GOOD NEWS!

Friend, could you use some Good News? I mean some really, great Good News! Well, I would like to share with you the best Good News I have ever heard. Someone shared it with me, early in my life, and it has meant everything to me from that day until now. This Good News is called “The Gospel”, but don’t let this religious term turn you off, because it is a wonderful word, with rich and lasting benefits for those willing to take time to understand it. So, I would like to try to explain it, using an acrostic of the word itself. Please take a few minutes to read through it carefully, slowly, and thoughtfully. You might just be eternally glad you did!

G - The first letter stands for the fact that God loves you infinitely, and wants you to know how you can be assured of being in Heaven one day. As a matter of fact, this is one of the very reasons He gave us the Bible. Think about this verse from the New Testament: “These things have I written unto you…that you may know that you have eternal life.”(1 John 5:13) Can’t you hear God saying, “Not only have I provided the way for you to know that you can be in Heaven one day, but I’ve also written the road map showing you how to go.”

So, “G” stands for the fact that God loves mankind, wants him to know how to go to Heaven, and has provided the way to make this possible. Let me ask you, “If it is truly possible for us to know, with certainty, that we can be in Heaven one day, why would anyone not want to?” I can’t think of any good reason. Let’s move on to “O”.

O – Obstacle. Though God’s desire for us to be in Heaven is real, we each have an obstacle, standing in our way, which must be dealt with. Unfortunately, this obstacle is the very thing that keeps many from ever being able to enter Heaven. The Bible-word for this obstacle is “Sin”, and it is a serious problem for every one who has ever lived - - from the very first man, right up to you, the one reading this message. No one is exempt. The Bible puts it this way, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” “All” is not a difficult word to understand…All means everyone-- in the broad sense, the whole world. But All also means each specific individual, like you and me. All means the little league coach, the barista at the coffee shop, the one who delivers your newspaper, picks up your trash, fills your prescriptions, fixes your car. All means all people, each one.

Obviously, not everyone sins to the same degree, or in the same ways, but sin is still universal – we all do it. Sin can range from an unkind thought, to a gruesome murder, but every single, solitary sin we’ve ever committed is an affront to a Holy and Righteous God. Even something we may consider a minor offence, becomes a major problem, when accumulated over a lifetime. When we realize that sins come in the form of thoughts, words, actions, as well as things we omit (or fail to do), most people sin much more than they realize, or care to admit. And these sins, rolled together, become one great obstacle standing in the way of our being able to gain entrance into Heaven. And the problem of sin, is that try as we might, we have no way to rid ourselves of it, on our own. We’re stuck with it, and if we go into eternity in that condition, it leads to…

S – Separation. Unfortunately, the news gets worse, before it gets better. Because, if the obstacle of our sin, is allowed to remain in place until we die, the result will not only be catastrophic, but eternal.

The Bible states that “The wages of sin is death…”(Romans 6:23) In passages like this, where
the Bible speaks of death, we could substitute the word “separation”, without doing any injustice to the
text. So, with that in mind, the sobering meaning of this verse is this: the payment, or result of our dying with our sin-obstacle still in place, is personal separation from God’s presence, in Heaven…forever. That means this condition is eternal, as well as irreversible. And friend, you really do not want to this to be your fate, nor do I.

Well, then, if all have sinned, (and we have), and if that sin will lead to eternal separation from God (and it will), then what can we do to remedy this situation? How is it possible for anyone to be able to know they will be in Heaven? That brings us to the next letter…

P – Payment. The Bible states in Romans 5:8 “But God demonstra-ted His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The problem with our sin obstacle is that we are helpless to do anything about it ourselves. We needed Someone to step in and take care of the problem for us. That Person was Jesus Christ, and on a cruel Roman cross, He willingly paid the penalty of sin, for every man, woman, boy, and girl, ever to live on the face of the earth.

Most people in today’s world are at least aware of the Cross of Christ, but many really do not understand its great significance. By paying, with His own blood, our sin debt, Jesus did for us, that which we have no way to do for ourselves. Nearly every religion in the world is based on the idea that we must do something to gain God’s favor, to secure His forgiveness, to earn spiritual “points”.

