Your greatest need is to know God and be rightly related to Him. There is an eternity ahead of us beyond this life. How you relate to God will determine your fate, either good or bad. The opportunity for rightly relating to God is found only in one message: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel means “good news”. The gospel is the good news God has revealed to mankind that we may find forgiveness, restoration, peace, life, and communion with our Creator through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. What does all of this mean?
Who is God?
To understand the gospel, it helps to understand the nature and character of God. As to God’s nature, God exists as a Trinity of three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who all share the same nature/essence and are all therefore God. One famous Christian confession, using Scripture, defines God as “a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” As to God’s character, two particular attributes of God bear significant relevance in understanding the gospel. First, God is perfectly loving. God reveals Himself as a Father to mankind who knows and cares for us. Even when we are wicked and totally rebellious to God, He loves us still. Second, God is morally perfect by His very nature. He cannot do wrong or compromise righteousness in any way. This includes being perfect in justice as ruler over the world. He will always punish evil and reward righteousness. A local judge in your town would not be considered a good judge if he let criminals go free without recompense. God has promised that He will not.
Who is man?
It is also important to understand who we are in light of who God is. The world is an evil and unrighteous place full of turmoil, guilt, shame, fear, and more. All you need to do is turn on the news or social media to see violence, hatred, greed, envy, lust, and all kinds of evil. This is because we are evil. If we are honest with ourselves, we have all rebelled against God’s law and acted unrighteously. God has revealed what is good and righteous in our consciences and in the Scriptures that He has given us, yet we have set it aside for our own interests and sinful desires. This includes you. Have you ever lied, cheated, stolen, lusted, spoken with vulgar language, etc.?
The Dilemma We Face
The sad reality is that we are all guilty before God, the supreme judge of the world. We are all in desperate need for forgiveness and pardon. The punishment for rebellion to God is death. Ever since mankind rebelled against God, death has reigned over us all. What’s worse is what awaits the rebel after earthly death—the eternal judgment of a holy God. As stated before, God will always punish evil. But we must not forget that at the same time He is perfectly loving, always seeking our good. God desires death for no one, even the wicked person! How do we reconcile this? How can a dirty and rebellious sinner like me be related to a perfect and holy God? How can God be both just and forgive sinners who deserve death?
The Way Out: Jesus Christ
The answer is found in The Son of God, Jesus Christ. 2000 years ago, in Israel came a Man by the name of Jesus of Nazareth. He performed mighty miracles of God, taught with unmatched authority, preached that people should turn from their sins and live for God, claimed to be the very Son of God—God incarnate—and even claimed that His life would be given up to death for the forgiveness of our sins, yours and mine. Let me explain. God’s justice requires payment for sin, which is death. Remember: God will not let sin go unpunished. However, in God’s great love, He has provided a way of escape from judgement for our sins through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, The Son of God.
His Life
Jesus, as God and man, had all of the weaknesses of man while maintaining moral perfection. He was not without trials and temptation, but He was without sin. It had to be this way because He could not offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, to die in our place, if He Himself had sins to die for. He was the sinless and therefore perfect sacrifice. No one else could accomplish this.
His Death
As hinted at already, Jesus’s death was a sacrificial death in our place. We deserve death, and God demands justice. Jesus, having no sin of His own to die for, willfully took our place and died the death we deserve so that the full penalty for sin would fall upon Him instead of us. He suffered under the wrath and judgment of God so that we would not have to. His death occurred on a Roman cross in about AD 33, but it bears the utmost significance and relevance for us all today.
His Resurrection
His death is not the end of the story for God mightily raised Jesus from the dead as the truly most remarkable event in history. This is crucial for at least three reasons. 1. Jesus’ resurrection proved that all of His claims are true. God would not have raised a lying, false prophet. 2. The resurrection proved that God had accepted Jesus’ sacrifice as an atonement for our sin, which is the best news we could ever have. 3. Jesus’ resurrection gives us a hint of what we will have in eternity when God raises believers from the dead and gives them new resurrection bodies to live in eternal glory with God.
Our Response
But not everyone ends up being with God in eternity. Many people still reject God and reject the offer of forgiveness that He provides. On the other hand, there are many people who try to earn forgiveness from God through righteous deeds, but this won’t work. Why? Because we should have been living righteously anyway! Besides, good deeds do not cancel the debt I owe for my sin. So, what must we do with this gracious offer God has provided? God commands us to confess our sins, humbling ourselves enough to admit that we are sinful and in critical need of forgiveness, and believe in Jesus Christ. We must recognize and believe that Jesus Christ is who He said He is, and trust in everything He has accomplished on our behalf. So, don’t waste another day. Go to God in prayer, admit all of your wrongdoings before Him, ask God to forgive you, and confess your faith that Jesus Christ died for your sins and was raised from the dead.
Living as a Follower of Jesus
I pray that you take this seriously and come to a living faith in Jesus Christ. Once you have, praise God! You now have a new life in Christ. The old you has died as Christ died, and you have been “raised” to new life as Christ was raised. Upon becoming a true believer in Jesus, God changes your heart. You receive new desires, new affections, new ways of thinking that you didn’t have before. You are a new person. Well, how shall we then live? There are a few key things that are essential to a godly life as a disciple of Jesus.
Baptism
Jesus commands all of His followers to be baptized upon becoming a follower of Him. This is an act of immersion in water and is a public identification with Jesus Christ, signifying His death and resurrection as well as your “death” and “resurrection”.
Bible Study
God has revealed Himself generally through creation, which gives us a limited knowledge of God’s existence and power. More importantly for this discussion, God has revealed Himself more specifically through Jesus Christ and the Scriptures that have been handed down to us. This means that you need to purchase yourself a Bible and begin studying it to learn more about God. There are plenty of resources available to guide you through the Bible. (It can be challenging your first time!) It is very critical that you not only devote your heart to God in righteousness but also devote your mind to God in wisdom, knowledge, and truth.
Prayer
Prayer is simply speaking to God. This is how we praise God, request help from God, intercede for others, and more. God speaks to us through the written Scriptures, and we speak to God in prayer. Lest there be any confusion, prayer is just literally using your mouth and speaking to God. Prayer is essential to the life of the believer. When we need help, God is there to hear our requests. When we want to thank God for His goodness, He is there to hear our thanks.
Joining a Local Church
God wills for us to join a local church and be united with believers for the sake of living out the kingdom of God. This includes partaking of the sacraments; learning Christian doctrine, philosophy, and living; prayer; growing in godliness; fellowship and friendship; and more. If you are in the Hall County area of North Georgia, please contact us here at Flat Creek Baptist Church! We would love to walk alongside of you and pursue God with you.
Evangelism
With a heart for other people comes the task of evangelism. God desires that all people be saved, and God calls us to spread the good news so that other may be related to God through the gospel. This means that we should live in such a way that promotes the gospel message and gets the word to as many people as we can including friends, family, co-workers, neighbors—everyone!
Doubts or Questions?
Do you have any doubts or questions? Maybe this sounds like a lot to take in and you need some help understanding it. Maybe this sounds mythical and irrational to you, and you’d like to hear some evidence. (You may be surprised at how reasonable a Christian worldview is!) Maybe you are ready to believe but want some guidance. Please feel free to reach out to me, and I will try my best to help.
Parker Shope
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 678 997 9559