It saddens me to think that most people in this world are missing out on the single, most wonderful thing available to mankind. I can assure you, it is life changing & extraordinary! It technically is a very simple message, but many people don’t know it, and yet without even hearing it, many people have a misconstrued version of it in their minds: it is the gospel of Christ.
There are many tarnished versions of it out there, and many different religions that don’t have it right. But don’t be deceived. I am not talking about religion, and I am not expressing my personal opinion about anything. I am presenting the only truth from the Word of God, the Bible. It is the truth, and I have chosen to believe it, but it is not my opinion. No one’s opinion or lack of belief in it, ideas contrary to the Bible, or belief in something else, can change the fact that what God has said in the Bible is the only truth. Just because you don’t believe something doesn’t mean it isn’t true. If I told you the sky is blue, and you said, “I don’t believe it, I don’t think the sky is blue,” does it change the fact that the sky is blue? Of course not. The same goes for the Bible. It is the truth no matter what people may say contrary to it. Nothing can change that. If you have never heard the full gospel of Christ before, and don’t know what is behind of all it, you are missing out. It is beautiful. Here is a summation:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God created man in His own image. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” Genesis 1: 1, 27, 31 Then “the Lord God said, ‘it is not good that man should be alone’” Genesis 2:18 and He created Eve as a companion for Adam. The garden of Eden where they lived was perfect, beautiful, and without sin. There wasn’t a single bad thing on earth at that point—nothing evil, no death, pain, sickness, etc. God gave Adam and Eve everything they needed to live a wonderful life and His creation was perfect. He loved Adam and Eve immensely and was excited He had created humans and wanted to enjoy a close, loving relationship with mankind. He wanted them to enjoy everything He made, He just had one rule, not to eat of the tree of life, which would give them the knowledge of good and evil. But the human race has never decided that the love of God is enough. We have wickedness in our hearts, and are arrogant and don’t want to obey God. Satan “was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made” Genesis 3:1. He wanted to ruin God’s perfect design and creation, and he convinced Eve that God was keeping something good from them by telling them not to eat of the tree of life. So she believed his cunning lie and ate the fruit from the tree, and gave some to her husband Adam. They immediately fractured the relationship between God and man and committed the first sin. And the pattern never stopped from then on. They brought sin into the world, and chose it over God’s ways. Instead of the perfect world He created for us where we would never know hurt, pain, anguish, hard labor, violence, lies, deceit, selfishness, sickness, disease, lust, greed, envy, etc., sin tarnished the earth and brought every bad and evil thing we know today: needing to work hard to survive, the pain of childbirth, hatred, sickness, illness, pain, heartbreak, lying, deception, lust, fornication, racism, anger, jealousy, murder, violence, natural disasters, death, etc., the list goes on and on…GOD NEVER WANTED THIS. I have heard people say they can’t believe in God that allows bad things to happen on the earth, but they couldn’t have a more false deception of who He is. He is perfect and loving and did not want mankind to have to live like this. People are the ones who chose for the world to be this way! We chose sin over Him and it hurt Him because He loves us so much. “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart” Genesis 6:6.
God is perfect and is not capable of committing sin or doing any bad or evil thing. So we have created a rift between God and mankind by constantly sinning. He can’t tolerate it, and cannot allow sin in heaven because He hates evil and it is against His very nature. Nevertheless, despite our failures, God still loves us more than we could ever fathom. He wants a relationship with us, and desires closeness and companionship with us. He wants to deliver us from this evil world. He will destroy it someday. He is allowing it for now so that we all make our own decision on whether or not to believe in Him, and someday live in heaven instead of in a world where there is such corruption.
Even after Adam and Eve sinned and changed His entire design for the human race and this planet, He continued to try to take care of man and provide a way for them to enjoy His blessings and goodness. The rest of the Old Testament is a vicious cycle of God trying to get close with man, showing His people abundant love, deliverance from their problems/enemies, and desiring to shower them with blessings. All He asks for in return is obedience and to not give into sin and evil, but instead follow the loving, peaceful, wonderful holy life God wants us to live. He wanted a close relationship with them, He wanted them to trust Him, have faith, rely on Him, lean on Him in good times and bad, and live a wonderful existence knowing that they the almighty, powerful God of the universe was on their side.
Instead, time and time again, despite always showing them how good He is to them, “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” Judges 17:6. Whenever they realized the error of their ways, “they cried out to the Lord, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord…but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You’” 1 Samuel 12:10. And because of the Lord’s tremendous love, He would rescue them, and deliver them from their troubles. And God would speak to them through prophets throughout the Old Testament, reminding them that walking in obedience to God will give them a good, prosperous life: “Do not turn aside, for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. For the Lord will not His forsake His people…because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people. Only fear (meaning respect, revere or trust) the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away” 1 Samuel 12:21-22, 24-25. Instead, (with the exception of the examples of faithful men and women who loved the Lord and trusted Him) the people would cry out to God to deliver them from their troubles, basically using Him to get out of a hard time and only being willing to recognize the role He should have in their lives when times got tough. When things went back to normal, they would forget Him and return to living in sin, doing whatever they wanted, and choosing wicked, evil ways instead of good.
