

The Good News About Jesus

The good news about Jesus can be simply understood as the following:

  1. God is our Creator, and as such, He has “Creator Rights” to say what is right, what is wrong, and what we should or shouldn’t do with our bodies, resources,  and activities (Genesis 1:26-27; Revelation 4:11).
  2. Humanity has rebelled against God, and we seek to make our own rules, our own plans, and even gods after our own preferences. The Bible calls that sin. The penalties for rebellion are broken relationships with one another (we all try to get our own way), and a broken relationship with God, both resulting in judgment  (Romans 3:10-12; Hebrews 9:27).
  3. God, though within His full rights to simply judge us, displayed His great love for humanity by sending Jesus Christ to earth. Jesus lived a perfect life under God's authority, gave His life upon the cross as a substitute for sin, rose from the dead, and now sits in heaven at God’s side (1 Peter 3:18).
  4. This news requires a response! There are two choices as follows:

    A) Repent, turning from living life by your own rules, and follow Jesus. Believe through faith in Christ that your sins are forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life (1 Peter 1:3-5). 
    B) Reject it and continue living live by your own rules, and stand alone before God and receive judgment (John 3:36).

To follow Jesus means the following:

Repent (Turn):

  1. Admit you’ve lived life by your own rules, or tried to be moral enough to earn God’s favor (Ephesians 2:1-3).
  2. Turn away from that way of life (do an “about face”). Follow after Jesus, essentially putting Him in charge of your life. What He says ‘goes’ (Romans 10:9-10).

Believe (Trust):

  1. Believe that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be: The Son of God (God in human flesh), who lived a perfect life, and who died and rose again from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-8).
  2. Trust that His death is what pays for your rebellion - that through faith in Him, His perfect life gets credited to you, while your rebellion gets credited to Him (Colossians 2:13-14).
  3. Trust that now through faith you are no longer an enemy of God, a rebel. Rather, you are now a dearly loved child, and can now follow in obedience because of what God has done and is doing in you to change you (Ephesians 2:4-10)!