Get the Gospel

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You see this sign (John 3:16) held up at football, soccer and baseball games, but what does it all mean. Who is John and what is his connection to the game we are watching. Well, it has much less to do with the game being played and a great deal more to do with the spectator holding up the sign and the fact that he or she cares about your well-being and eternal destiny.

• Is there life after this earth; and if so, do you know what to expect?
• Isn't this life all there is - didn't we just evolve from animals here?
• Aren't we all part of the cosmic universe, like all part of God?
• Is there a God in heaven, and if so what is His name?
• If I am a pretty good person, God will accept me - won't He?
• The good and bad people are all going to the same place - aren't we?
• Don't we just keep coming back again until we are good enough?
• All religions and all roads lead to the same heaven - don't they?
• Isn't this earth and the universe just an elaborate illusion anyway?
• Can't we be tolerant of everyone's views even if they are not true?
• Isn't the path to true enlightenment found inside each person?

There is a different question for every person alive today.

How can you possibly know what the truth is; who do you believe and how do you find the source of real answers?

It may be helpful to start with the one who created you; In the beginning "God"...

God is the only self existent one, the only one who is worthy of trust, praise and adoration, who reveals truth (what is reality) to us in His very character.

Have you ever wondered just what people mean when they say the word Gospel? It simply means the "good news". We could all use some good news from time to time. The good news is that there is a real God who loves you and wants to have a personal and intimate relationship with you for all time and for an eternity. God has revealed Himself to you and me first through the light of creation, then through the light of our conscience in our mind and then through people who He inspired to write 66 love letters or books; He inspired them throughout all the ages, and this collection is better known to us as the Bible or the Holy Scriptures.

John 3:16 is a bible verse or what is also known as an address in the scriptures. This is how that works; The word "John" in the address is speaking about a particular book of the bible, in this case it is referring to the "Gospel of John", which is the forth book of the New Testament. The first number that follows the name of the book, in this case is "3" refers to the chapter and in this case is the third chapter of the book of John. The number or series of numbers, which follow the colon, in this case is "16" refers to the numbered verse in that chapter and in this case is the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of the book of John. Throughout this section, I will highlight each address in red so that it will be clear when we are referring to an address in the bible. If the address had an "a" or "b" that would be referring to the first or last half of the verse respectively.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Who is the Son of God and what did He do?

The Son of God is called Jesus and His title here on earth is called "the Christ". Jesus, having the same nature and essence as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, took upon Himself another nature, a human nature like you and me. He came to this earth in the form of a human over two thousand years ago for the primary purpose of giving up His life to pay for your sin debt and mine.

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

God has made Himself known to each and every one of us individually and has spoken to us through many different avenues; He cares so much for us and has given us clear direction on how to love one another, but we have all refused to obey His direction and consequently separated ourselves from God. The bible says that we have fallen short in our deliberate sin and have been condemned as a result of that action.

Romans 3:23-25 All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life’s blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God.

The act of Jesus taking our place as a substitute, to pay for our sin debt is called "propitiation" and we can only accept His death on a Roman cross as payment for our actions by faith; Hebrews 11:1 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.

There is nothing we can do to earn God's favor, but He freely gives us His favor as a gift through His Son Jesus Christ. And the free gift of God is eternal life with Him. The love that God shows us by not giving us what we really do deserve is called "mercy". The love that God shows us by giving us free gifts that we do not deserve is called "grace".

Ephesians 2:4-9 But God’s mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved. In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world. He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ Jesus. For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it.

We must acknowledge our own sin (admit it), ask this loving God to forgive us for the sins we have committed and by faith believe that Christ Jesus took our place, died, was buried and after three days was raised from the dead. Jesus' act of rising from the dead is called "resurrection" and this is even better news because of this we have the blessed hope of being resurrected in Him for an eternity (life everlasting) with Him. This is absolute and nothing can ever change that fact.

John 10:28-30 I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one shall snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else, so no one can kidnap them from me. 30I and the Father are one.”

1 John 5:11-13 And what is it that God has said? That he has given us eternal life and that this life is in his Son. So whoever has God’s Son has life; whoever does not have his Son, does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life.

