a day when Jesus will come to the world to resurrect the dead and judge our lives according to every deed (Acts 17:31, 2 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Peter 4:5). [At the resurrection, everyone who is connected to Jesus Christ will rise to a sinless, new life in a glorified body and they will receive the reward for their good deeds (Daniel 12:2-3, Luke 14:14). But, everyone who remains connected to sin will rise to receive the punishment of God's wrath and anger (Daniel 12:2, Romans 2:8, 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10).] Due to God's love and generosity, he will grant us eternal life in the kingdom of God if we choose to repent of our sins and believe the good news of Jesus Christ that he has declared (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:21, Romans 6:23). [Repentance is the act of offering God the spiritual sacrifice of a contrite heart towards our sins which causes us to turn away from sin (Psalms 51:17, Isaiah 57:15, Ezekiel 18:31-32). Faith in the good news of Jesus Christ is the illustration of our acceptance of Jesus' life into our hearts.]

Sin proves our unfaithfulness to God but Jesus' sacrifice and victory over death proves God's love and faithfulness to us (2 Timothy 2:13, 1 Corinthians 1:9). By nature, we are all sinful and because of our sins God is very grieved and angry. But, due to God's love and mercy, he promises to forgive all our sins if we repent (1John 1:9, Isaiah 55:7, Psalm 130:1-4) and believe his good news in our hearts. This is his good news: God's Son, Jesus Christ, who had a sinless nature, laid down his life on the cross as the sacrifice for sin and God raised him to life so that we might have life through him (John 10:10, 1 John 4:9, John 20:31, John 14:6). Due to God's love and patience, he is waiting so that we all might accept his plan of salvation before the day that Jesus comes to bring perfect justice to the world (2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:3-4, Romans 2:4). [God commands us to be humble enough to repent of our sins (Acts 17:30, Luke 18:9-14) and put our faith in the good news of Jesus Christ because this is the only requirement for salvation (Romans 10:9-13, John 6:28-29).] And, only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can take away our sins (John 1:29, 1 John 2:2) so that, on the Day of Judgment, we can have freedom from the wrath of God (John 3:36, Romans 8:1). [Jesus offered us his sinless life and he defeated death by rising from the dead so that we might rise to a sinless, new life just as he rose to a new life, and therefore if we have Jesus' innocent life then we will be acquitted of all accusations on the Day of Judgment.] If we repent and trust in Jesus Christ then God will bless us with a new nature and a new life so that we can have a friendly relationship with God (2 Corinthians 5:17). [Spiritually, God will bless us with a new nature and a new life when we come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. And physically, this will happen to those who belong to Jesus when Jesus comes to the world.]

While we were sinning and doing everything contrary to God, he still gave proof of his love and compassion to us through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:6-8). [Sin is everything contrary to the righteous nature of God because sin is unrighteousness and every single sin is a sign of disobedience, rebellion, and lawlessness.] The living God testifies that the whole world is imperfect but he is perfect and since he is perfect, his love is also perfect. This is how God has shown us the glory of his love: God sent his greatest possession (his only Son) to become a sacrifice in order to offer us the greatest favor (eternal life) even while we were unrighteous and unfaithful to God (John 3:16-17, 1 John 4:9-10). [We did not deserve to have Jesus Christ come down from heaven as a man to lay down his life for us because we have sinned and broken God's laws and we have done the very things that God hates, but despite our sins, God still offers eternal life to us through Jesus Christ to prove that he is good and to prove his divine love for us.] By this act of grace, God has revealed his perfect nature by showing us the highest degree of love. This love is much greater than all the things of this world including all the riches, pleasures, and traditions because the things of this world will not last forever but the grace that God offers us through Jesus Christ is an eternal gift (Romans 6:23, 1 John 2:16-17, Mark 8:36-37). And, if this act was never done then we could never realize the full extent of God's love.

Due to God's love and impartiality, he proclaims his eternal good news to all creation (Mark 16:15, Acts 10:34-35). And, God's good news is not a matter of opinion but it is the truth that God testified to (John 5:31-37, John 18:37) so that we might have peace with him through the mediator, Jesus Christ, who offered us his life to pay the fine for our sins (1 Timothy 2:5-6, Romans 5:1, 1 Peter 3:18). [Sin separated us from God and sin made us enemies of God but even while we were still sinners, God loved us enough to send Jesus Christ into the world to provide relief from our sin debt and to restore peace to our relationship with God so that if we live with Jesus Christ, we can be worthy to stand before God and live forever in God's kingdom.] Jesus has given us his testimony, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever walks in me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). God has given us the evidence of Jesus' resurrection and the evidence of perfect love. That is how we can have confidence that this testimony is the truth that came from God who is perfect. But, if any testimony conflicts with this testimony of God's perfect love then it is a imperfect testimony because it does not accept God's perfect nature therefore it can only come from the imperfect mind of a sinner.

We were born without any knowledge and when we became older we gained some knowledge but if we understand the love of God, then we have reached the pinnacle of knowledge (Ephesians 3:19). We have all turned away from God who gave us everything but God has given his good news to the world so that we might appreciate his compassionate love and turn back to him for salvation. And, the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12, John 14:6) and in him our souls can rest (Matthew 11:28). [The only way for us to be saved from our sins is through Jesus Christ and his payment, because no other sinless man offered us his life but Jesus Christ is the only sinless man and he is the only one who died for us and rose from the dead so that if we hold on to his life, we can be saved.]

Through repentance and faith in God's Son and heir, Jesus Christ, God gives us spiritual birth so that we can become God's children (John 1:12) and heirs (Romans 8:17). [Through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, God's Holy Spirit will live with our spirits and renew our spirits so that our spirits will be born again (John 3:1-8, Ephesians 1:13-14, Galatians 3:14, Acts 15:7-9). The Holy Spirit is connected to all the followers of Jesus Christ and his power guides them into all truth (John 16:13-15, 1 Corinthians 2:12-13) and he gives them the power to rise to a new life (Romans 8:11).] And, if we become God's children and heirs then we will have the hope of inheriting eternal glory and prosperity in the kingdom of God (Romans 8:17, 2 Corinthians 8:9). The God of heaven truly wants to have a loving relationship with us through Jesus Christ and he is willing to make our joy complete with his unfailing love. If you want eternal life, if you want the inheritance of God's kingdom, and if you want to be part of God's family then call upon God from your heart for forgiveness of sins and confess your acceptance of Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9, Psalms 145:18). You can pray this prayer:

Dear God, I'm guilty of sin, have mercy on me, forgive me for all my sins. I believe Jesus died for me and rose from the dead and today I accept Jesus as the Lord of my life. Help me to turn away from my sins and help me to follow Jesus. I want to be with you forever, fill me with your Holy Spirit. Thank you for being so good and thank you for giving me the promise of salvation. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

If you have prayed this prayer then rejoice! All your sins have been forgiven! You have been accepted into the family of God! Please contact us so that we can email you more information to help you grow in your faith and get closer to God.

If you decided to reject God's gift of salvation through Jesus Christ then you are headed to a place of torment called Hell, also known as the Lake of Fire (Revelations 20:15). And, that would be the eternal punishment for your sins because there is no other way to be saved (Acts 4:12).