The most important thing that we must all understand is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel means “Good News” and it refers to the fact that Jesus Christ has come. So why is this Good News? 

It is good news because the Bible says that everyone will die one day, and after that they will stand in judgement before God (Hebrews 9:27). On that day, everyone who has ever lived will be judged according to a standard. Not according to the standard of what we believe is right or wrong, nor will we be judged according to the standard of what society says is right and wrong; but according to God's perfect standard. God gives us his moral standard in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). He has told us to honor our father and our mother, yet no one has done that perfectly. He has told us not murder, but Christ says that if you are angry at your brother you have committed murder in your heart. He has commanded us not to lie, but we have all lied in our life. The fact is, we have all sinned against a holy God and we do not live up to his perfect standard (Romans 3:23). When we stand before God on that day, we have broken his law and deserve his righteous judgement. We are hopeless and condemned as lawbreakers to receive eternal death as our punishment. But God in his mercy has sent us a substitute. He has sent someone to pay the fine that we owe. He has sent his Son, Jesus Christ. Christ lived up to the perfect standard. He never lied (1 Peter 2:22), he always honored his father and mother; he lived the perfect life according to God's perfect standard. But Christ died a sinner's death. He was crucified and killed at the hands of the Romans. 

But what they meant for evil, God meant for good. Christ died the death that we deserved and it was on that cross in which He died that He became our substitute. He took the wrath of God that we deserved; the punishment for our sins (1 John 2:2). He died on that cross, seemingly defeated by death. But after three days, He rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:4)! He defeated death, breaking the curse of sin (2 Timothy 1:10, Romans 6:23). 

But what does this mean for us? It means that no longer do we have live in fear of standing before God on the day of judgement. Though we did not live up to the standard of God, we can have that substitute. Christ invites all to turn to Him, believing that He has lived the life that we couldn't and died the death that we deserved. It means that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us with the blood of his Son (1 John 1:9-10). But the grace of God does not stop there. God gives all who are saved a new heart. We once had a heart of stone and he has given us a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). With a heart that is now inclined to love God, and by the giving of the Holy Spirit, we are now empowered  to want to obey and live for God. 

So the questions should be at this point, well how can I take part in this good news? Jesus’s death isn’t effective for everyone. There will be people who do not take part in the great sacrifice that Jesus made. As we share this good news with people they must respond to this news in order to partake of it. One must repent. This means they must turn from their sins and turn to God. And they must believe in the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. This doesn’t just mean that we agree that Jesus died on the cross. It doesn’t even mean that we agree that he died for my sins. It is much more than that. Faith or belief is trusting our entire lives with Christ.  It is handing over the reigns of our lives to our new King Jesus Christ.

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