Introduction
When you think of good news, what comes to mind? Would your family coming into town, a baby being born, good results from the doctor, be good news for you? Hopefully and expectedly I would suppose you would say "Yes, these are good news." These things are all good, and everyone should be thankful to hear of such good announcements. These things are all temporary though, some only last for a week, some until the child marries and moves out, or for you until you pass away. There is one message that transcends all the rest, and it is the gospel of God!
God the Eternal Lord
If you are not a Christian, you need to hear this news! If you are a Christian, you need to meditate on the gospel everyday. The gospel begins before God created the heavens and the earth, for God has and always will be eternally glorious (Isaiah 57:15 - For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite. ) Is it logical and consistent to believe in God? Yes, because without God everything is impossible. You might say that you only believe what science has taught us, or what we can learn from science. But I must ask you, "How can you consistently do science if you do not believe in God?" I say this because in order to do science, you have to have a logical, coherent, relatively unchanging world. But in an Atheistic or non-Christian view of the world, that is utterly impossible. If the Atheist is to be consistent in his view of the world, he should not expect things to be logical, coherent, or moderately unchangeable. You will ask why. It is because the Atheistic worldview presupposes a world that came from, and is existing as time and chance acting on matter, and thus is blind, pitiless, and indifferent. This ultimately means that nothing matters because everything is just matter in motion that some how became a logical, coherent, and unchanging world. For the Atheist and others of other religions, you cannot live consistently in your worldview, and on this, I would say that you know God but are rebelling against Him.
I do not say this on my own authority or my little knowledge. I confidently say this because God says so in His Word.
Romans 1:18 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore, I urge you to turn to God in repentance from your selfish ungodliness, and in faith submit to Christ as Lord. For He is the Savior of His people from their sin, which God in His perfectly just nature, cannot forgive the sinner, but His vengeful wrath is abiding on every sinner that does not trust in Christ.
Are you a good person?
You may say that you are a good person and are not a sinner, therefore you do not need to be reconciled by Christ, unto justification. But where do you get that knowledge that you are a good person? Do you get it from within your own reasoning? Does it come from what others have said about you, or does it come from a scripture that you hold as sacred? If so, God says these things are foolish to believe in because only by the fear of the Lord does one have true wisdom and knowledge (Proverbs 1:7,22). It is by God's Word that one becomes wise that will lead him to salvation, because you are only saved by God's grace, in the work of Christ, through faith. What does God say about the state of every person on earth? He says that every person in all his intentions, thoughts, and heart are continually evil (Genesis 6:5). He also says that no one is righteous, no one understands truth, no one seeks for God, all people have turned away and are evil useless things, no one does good, each one's mouth is filled with deceitful poison, everyone is a murder, destruction and sorrow are the paths that they make, and it is because none fear God (Romans 3:10-18). God also says that every person is dead or a corpse in their sins and rebellions (Ephesians 2:1). This is our nature because we have all broken God's perfect and holy Law (Galatians 3:10).
Why should God let you into heaven?
I am sure you have thought about this question yourself. This is a common question that is asked when Christians evangelize. I do not like this question because it does not have a basis in Scripture. I think the right question would be "How is a person justified before God?" Or asked another way, "How is a person who has fallen short of God's righteous standard, for not obeying Him, declared legally righteous before God?" As we saw earlier, you and I are not good people because we have broken everyone of God's Laws, and we are by our nature under the holy and just wrath of God's anger for our sinful state (Romans 1:18, Ephesians 2:1-3).
Therefore, the question is now posed to us, how can we who are wicked stand before God on the day of judgment and be legally righteous before Him? You may answer "My good deeds outweigh my bad deeds, so that is why God will justify me." Or you may say, "I have said the Shahada, and I am a faithful Muslim." Or you will say, "I was baptized as an infant at the Mass; I receive the Eucharist every week, and I do all the Sacraments to ensure that I am a member of the church." Or you may say, "I go to church sometimes, and I said the Sinner's Prayer, also I read my Bible sometimes and try to do good to others."
What do all of these statements have in common? They all are focused on what was done by man. God and the 66 books of the Bible are staunchly clear that God is Savior of His people. (Ephesians 2:8-9- For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Matthew 1:21- She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. Isiah 44: 21-22 Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. 1 John 2:1-2- My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.)
Now that it is clear that God saves His people. How does He save His people? God saves His people through Christ, and specifically His propitiatory death on the cross. You are probably wondering what propitiation means.
Propitiation means- a substitutionary sacrifice that satisfies the wrath of God on behalf of God’s elect, in bearing the retribution of death for breaking His Law, then removing the legal guilt of sin and cleansing the sinner of that guilt, since no man can work his way to being right with the Lord in any capacity by his own works, as seen in Romans 3:25.
Romans 3:21-26- But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Therefore, your salvation of being justified before God is dependent on faith in the propitiation of Christ, and His resurrection. You do not and cannot earn your salvation by working for it. It is by God's grace, in Christ, through faith alone, for if you add anything unto this you are teaching and believing a false gospel. You are under the damnation of God unless you repent and trust in the only Priest and Head of God's church. A priest is one who represents man before God as seen in Hebrews 5:1, 7-10:
Hebrews 5:1: For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Hebrews 5:7-10: In the days of His flesh, He (Jesus) offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
In Hebrews 5:1, it is said that the priest offers gifts and sacrifices for sins. Therefore, in the case of Christ in his Priestly office, and as the representative for His elect Covenant people at the holy altar of the Justice of God, there is a priestly satisfaction made by Him for them. (Bodley)
To be made right before the Lord, you must turn from your sin and love of self, towards the Lord Jesus in faith alone, trusting in His work of full obedience God’s Law, and dying as a substitutionary sacrifice for you, and raising from the dead to give eternal life to each one who turns from their sin in trustfully submitting of Christ as Lord, just as God commands all men everywhere to do so. If not, you are under God’s wrath for your disobedience to Him, and He has His anger ready to be poured out upon you at the moment you die (Acts 17:30-31). (Bodley)
Good News for the Christian
Dearly loved believer, though you battle with sin daily, you stand before God justified because of Christ. You are no longer under God's wrath, but you are reigning with Christ (Revelation 20:6). Since Christ is King of the heavens and earth, and we as His people reign with Him, He tells us to go and disciple the nations for His glory, teaching them to obey everything that He has Commanded, and He is with us until He consummates everything when He returns (Matthew 28:18-20). So be bold in preaching the gospel today, Christ is with you as your loving Shepherd.
Works Cited
Bodley, Clayton " Godly, Strong, and Courageous Men, who Obey the Lord in the Conquering of the Nations." Ephrata Bible Fellowship Church. 03 Nov 2018, Ephrata, Sermon Preached By Clayton Bodley.
NASB Compact Reference Bible: New American Standard Bible. Zondervan Pub. House, 2000.
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