This may sound good on the surface, but there are three major problems with this line of reasoning: 1) There is no way of ever knowing when or if we’ve done enough to pay for our sin, and God tells us it is possible to “know we have eternal life”.; 2) There is no “fairness” at all in this system of payment, considering the vast and varied backgrounds people come from, etc. Those who come from fine backgrounds and moral upbringing have a great advantage over those from Godless upbringings, crack-mothers, etc. There is no fair and equitable way to give everyone the same chance. ; 3) If it were possible for me to do something to rid myself of my sin, I would then become my own savior, making the death of Christ of no effect. Christ would have died in vain, if there were some way I could save myself - by my own good works, moral lifestyle, etc.

The truth is, we were totally helpless to rid ourselves of our sin obstacle. Then God implemented His Divine and eternal plan of redemption, which centered around the death of Christ, as the sacrificial and substitutionary payment for the sins of all mankind. His payment was sufficient – good enough to satisfy the need; His payment was sacrificial – in our place, on our behalf; His payment was solitary – the only one of its kind, the one and only way by which our sins could be erased.

However, it is important to understand, that even though Christ’s death did secure the payment for the sins of all mankind, no one is automatically on the way to Heaven. You see, Jesus died to make eternal life available to us, to make Heaven a possibility, but it is not an automatic thing. A key component is seen with the letter E.

E – Each and Every person is individually responsible to receive the Gift of eternal life, for him or herself. Just as we stated earlier that “all have sinned”, meaning everyone in general, as well as each person in particular; by the same token, each person must be willing to receive, as an act of faith, the payment Jesus made for our sin. If a person who loves you purchased an expensive gift for you - paid for it, wrapped it, and brought it to you; it wouldn’t actually become your possession until you accepted, or received it. You would have to agree to it, and accept it, before you could say it was yours.

In much the same way, Jesus died and shed His own blood, to purchase for us the wonderful gift of eternal life. He is making it available to all of human-kind, but not everyone has, or will receive this wonderful gift.

However, for those who do want to receive it, exactly how is this done; how does the transaction actually take place? This brings us to our last letter:

L – Look. At first glance, this may seem like a strange way to wrap up what we’ve been talking about here…but not really. It is the idea of looking to someone, for something they can and will do for you.

Consider the following scenario:

Suppose you had a great, dire, and immediate need, with absolutely no resources to meet it. Then someone from earlier in your life, who really cared about you, heard about it and contacted you. They said, “I know you haven’t had any contact with me in a long time, but I heard of your situation, and I want to help.” You may reply, “But I have no way to pay you back.” He responds, “It doesn’t matter, just look to me to take care of it. I have the means to do it, and I want to do it.”. At that point, your choices would really boil down to two – 1) accept your friend’s generosity, and thank him for his kindness; 2) reject his offer, and suffer the consequences of your situation.

To look to another, is to put your trust in their ability and willingness to help. It means to believe in them, to trust them, to consent. Romans 10:13 tells us that, “Whosoever calls upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved.” This is the very idea of looking to Him in faith, and trusting what He did on the cross, to pay our sin debt. We usually express the desire to do so in a simple, sincere, heart-felt prayer, which may go something like this: “Dear God, I thank You for Your love for me, and for expressing that love by sending Jesus to pay for my sins on the cross. I acknowledge that I cannot do anything to save myself, or rid myself of my sin. But right now, I put my trust in Christ, and His sacrifice on the cross. I receive Your gift of eternal life, made possible by Jesus, and thank you for the assurance of a Home in Heaven. Help me live my life to honor You from this day forward. Amen.”

So, to summarize what you’ve read…

G – God loves you, and wants you to know how you can be with Him in Heaven one day.

O – There is an obstacle standing in your way. It is an obstacle called sin, and it is true of every human.

S – If the sin-obstacle is left unresolved, it will result in eternal separation from God, never to be able to go to Heaven.

P – God’s love for us, sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty of our sin. By His sacrifice, He purchased for us the opportunity to obtain God’s Gift of Eternal Life.

E – Each person must individually receive, by faith, God’s gift of eternal life. No one can do it for us, nor can we do anything to earn or merit it.

L – Receiving eternal life, means looking to Jesus, and to Him alone, to pay for our sins, and take us to Heaven one day.

CONCLUSION

Thank you for taking the time to read this message of Good News and hope. If you have never put your faith in Jesus Christ, once and for all, I pray you will consider doing so now. If you have trusted Him, I hope you will join me, and others in sharing this Good News with everyone we can. Also, if I can ever be of help to you, or you are looking for a church home, please check us out at WCBC.