The Gospel Truth

Now it's time to get back on track. This month isn't supposed to be about me. I want to dedicate this to truth, so here I go again:

First, all truth must be based off of THE truth, and what is THE truth? Well, Jesus, obviously, "I am the Way the TRUTH and the life, no man comes to the Father except through Me."

What is this coming to the Father bit? Well, I'll tell you: The Gospel Truth!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

(John 3:16, in case you didn't know, but I'm pretty sure you did.)

First off, I was taught to share the gospel when I went to Haiti on the mission trip. Before then (2012) I never knew how to share my faith. We used tracks which look like this:

It's a little blurry, but you can see it. --And just so I don't get in any copyright scandal--It is a trademark of Hope Missions.

I'm using this because it is what I learned with.

The purple crown represents God. "Who is God?" you ask? (Silly question, but I forgive you.)

GOD IS OUR CREATOR. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

What is God like? 

Romans 3: 

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

God is just and righteous...I think the verse is rather self-explanatory.

God is gracious:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. (Romans Ephesians 2:8)

God is perfect:"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."Matthew 5:48

There is a holy God everywhere all the time. He hates sin, and He wants to save us from it. He is love. But He also is wrathful towards sin..

He can be an angry God and a merciful one at the same time. Yikes.

Who am I to try to explain who God is?

He baffles me. I do not know Him but that He has saved my life and I am indebted to Him forever.

1 Peter 2:9 

But you are a chosen people, a 

royal priesthood, a holy nation, a 

people belonging to God, that you 

may declare the praises of him 

who called you out of darkness 

into his wonderful light. 

Praise God!

Psalm 13:6 

I will sing to the 

LORD, for he has 

been good to me

..

Psalm 9:11 

Sing praises to the 

LORD, 

enthroned in Zion; proclaim 

among the nations what he has 

done.

..

Psalm 9:1-2 

I will praise you, 

O LORD

, with all 

my heart; I will tell of all your 

wonders. 

I will be glad and rejoice 

in you; I will sing praise to your 

name, O Most High. 

 ..

Ephesians 1:3 

Praise be to the God and Father 

of our 

LORD

 Jesus Christ, who 

has blessed us in the heavenly 

realms with every spiritual 

blessing in Christ.

   ..

Psalm 47:1 

Clap your hands, all you nations; 

shout to God with cries of joy. 

    ..

Psalm 31:19 

How great is your goodness, 

which you have stored up for 

those who fear you, which you 

bestow in the sight of men on 

those who take refuge in you.

     ..

Philippians 4:4 

Rejoice in the 

LORD

 always. I will 

say it again: Rejoice! 

      ..

I can hardly go into the next subject.

But I must:

It's about people, you and me. (We are on the black block with the person on it. I'll let you guess why it's black.) 

If you consider yourself a good person, think again.

Exodus 20:

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Have you kept the Ten Commandments? ALL OF THEM?

I think not. 

"But I haven't murdered anyone!" You say?

1 John 3:15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

"But I haven't committed adultery!" You say?

Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

And we know we've all lied and we've all stolen. Whether or not it is a big lie or a little stolen thing, we have done it, and it is wrong. 

So if God made the law, knowing we could not keep it, why did He make it at all?

To show us how absolutely horrid we are.

To show us we aren't perfect.

To show us that He alone is good.

Now you ask, "If everyone has done everything wicked, how can God accept us?"

He can't.

How can I say that I know Him if I know He can't accept me?

Because of Jesus.

Jesus is represented by the red block with the cross on it.

God knew, before He even created the world, that we would sin. 

That is why He had a plan. Right from the start, He knew He would have to save us. Right from the start, Jesus knew He was going to have to die. All throughout the Bible, prophecies warn God's people what is going to happen. It wasn't just a spur of the moment decision for God to send Jesus down on earth to die. No, He knew all along.

Isaiah 53:4-6:

4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Knowing what would happen, Jesus still came on earth to die. 

What kind of crazy love is this? 

Think about it. You have offended a holy God, an action deserving of death. But you don't have to die, because Jesus Christ already died for you. This is an action God will accept as atonement, for Jesus lived a perfect life and is therefore a perfect sacrifice.

All we have to do is believe and repent of our sin and accept Jesus as our Lord. This brings us to the green block on the tract with the U-turn sign on it. 

Imagine you are on a road walking towards things that are sinful. Desires lead to temptations which lead to sin which leads to death. You are on the road to death. What are you going to do?

Make a simple U-turn.

Turning around, you see a glorious God who wants you to be part of His family. 

You have a choice between Life and death. What do you pick?

It is a weak and flawed analogy, but you understand the picture.

I can't save you. You can't save you. Your parents can't save you. Only God can save you. 

If God is calling you, don't ignore Him. 

.

.

.

I hope this helps you understand the Gospel more. I pray this will show you how much you need God. 

.

I must say, compared to all the trivial posts I've written in the past, this has been the most difficult blog post to write. It has certainly been a spiritual battle in finding time to write the truth. Every time I sat down this past week to write, something else came up, and I could not write.  

So thank God with me, that He helped me overcome all the little things and write His truth.

Hallelujah Amen!