Truth 1: God is the holy, just and loving Creator of all things.
- He is our Creator. He created people in His image and wants us to know Him.
- "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him." ~Colossians 1:16
- "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." ~Genesis 1:26-27
- "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist." ~Acts 17:24-28a
- He is our Judge. We are accountable to Him.
- "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." ~Romans 1:18-20
- "God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus." ~Romans 2:16b
- "Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment." ~Hebrews 9:27
- "For we must must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." ~2 Corinthians 5:10
- He is our Savior. We need Him.
- "In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." ~Job 12:10
- "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony born at the proper time." ~1 Timothy 2:3-5
- We have all rebelled against God. The Bible calls this sin.
- "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." ~Romans 3:23
- “The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.’ They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” ~Psalm 14:1-3
- "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us." ~1 John 1:8
- Our sin prevents us from having a right relationship with Him.
- "But your sins have made a separation between you and your God." ~Isaiah 59:2
- The consequences for sin are death and eternal separation from God.
- "For the wages of sin is death." ~Romans 6:23
- "When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." ~1 Thessalonians 1:7b-9
Truth 3: Because of His love for us, God sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus Christ took upon Himself the death that we deserved so that we could be reconciled to God. Only Jesus is able to forgive sin and reconcile us to God.
- Jesus is both fully God and fully man.
- "'Very truly I tell you,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!''' ~John 8:58
- "When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, 'Truly this man was the Son of God!'" ~Mark 15:39
- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." ~John 1, verses 1 and 14
- Jesus' life on earth displayed the righteousness of God. Jesus never sinned--not in action, not in thought, not in motive--not once!
- "And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin." ~1 John 3:5
- "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." ~1 Peter 2:22
- "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." ~Hebrews 4:14-15
- Jesus' death satisfied the wrath of God.
- "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." ~1 Peter 2:24
- "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." ~2 Corinthians 5:21
- “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” ~Romans 5:8
- Jesus' resurrection demonstrated God's power over death.
- "And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead." ~Ephesians 1:19-20a
- Only Jesus is able to forgive sin and reconcile us to God.
- "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'” ~John 14:6
- There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. Our good works cannot save us; we are reconciled to God only through faith in Jesus. This faith is a gift from God.
- "Yet we know that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.” ~ Galatians 2:16
- "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." ~Ephesians 2:8-9
- Faith involves trusting in Jesus as Savior.
- "But these things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believng you may have life in His name." ~John 20:31
- "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation" ~Romans 10:9-10
- Faith involves trusting in Jesus as Lord. We turn from our sin and ourselves (the Bible calls this repentance) and commit our lives to Him.
- "Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'" ~Matthew 16:24
- "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." ~2 Corinthians 7:10
- "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." ~Ephesians 4:22-24
- Jesus promises to forgive us and remove our sin when we come to Him.
- "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." ~1 John 1:9
- People who die without Christ will take full responsibility for their sins through death and eternal separation from God.
- "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." ~Mathew 10:28
- "This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might." ~2 Thessalonians 1:7b-9
- Believers in Christ experience not only the abundant life of knowing Him on earth, but they will live with Christ for eternity in heaven.
- "Jesus said, 'The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly.'" ~John 10:10
- "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." ~Philippians 3:20-21
- “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." ~John 14:1-3
- Each person must make a decision: will you turn from Jesus, or will you turn to Him?
If you are a new believer, I encourage you to find a local church home where you can grow in knowledge of God and build relationships with other Christ followers. Asking Jesus to be your Savior and Lord is the first step in beginning your relationship with God and becoming a disciple of Jesus. As you grow to know and love Him more through prayer, studying His Word (the Bible), and discerning His Spirit, He will transform you to be more like Him. Following Jesus isn't always easy, and we need other believers for encouragement, prayer and accountability.
(The five truth statements are paraphrased and expanded from a biblical presentation of the Gospel created by The Church at Brook Hills.)
