The Gospel

I’m going back to writing! A lot has happened since then, and there are many reasons why I stopped. A lot of different feelings, thoughts, and motivations were going around regarding writing. Yet, I wanted to go back to it. I kept telling my wife, “I’m going to write in my blog. I need to write in my blog.” I didn’t write in my blog..

The primary reason that I want to go back to writing is to get better at sharing and teaching topics to other people. I don’t want to be a teacher by any means, but I don’t want to stumble in my words when trying to explain what matters to me. Writing is a way where I can better explain my thoughts. If my thoughts get jumbled up from my brain to my mouth, then maybe it’ll be a bit better from my brain to my fingers? Maybe not.. Regardless, I am motivated by the desire and the need to share God’s truth and how He’s working in my life.

I also want to write about random things like work, art, processes, games, etc, so hopefully that will come soon! That sounds like a lot right? Maybe not, but I have a plan!

One of the things that stopped me from persistently writing was figuring out what to write, so I came up with a bunch of topics to write about for the entire year every other week. The first one that came to my mind was the gospel, because the gospel is the only topic that really matters. There is nothing else that is more important that I can share with you.

Super weighty statement.. Maybe I should have talked about marriage or something.. Oh well, another time. Okay, let’s begin what is the gospel?

The word “gospel” means good news. In general, good news is pleasant to hear but can be hard to believe when you don’t really know why it’s good. If someone has good news, then they probably have bad news also. I have bad news. I’ll share that first.

The bad news is “you are a sinner.” Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” All means you, me, and everyone. Sin means to miss the mark. Everyone has sinned against God. God created mankind to be with Him and have a relationship with Him. However, everyone goes against God’s original purpose and design that God has made for us. Mankind is in rebellion against God and has committed many crimes against an all powerful God.

If you commit a crime, you’ll quickly learn that there is usually punishment that comes after the deed. Depending on who the crime is committed against, the degree of the punishment increases. Slap a friend. They might slap you back. Slap your boss. You might get fired. Slap a cop. You might go to jail. Slap the president. You might get shot and go to jail. Now, what happens if you slap God or wrong Him in any way. The absolutely just punishment is Hell. Hebrews 9:27 says “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”

As a sinner, you are destined for Hell for all eternity where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Eternal torment in a lake of fire. Whatever is the worst thing you can think of for you, imagine that happening to you forever.

Sucks doesn’t it. You might be thinking a whole mess of thoughts right now like how dare you. Who gives you the authority to tell me that I’m going to go to Hell?  Why should I believe you? I’m not that bad. How come my bad deeds deserve Hell of all things? I’m not a serial killer, a rapist, or whatever the worst type of person you can think of. “I’m not that bad.”

Romans 2:1-2 says “1 Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2 And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.”

 As unfair as the situation may seem, God is not at fault. Mankind is at fault.. Sin is sin. The punishment for sin is an eternity in Hell. As offensive and outrageous as that may seem to you. That’s the fact of the matter. That’s the bad news. Want to hear the good news?

God loves you and forgave you of your sin!

Despite how much you have offended God and how much you deserve Hell, God chose to love you and forgive you of your sin. He has graciously forgiven us and took the punishment upon Himself by sending His Son Jesus Christ to die for us on the cross.

He has not only forgave us of our sin, but He has made us righteous before Him. As a result, we are able to be with Him and be called His children. We can live out the purpose that God has originally made for us, and our relationship has been restored with Him. We no longer live in offense to God, but we can live the life that we were meant to live for Him as His children.

You may be thinking, “Wow that sounds amazing! How do I be forgiven and get all those things that you were talking about? How do I not go to Hell?” God’s gift of salvation is free. 

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God’s Word tells us (mankind) to repent of our sins, and He is faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Because God has made us clean, we are able to know Him, and the response is worship through obedience.  1 John 2:3 says “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

You probably have a lot of questions now, but let this fact sink in. The God of the universe who you have offended has willingly forgave you of your sins and made you His child for absolutely no reason other than He loves you. Why God would do that for us is beyond comprehension and explanation, but the response is necessary. Is this truly good news to you?

If you want to learn more, I encourage you to read the Bible. If you need a place to start, the book of John is a good book to start to see the love of God through His Son Jesus and what He has done. If you want the gospel in more detail, the book of Romans is very detailed and logical in regards to who we are before knowing God and what we are to do in response to knowing Him. (I totally wrote this same thought in my other post, but they’re good books to start!)

If you don’t want to learn more, then thanks for reading my blog. I hope and pray that God would change your heart and that you’d see the good news for what it is.

For anybody, I’d love to answer whatever questions you may have. Feel free to comment anything. I’m open to criticism and compliments as harsh or nice as it can be. I will try to write every other week for this year!