What is The Good News? What does it mean to be saved and know God thru the Lord Jesus Christ?
Please consider the following summary:
Does this make sense to you? Do you desire the joy and gladness that only comes from knowing God personally? Do you yearn to be delivered from the misery and eternal penalty of sin? Do you hunger to be satisfied with all that God promises to be for you through His Son, Jesus? If so, there is every indication God is at work in your life.
What should you do? Turn away from the deceitful promises of sin. Call upon Jesus to save you from guilt, punishment, and bondage. “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Start banking your hope on all that God is for you in Jesus. Break the power of sin’s promises by faith in the superior satisfaction of God’s promises. Begin reading the Bible to find His precious and very great promises which can set you free (2 Peter 1:3-4). Find a Bible believing church and begin to worship and grow together with other people who treasure Christ above all things (Philippians 3:7).
**Segments of the above summary of the Gospel were written by John Piper (Desiring God Ministries). If you have any questions about how you can become a Christian, or want help in knowing how to live the Christian life, please contact us at Redding Community Bible Church.
- God created us for his glory:
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.” (Romans 11:36) “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.” (1 Timothy 1:17)
To say that God created us for His glory is simply to say He made us to make much of Him ... to esteem and value Him as the most wonderful, awesome, amazing Person there is. In other words, God made us to be worshippers of Himself, not ourselves ... to magnify His great worth, not our great worth ... to treasure His approval, not necessarily the approval of others. - Every one of us should live for God’s glory:
“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
If God created us for His glory, it is clear that we should live for His glory. More than that, we must live for His glory! This is the great duty and responsibility of every person, and, to not do so is to commit high treason against the glorious King of the Universe. Thus, Scripture commands us to “delight yourselves in the Lord ... trust in the Lord and do good ... rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:4, 3, 7). - All of us have failed to glorify God as we should:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
What does it mean to “fall short of the glory of God?” Rather than meaning that we have fallen short of being as glorious as He, it means we have exchanged (“traded in”) the glory (the worth) of God for any number of other things (Romans 1:21-23). In other words, rather than being satisfied with Him and living for Him, we have sought satisfaction elsewhere and have lived for other things. This “high treason” is an appalling offense to the greatness of God (Jeremiah 2:12-13). - All of us are subject to God’s just condemnation:
“For the wages of sin is death...” (Romans 6:23)
Through our belittling the glory (worth) of God, God is just (right) in shutting us out from the enjoyment of His glory forever. “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). More than that, those who are finally condemned will experience the eternal outpouring of God’s wrath upon themselves in hell (Revelation 14:10-11). Hell is a sobering serious reality, and those who ignore the biblical warnings regarding hell do so at their own peril. If the Bible stopped here in its analysis of the human condition, we would all be doomed to a hopeless future. However, this is not where it stops... - God sent His only son Jesus to provide eternal life and joy:
“It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...” (1 Timothy 1:15)
The good news is that Christ Jesus died for the unjust so that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus accomplished this by living fully for the glory (worth) of God and through being crucified as a substitute sacrifice for those who have failed to live for God’s glory. To God the Father Jesus said, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4). And, speaking of His own impending suffering and death, Jesus likewise said, “Father, glorify your name” (John 12:28). In His physical resurrection from the dead, Jesus validated the saving power of his death and opened the gates of eternal life and joy (1 Corinthians 15:20). Therefore, because Jesus upheld the glory (worth) of God in His life, death, and resurrection, God can acquit guilty sinners and still be just, or, true to Himself (Romans 3:25- 26). - The benefits purchased by the death of Christ belong to those who repent and trust him:
“Therefore repent and return to God, so that your sins may be wiped away” (Acts 3:19). “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
To “repent” means to look at and think of life entirely different. It entails turning away from finding life’s meaning in sin. “Faith” means to trust God and be satisfied with all that God promises to do and be for us in Jesus. “He who believes in me,” Jesus says, “shall never thirst” (John 6:35). We do not earn our salvation. We cannot merit it (Romans 4:4-5). It is by God’s grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is a free gift (Romans 3:24).
Does this make sense to you? Do you desire the joy and gladness that only comes from knowing God personally? Do you yearn to be delivered from the misery and eternal penalty of sin? Do you hunger to be satisfied with all that God promises to be for you through His Son, Jesus? If so, there is every indication God is at work in your life.
What should you do? Turn away from the deceitful promises of sin. Call upon Jesus to save you from guilt, punishment, and bondage. “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Start banking your hope on all that God is for you in Jesus. Break the power of sin’s promises by faith in the superior satisfaction of God’s promises. Begin reading the Bible to find His precious and very great promises which can set you free (2 Peter 1:3-4). Find a Bible believing church and begin to worship and grow together with other people who treasure Christ above all things (Philippians 3:7).
**Segments of the above summary of the Gospel were written by John Piper (Desiring God Ministries). If you have any questions about how you can become a Christian, or want help in knowing how to live the Christian life, please contact us at Redding Community Bible Church.