Before countless theologians dissected Jesus throughout the centuries, He was simply good news; a story told over and over again about a God who promises to save His children and then keeps that promise. You can tell that good news in a number of ways, so here it is in four parts and we hope it is helpful.
1. The God of the Bible is a mighty creator, a righteous judge, and a loving father.
How and why we come into being is a question everyone will ask at some point in their lives. The Bible tells us we are the work of an all powerful creator God who made us in His image. The idea of a righteous judge is not very appealing in our culture... until we need one. And if that judgement is always true and right (hence ‘righteous’) then we want that Judge to be for us, not against us. And if that Judge is our Father, well all the better! The understanding and experience of a loving Father is no longer a given in our world, but God is the essence of what a good father ought to be. He made us, He knows us, and He loves us—there is nothing we can do to stop it.
2. We sinned against God.
The Scriptures tell us that everybody has sinned, failing to meet the standard of righteousness required to live in the presence of God. While our sin definitely hurts someone in this life, even ourselves at times, it is most offensive to God, who designed us to live in the goodness of His presence. Instead, the Bible teaches that our sin leads to death - an everlasting separation from God. Fortunately, this terrible news is only half the story…
3. So God sent his son Jesus to be the Savior from our sins.
He did this by dying a terrible death on the cross, in our place, and then resurrecting from the dead, giving hope that we would not die! This act allowed Jesus to bring us back into right relationship with Himself.
4. We respond to this great God, who is Jesus Christ.
And the way we respond is to believe in the whole truth of Jesus: He created us, loved us enough to die and rise from the dead for us, and has promised everlasting life. By faith (belief) we begin to live according to His plan for our lives.
Perhaps you have been investigating these things for a while and after hearing this news again want to begin to follow Christ. Perhaps you are reading this good news for the first time and have a bunch of questions. Either way, contact us or drop by and grab some coffee with us and we can chat or answer any questions you might have!