Once we believe that Jesus paid the sin debt for us that we could never pay for ourselves, ask Him to forgive us for the sin we have committed and trust solely in the propitiation that we spoke of earlier for the forgiveness of our sins, the bible says that we are cleansed from all sin and unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is the really good news; That once we were enemies of God and now we are His friends. That formally we were dead spiritually in our transgressions and sins and now we have become alive spiritually in Christ; we have been born of the spirit or what the bible calls being "born again". At this specific moment in time, God our heavenly Father lavishes even more love on us by giving us the Holy Spirit of truth to live inside of us or what the bible calls the "indwelling of the Holy Spirit". This is even better news; The Holy Spirit is God, which means that we get to have God Himself living on the inside of us for all of time here on earth and for all eternity. We now possess the hope of eternal life.

1 Peter 1:3 All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead.

Romans 5:5 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Ephesians 1:13-14 in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,-- in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Why does the person at the ball game who is holding up the sign of (John 3:16) even care about someone else's well-being and eternal security?

Well, the answer to that question will bring us full circle back to where we started; God has communicated His desire for us to love one another, and that which he has required of us, we are now capable of performing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is working in us to accomplish through us what we are not capable of doing on our own. This love which God instills in the believers heart will manifest itself to care about all those around him or her and they will have an overwhelming desire to share the good news to all the world.

Roman 1:4-5 and by being raised from the dead he was proved to be the mighty Son of God, with the holy nature of God himself. And now, through Christ, all the kindness of God has been poured out upon us undeserving sinners; and now he is sending us out around the world to tell all people everywhere the great things God has done for them, so that they, too, will believe and obey him.

Colosians 1:27-29 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.

Is Jesus Christ the only way to heaven?

Yes, God our heavenly Father has provided us with everything we will need for life and godliness (holiness or purity) and this through His Son Jesus Christ. For He is our Lord, our Savior and our High Priest.

2 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Hebrews 2:7-10 For though you made Him lower than the angels for a little while, now you have crowned Him with glory and honor. And you have put Him in complete charge of everything there is. Nothing is left out.” We have not yet seen all of this take place, but we do see Jesus—who for a while was a little lower than the angels—crowned now by God with glory and honor because He suffered death for us. Yes, because of God’s great kindness, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world. And it was right and proper that God, who made everything for His own glory, should allow Jesus to suffer, for in doing this He was bringing vast multitudes of God’s people to heaven; for His suffering made Jesus a perfect Leader, one fit to bring them into their salvation.

How may gods are there and what are their names?

There is only one God who has chosen to reveal Himself to us in three distinct persons of the God head with distinct personalities but with the same essence or nature. This is referred to as the Trinity, and the names which God has revealed to us are the "Father" - Jehovah, the "Son" - Jesus Christ, and the "Holy Spirit". Although people speak about other gods and other religions, they are only made up concepts and carved images which have eyes, but they cannot see and ears, but they cannot hear.

Isaiah 45:5-7a I am Jehovah; there is no other God. I will strengthen you and send you out to victory even though you don’t know me, and all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am Jehovah and there is no one else. I alone am God. I form the light and make the dark.

1 Corinthians 8:4b Well, we all know that an idol is not really a god, and that there is only one God, and no other.

Acts 17:27-30 His purpose in all of this is that they should seek after God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him—though He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and are! As one of your own poets says it, ‘We are the sons of God.’ If this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol made by men from gold or silver or chipped from stone. God tolerated man’s past ignorance about these things, but now He commands everyone to put away idols and worship only Him.

Once we consent and agree with Him, He makes us all sons and daughters of God, literally heirs of all things with Jesus Christ. He is faithful never to leave us or forsake us even in our toughest trials. He has promised to be with us, lead, guide and strengthen us to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus. To be more like him everyday as we walk with Him here on earth; filling us with the joy and peace that we have always desired in life but could not achieve; and then for all eternity sharing in his glory, without the pain, fear, or sorrow.

The only way to receive the salvation that God has provided for you is to accept the free gift, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ's death on the cross for your sins. You must admit that you are a sinner and have sinned against God, and believe that Jesus died for you (in your place) and be willing to turn from your sins to a new and better way. If you truly believe this, then you are saved (born again) and the blood of Jesus is the only way to have your sins washed clean, forgiven, cleansed forever, and to restore the relationship between you and our heavenly Father God.

When you pray to make Christ the Lord of your life please contact us so we can share in the joy of your new life in Christ. May God richly bless you all your days.

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