The Gospel: God’s Plan For Me
The Gospel is the good news about Jesus.
It starts like this:
God Rules
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.” God rules over everything because He created everything. He is in charge. God is not a mean, selfish boss, but a perfect and loving ruler. We belong to Him, and He created us to worship Him and bring Him glory. (Also see Colossians 1:16-17)
We Sinned
Sin is anything we think, say, or do that displeases God.
Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” That means everyone. We all have sinned. We have all thought something bad in our head, told a lie, pushed a friend or sibling, or even stolen something. Selfishly, we do what we want instead of what God wants. Our sin causes a problem; a sin problem. When we sin, it makes God angry. God can’t be near sin because He is perfect. Our sin separates us from God. That’s the punishment, or consequence, for sin. We are separated from God… forever. We all deserve every punishment and every bad thing that ever happens to us, but God had a plan. A perfect plan to save us from our sin problem. (Also see Romans 6:23)
God Provided
Our perfect loving God didn’t want us to be separated from Him forever, so he provided the ONLY way for us to be saved. He sent His Son, Jesus. John 3:16 says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” Jesus is God’s only Son. Jesus was born on Earth long ago. He never sinned. He never thought bad thoughts, never said bad things, and never did bad things. Jesus was God on earth, so He was perfect! God provided Jesus for us, and even though Jesus was perfect and did not deserve it, He took the punishment for our sins. (Also see Ephesians 2:8-9)
Jesus Gives
Even though Jesus was perfect, He died on the cross for our sins. Romans 5:8 says, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!” Every single sin we have committed, everything we have ever done, and will ever do wrong, was placed on Jesus while he was on the cross. He was beaten, bruised, kicked, spit on, whipped, and hung on a cross to die for me and for you. For everyone. He did not have to, He did not deserve it, but He took all that punishment, all that sin, for us. Not only did he take our punishment, but when we trust in Him to save us, we get credit for His perfect life. It’s a gift to us. When we accept that gift, God forgives us for that sin. It’s like we never sinned, just like Jesus! Because of this, God welcomes us into His family as His children. (Also see 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 3:18)
But here’s the even better news: When Jesus died, He did not stay dead! He came back to life and spent time with His friends, before going back up into Heaven, where He rules over everything as King! When God brought Jesus back to life, it showed us that He accepted Jesus’ punishment for our sins. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, and when we believe in Him God welcomes us into His family. One day, Jesus will return to earth as King. When that happens, those people who have not put their faith in Jesus will be punished, but God will welcome all people who have accepted His free gift of forgiveness and eternal life into His Kingdom. (Also see: Acts 1:1, John 3:36)
We Respond
We can respond to the Gospel, the Good News, in lots of ways. (If you are already a Christian and have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we can respond to Him and His goodness by continuing to pray, sing, worship, do our best not to sin, and tell others about what Jesus has done for us.) We can respond by accepting God’s gift. A present is no good if it is left under the Christmas tree. We have to respond. We can respond by understanding who God is (a perfect, holy God) and who we are (sinners). We can look at our response by looking at the ABCs of Salvation. ( Also see Romans 10:9-10,13)
Confused
or
Wants to do what their friends / family has done
or
Does not know why we need to be saved or what sin is
or
Has no personal investment (No I need to be saved, or MY sin statements.)
Lightbulb Jesus Moment