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The Good News of Jesus Christ!
Are you tired of not being at peace with God? Would
you like to really know the truth? There is nothing more important than to know
where you are going when you die. Why are you here? What is your purpose in
life? If your purpose is found on this earth, then you're settling for way too
little! Let me tell you about something far better!
I invite you to investigate who Jesus Christ is and what He has done . .
. .
For the wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)
- God's Purpose for Man: Intimacy with Him
God created us to be in perfect, intimate fellowship with Him forever (Gen 1:27). So He
created us to bear His very likeness by setting eternity in our hearts (Eccl 3:11): a
desire for fellowship with Him (Psa 73:25). Thus, by creating us, He established His great
love for us (1 John 3:1a).
- (Gen 1:27 NIV) So God created man in his own image, in the image of
God he created him; male and female he created them.
- (Eccl 3:11 NIV) He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has
also set eternity in the hearts of men.
- (Psa 73:25 NIV) Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I
desire besides you.
- (1 John 3:1a NIV) How great is the love the Father has lavished on us.
- God is Holy
God is holy (Isa 6:3, Rev 15:4), and cannot stand to have sin in His presence (1 John
1:5). Since He desires to have us in His perfectly sinless presence, God must
require perfect holiness from us (1 Pet 1:16). Otherwise, we could not be in the
presence of a holy God.
- (Isa 6:3 NIV) And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy,
holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
- (Rev 15:4 NIV) Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your
name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your
righteous acts have been revealed."
- (1 John 1:5 NIV) This is the message we have heard from him and
declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
- (1 Pet 1:16 NIV) for it is written: "Be holy, because I am
holy."
- All Have Sinned
We all have sinned against God (Rom 3:23), every one of us (Rom 3:10-12), by
going our own way--by being our own authority (Isa 53:6a). Therefore, our sins force us to
be separated from Him (Isa 59:2). We cannot be in His presence with even the slightest
of sins, because He is perfectly holy.
- (Rom 3:23 NIV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
- (Rom 3:10-12 NIV) As it is written: "There is no one righteous,
not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away,
they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
- (Isa 53:6a NIV) We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has
turned to his own way
- (Isa 59:2 NIV) But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
- God's Justice: Sin's Penalty is Death
Because of God's perfect justice, He demands punishment for our sins. The only
acceptable punishment for even the slightest sin is death (Gen 2:17), which is everlasting
torment and destruction (2 Th 1:8-9) where we waste away in hell (Mat 13:41-42, Isa
64:6-7). God cannot have it any other way: God cannot grant life to a sinful
man without sufficient payment for his sins without compromising His perfect justice.
- (Gen 2:17 NIV) you must not eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
- (2 Th 1:8-9 NIV) He will punish those who do not know God and do not
obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and
shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.
- (Mat 13:41-42 NIV) The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they
will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will
throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- (Isa 64:6-7NIV) All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all
our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind
our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you
have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.
- Salvation Not by Works
We cannot be saved by our own righteous deeds or efforts, because
- We are spiritually dead in our sins (Eph 2:1), slaves
to our sins (Rom 6:16), and as faithless slaves, we are unable to please God, no matter
what (Heb 11:6a).
- Even our best righteous acts don't help us at all, because our
works and grace are mutually exclusive: They "cancel" each other out (Rom
11:6).
- If there was anything we could do to earn our own salvation, then God's
gift of eternal life would no longer be a gift (Rom 6:23b); God would be under obligation
to save us.
- God looks at our broken and sinful hearts, not our "righteous"
acts (Isa 1:11, 15-16, Ps 51:17).
- God saves us based on His grace alone through faith alone
(Titus 3:5a, Eph 2:8-9)
- To the extent that I am saved by my merits is the extent that I can boast
in my own works. But Paul says that we have no reason to boast (Rom 3:27-28).
Therefore, I cannot be saved by my merits at all.
- (Eph 2:1 NIV) As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins
- (Rom 6:16 NIV) Don't you know that when you offer
yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you
obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to
righteousness?
- (Heb 11:6a NIV) And without faith it is impossible
to please God
- (Rom 11:6 NIV) And if by grace, then it is no
longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
- (Rom 6:23b NIV) the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
- (Isa 1:11, 15-16 NIV) "The multitude of your
sacrifices-- what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of
burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood
of bulls and lambs and goats . . . . When you spread out your hands in prayer, I
will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands
are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight!
Stop doing wrong
- (Ps 51:17 NIV) The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- (Titus 3:5a NIV) he saved us, not because of righteous things we had
done, but because of his mercy.
- (Eph 2:8-9 NIV) 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.
- (Rom 3:27-28 NIV) Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what
principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a
man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
- God's Mercy: Jesus Christ, The Mediator
God created us to have an intimate relationship with Him, but we sinned, thus banning
us from His presence, and sentencing us to death. But because of God's great love
for His children (John 3:16), He provided a way for us to be saved (John 14:6).
Because God is perfectly holy, He could not compromise on His justice, so He allowed His
One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, to be crushed on the Cross in our place, to pay
the penalty of our sins (Rom 3:25-26). God's love is so great that He died
even while we were still sinners (Rom 5:8). Then, God resurrected Jesus in
order to give us His risen life and a living hope (Eph 2:4-5, 1 Pet 1:3). Clothed
in the righteousness of Christ alone (Gal 3:27), God's children may enjoy eternal
life with Him. In this way, Christ became the Righteous Mediator (1 Tim 2:5-6), bridging
the gap of sin between God and man.
- (John 3:16 NIV) "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 14:6 NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
- (Rom 3:25-26 NIV) God presented him as a sacrifice
of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because
in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to
demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus.
- (Rom 5:8 NIV) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- (Eph 2:4-5 NIV) But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich
in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by
grace you have been saved.
- (1 Pet 1:3 NIV) Praise be to the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
- (Gal 3:27) for all of you who were baptized into
Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
- (1 Tim 2:5-6 NIV) For there is one God and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony
given in its proper time.
- Summary
- God wants to have eternal fellowship with you.
- God is holy, and demands that you be holy.
- THE BAD NEWS: You are not holy because you are a sinner.
- Because you are a sinner, you have been sentenced to die.
- But . . . There's still hope!
- THE GOOD NEWS: God took the sentence of death upon Himself by dying
on the Cross in my place!
- My sins have been forgiven because God's justice was satisfied by the
death of Jesus.
- Through Jesus, I can have eternal fellowship with God! Isn't this
GOOD NEWS?
- Wouldn't you like to know how to finally get right with God?
- How Do I Get Right With God?
You must come to God on His terms:
- Confess that you are a wretched sinner before a holy God. Admit
that you cannot save yourself, and that you need Jesus to save you.
(Rom 10:9a NIV) That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord . . ."
- Believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins, thus
granting you forgiveness, and that God freely gives you the righteousness of Christ
through His resurrection.
(Rom 10:9b NIV) . . . and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is
with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
- Entrust your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Let Him reign
in your life!
(Gal 5:24 NIV) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with
its passions and desires.
(Mat 16:24 NIV) Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he
must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
- Am I Truly Saved?
If you prayed to God, confessing your sins, believing in Christ, and entrusting your life
to Him, then God promises you eternal life! You can be sure of your
salvation!
- (1 John 5:13 NIV) I write these things to you who believe in the name
of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
- (John 5:24 NIV) "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and
believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over
from death to life.
- (1 Pet 1:3-4 NIV) Praise be to the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can
never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you
- (Rom 8:1 NIV) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus,
- (Rom 8:35, 37-39 NIV) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced
that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the
future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will
be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Welcome to the Family of God!
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