God knew that this system was not going to work. After trying to bring man into a perfect world that was literally like heaven on earth, and having man instead choose to destroy it, He worked with them for thousands of years trying to get man to establish proper worship and obedience to Him. Later in the Old Testament we begin to read prophesy of God’s plan to fix this problem once and for all. He was going to change the old covenant He had with mankind in the Old Testament, where offerings had to be made to atone (make payment) for their sins. Blood must be shed to pay for sins, and people could never adequately pay for all of their sins. The punishment for sin meant everyone would spend an eternity in hell, since “ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23. Since man constantly sins, in Old Testament times offerings needed to be made their entire lives.
But God wanted a closer relationship with everyone and to give people a way to have redemption once and for all so that we could go to heaven instead of hell. He also wanted us to have a personal relationship with Him, and give each individual the chance to have full access to Him instead of through priests and prophets. He had a beautiful, incredibly touching, awe inspiring solution: God the Father would send His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to live as a man and pay the price for every single sin committed (or yet to be committed) by every single person that will ever live on this earth. You don’t have to be a parent to know that giving up His Son was the ultimate sacrifice, because there is no greater love than the love a parent has for a child.
Jesus was crucified on the cross, and during that time, darkness covered the land while God poured out the wrath and punishment for all sins on His beloved Son. He endured everything that we should have to endure for an eternity in hell. He paid the price for our sins so that we don’t have to, and suffered in a way we cannot fathom. To say it was brutal would be an understatement. Because of His sacrifice, instead of suffering unfathomable torture in hell (which we are so deserving of for all the bad, evil, sinful things we have committed) we can instantly have redemption by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and acknowledging that His work on the cross paid for our sins. All we have to do is ask Him to forgive us and to be our Savior. In just those simple sentences, we can be instantly and forever changed. In God’s eyes, once we are saved, He sees us as though we never sinned. Can you believe that? After all the horrible things we’ve done, and will continue to do because we are human, He sees us as perfect because He sees the Lord’s perfect sacrifice that erased our sins. If we accept Jesus Christ as Savior, we no longer have to pay for our sins in hell—Jesus becomes our Savior and His payment for our sins is counted instead. Then we are seen as sinless (remember, no sin can be allowed in heaven) and we know that when we die we will go to heaven instead of hell.
The Bible tells us how simple it is to accept the Lord as our Savior, and that there is no other way to achieve salvation or eternity in heaven except through salvation:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. John 14:6
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under haven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Acts 16:31
Jesus…said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”. John 3:3
There is NOTHING we can do to achieve salvation for ourselves. We absolutely cannot do anything that is good enough to count as payment for our sins and nothing we can do to get to heaven on our own. I know that many people think that as long as they live a “decent” life and don’t commit any monstrous sins such as murder, that they get to go to heaven. That couldn’t be more false. The Bible tells us countless times that isn’t true. We all need the Lord because ALL of us have sinned and none of us are capable of doing anything good enough to achieve this on our own:
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Romans 3:12
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God”…They have done abominable works. They have all turned aside. They have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one. Psalm 14: 1, 3
But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Titus 3:5
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:9
What happens to the people who choose not to believe in the Lord, and do not ask Him to be their Savior but instead reject Him, continuing to live however they want?
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. Galations 6:7-8
For the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12
Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like grass, and wither as the green herb. Psalm 37:1-2
Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Jude 1:7
For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. Philippians 3:18-19
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. Romans 2:5
Then He will say to those, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. Matthew 25:41
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might. 2 Thessalonians 1:9
There are countless other verses that warn of the terrible, eternal consequences of sin and rejecting the Lord. There are consequences for choosing not to believe that you need Jesus Christ as your Savior. And the consequences are worse than anything you have seen in even the most terrifying movies: it means eternity in hell, with no second chance, NO WAY OUT.
Accepting the Lord as your Savior is the greatest decision you will ever make. It not only means you are forgiven of your sins and can spend eternity in heaven, but it means a new way of life starting the moment you ask Him into your heart. You can have a whole new way of life, right now! The moment you ask Him to be your Savior you will be forever changed in such amazing ways that I truly cannot do them justice by trying to put them into words, because that’s how amazing our God is, and that’s how wonderful it is to walk with the Lord. You may think you have experienced some pretty great things on this earth, but I can assure you, you will NEVER experience the elation, exhilaration or happiness that the Lord will give you unless you accept Him as your Savior. The moment you do, the Holy Spirit lives within you, and your eyes will be open to all you have been missing out on.
There is a better way of life out there. It’s one full of peace, happiness, joy, and love. You can only live the way God designed you to if you accept Him into your heart. Fill that void and find out what you’ve been missing. There is nothing better. He will be with you and lead you the rest of your life:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
I have loved you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3
Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. Isaiah 43:1-2
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with My eye (upon you). Psalm 32:8
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge. 2 Samuel 22:2-3
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
I urge you to make this decision now. There isn’t much time left. We are in the last days before the Lord calls His people home, and then He will judge the earth. Then it will be too late. Don’t miss your chance:
But know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. 2 Timothy 3:1-3
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Romans 1:18
Accept Him now before it’s too late.