The Good News of Jesus Christ is important; the most important thing you’ll ever consider. Here is what it’s all about:

All about God

The one God who made us and made everything, has always existed as three divine People – Father, Son and Spirit. Each Person is equal to the others, and each Person has always existed with the others. “But the whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal.” This is why God is triune; our one God consists of three divine People, each with distinct roles and responsibilities.

• The Bible says God is holy and perfect.
• He is completely truthful, so you can know His special message to you, the Bible, is always true.
• He is full of love.
• He always does the right thing, for the right reasons.
• He is faithful, and always keeps His word.
• He has rich mercy, and is even willing to not punish people who deserve it.
• He is full of grace, which means He gives out love and favor when they cannot ever be deserved or earned.

God is the source of every blessing you enjoy. He’s the reason why you have a family to love you, a place to live, heat in the wintertime, friends who care about you, a bed to sleep in, and why you have the Bible to tell you all about God.

God made this world perfect and wonderful in the beginning. He said everything He made was good. He made all the animals and made the first man and woman. But, this perfect world didn’t last very long.

All about sin

… all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one.”

“Their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood, in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they do not know.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … (Romans 3:9-23).

 

The first man (Adam) and the first woman (Eve) ruined God’s perfect creation. God told them how He wanted them to live, and gave them some simple rules to follow. But, they didn’t listen, and the Bible says there were terrible punishments because they betrayed God.

Adam and Eve’s descendants (which means you and me!) are born full of sin. The Bible says we’re so full of sin that it’s like we’re dead. The Apostle Paul even said we’re born, by our very nature, being “children of wrath” who belong to Satan. Look at what he wrote to a church to remind them about what God had rescued them from:

And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:1-3).

The Bible says that everybody will die one day, and be punished by God forever because of their crimes – the Bible calls that death and punishment a curse!

Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned— sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come (Romans 5:12-14)

Sin is when we commit crimes against God by breaking His law. Everybody thinks and does things God says they shouldn’t do, and the Bible says God is angry with us because of that.

We’re all in a whole lot of trouble. We’re lost and without hope if God doesn’t decide to help us. Somebody who breaks the law is a criminal! Because everybody breaks God’s laws, we’re all criminals to Him. Criminals have to be punished.

The Bible says we all deserve to be punished for the wicked things we think about and do. This sounds scary, and it certainly is. But, because God is merciful, He gave us some very good news!

All about Jesus Christ

In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins (i John 4:10).

God provided a perfect way for everybody to tell Him they’re sorry for their crimes. Sometimes, we do wrong things to people and we tell them we’re sorry, but we don’t really mean it. That won’t work with God. He knows everybody’s hearts, and He knows if you’re really sorry for the crimes you commit. He cannot be fooled. God sent His unique and perfect Son, named Jesus Christ, to rescue people from the punishment they deserve.

In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs (Hebrews 1:1-4).

Jesus Christ has always existed, and has been with the Father in Heaven forever. He’s divine, He’s all-powerful and He’s demands to be loved and respected just like the Father in Heaven does. We just read some important things about Jesus:

1. He’s going to inherit everything – everything in the world was made by Jesus and for Jesus (Colossians 1:16).
2. He created this entire universe according to God’s plan.
3. He’s the One God sent to show us His holiness and glory.
4. He’s the perfect, exact representation of God.
5. He guides, and controls everything in the entire universe by the power of His word!
6. He was sent to purge people’s sins, and cleanse their souls.
7. He finished what God sent Him to do, and He’s sitting down at God’s side in Heaven now.
8. He’s better than anything in creation, because He created creation.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel,” (Mark 1:14-15).

Here is what Jesus Christ did:

1. God sent Jesus to preach the Good News to everybody. The Good News is that if anybody would tell God they’re sorry for their crimes and believe in what He came to do, they would be saved!
2. Jesus lived a perfect life. He was tempted to sin and had the chance to do it His entire life, but He never did. You and I can’t do that, but Jesus did it for us in our place, as our substitute.
3. The Bible says Jesus was punished for all of your crimes and for all your sins, in your place, as your substitute. The people Jesus spoke to didn’t like His message. They arrested Him, tortured Him, and then had Him killed. Jesus let all this happen to Him, even though He could have stopped it, so that people could be saved.
4. The Bible also says that Jesus rose from the dead after three days. This proves that Jesus is more powerful than Satan, and the curse of death doesn’t apply to Him. He has jurisdiction, power and authority over Satan, the curse of death, and the corruption of sin.
5. Jesus commands every single person in the world to believe in the Good News. It’s their only hope!

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his own Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God (1 John 4:13-15).

All about salvation

To repent means to (1) confess what you did wrong; and to (2) forsake it, walk away from it, make a real promise to try to not want to do those crimes and sins anymore. If you realize you’re a criminal and a sinner in God’s eyes, but confess those crimes, make a real decision to not want to do them anymore, and believe that Jesus already lived a perfect life in your place, and was already punished for your crimes in your place, and that He rose again to defeat Satan and the punishment of death in your place, then the Bible says God will forgive you!

The Bible says your heart and soul will be washed clean. You’ll be like a new person. You’ll be spiritually alive for the first time. You’ll be declared innocent of all the crimes you committed, because Jesus already paid for those crimes. You’ll be adopted into God’s family.

As a member of His family, you will have a new natural (and God-given!) desire to honor God and serve him with your life. Instead of being a slave for Satan, you’ll be transformed into a slave of righteousness:

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:17-18).

God will be your Lord, Christ your great High Priest and mediator – and future Messianic King! The Apostle Peter told a group of unsaved people that Jesus is Lord of all, even though they hadn’t repented and believed the Gospel yet (Acts 10:36). He is your Lord, whether you like it or not. Salvation is about sincere repentance from sins and admitting that God rules your life, that you can have perfect forgiveness and reconciliation with Him because of what Jesus has done for you, and that His eternal Son Jesus Christ is Lord of all.

he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life (Titus 3:5-7).

Growing to know more

How can you know more about God, so you can understand more about why you need to confess your sins and believe in Jesus Christ? There are three ways. First, read your Bible to see what Jesus said. Start with Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Second, go to church so you can be taught what Jesus said by people who already know Jesus and want to tell you all about him! Third, pray to God and ask Him to help you understand! Fourth, contact a Bible-believing church to ask questions and find out more.

So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).