The word gospel means “Good News.”
The Bible explains the gospel this way: “God so loved the world (you), that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
You might think of life as a journey. It begins miraculously in the womb of a mother and continues as a pilgrimage through life’s experiences. The importance of this journey is that we only travel it one time and the outcomes have eternal significance.
Where are you in your spiritual journey today?
The Good News is that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life! As you travel down the road of life, there are options, detours, mile markers, and forks in the road. With each intersection or bend, there are decisions you must make as you progress toward your destination. These decisions will determine where you end up. Here are just a few of the detours that you might be faced with as you travel life’s road:
– Have you ever used God’s name in vain?
– Have you ever told a lie?
– Have you ever stolen anything?
– Have you ever looked at the opposite sex with lust?
If the answer is yes, then you are guilty of violating God’s law. You have “missed the mark” of God’s standard and the Bible calls that “sin.”
Who falls guilty into the guilty category?
The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:10 teaches that “…there is none righteous, no, not one.” In James 2:10 we read, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
The word picture here could represent a person in the courtroom. You have kept some of the laws, but you have violated many. Suppose you just broke two of God’s laws a day, that would be 730 violations a year; or for 10 years, 7,300; or 14,600 for 20 years. Could you plead innocent before God who is judge and jury and prosecuting attorney?
The penalty for sin, or violating God’s law, is stated in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” Physical death is separation of the body from the soul. Spiritual death is separation of the body, soul, and spirit from God – that is eternal ruin. Very simply, there is no way you can take your sin to heaven, for if you did, it would no longer be heaven!
How do you escape God’s judgment and receive forgiveness for your sins?
How can you cross that gulf that separates you from God? The “Good News” is that God has graciously provided a solution, a salvation from the penalty of your sin through the death of Jesus Christ in your place on the cross. In 750 BC, the prophet Isaiah spoke of a coming Messiah: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)
Seven centuries later, John the Baptist declared of Jesus Christ, “…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29b) The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In I Peter 3:18, the Apostle Peter wrote, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”
These verses are the road signs pointing us to salvation. The birth, the life, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ as he returned to heaven is the demonstration of the grace of God to man. This gracious provision of salvation from the penalty of your sin is accomplished when you, by faith, invite Jesus into your life as your Saviour, who saves you from your guilt and sin. The Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – Not of works, lest anyone should boast.” And the Lord Jesus added this assurance in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me; and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out.”
How can you change the destination of your life’s journey?
Would you, right now, in simple faith, trust the Lord Jesus for your salvation? He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) The Scriptures promise “That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)
I trust this brief journey has brought you, not a religion, a philosophy, but to the Person of Jesus Christ. His invitation to you stands open: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and dine with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)
The Bible is God’s roadmap to Heaven. Read it to be wise, believe it to be joyful, practice it to be holy, obey it to be safe.
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)
THE GOOD NEWS is: God loves YOU and has a wonderful plan for YOUR life!
For further encouragement, please read our Missions To Military booklet “You Owe It to Yourself.”
Do you have questions about what the gospel means for you? Please send us a message! We would love to talk with you!
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