The topic of this lesson is that the story of the Bible is fundamentally the story of good news—the good news of salvation through Jesus. We explore what the term "Gospel" really means and why it’s essential for us to understand. The reality is that God didn’t just sit back and watch as we made a mess of our lives; instead, He took action with profound implications for our present and future. We talk about our inherent struggle with sin, the ways we often miss the mark, and how this affects our relationship with God. Ultimately, we unpack how accepting this good news can lead to forgiveness and a transformative relationship with Jesus, assuring us of a joyful eternity.

Takeaways:

• The Gospel is fundamentally about the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ, offering hope for both this life and eternity.
• Understanding why we need God's good news requires examining the chaos and struggles we face in our lives and the world.
• Sin is defined as choosing our own way over God's way, and this fundamental issue resides within our hearts rather than merely our actions.
• God's love is evident as He actively sought to provide a way for humanity to reconnect with Him through Jesus, despite our tendency to turn away.

Links referenced in this episode:

• Bible805.com
• Amazon.com

The story of the Bible is good news, the good news of salvation in Jesus why the Gospel Is Good News

"The gospel" is a term Christians often use, but what does that really mean? Good news is a dictionary definition of the word gospel. The next logical question, of course, is good news about what?

The good news is that God didn't sit up in heaven watching humanity make a mess of their lives and their world and do nothing. He did something about it with extraordinarily important implications for people both now and for eternity.

John 3:16 summarizes it in this way, where it says, God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. To explore this good news in more detail, let's look at why we need God's good news and how to respond to it.

Without God, making a mess of our lives is pretty much what we do. It doesn't take unique insight to know that our world is a mess right now. For a few minutes, let's look away from the world. Let's look at ourselves.

We might look okay on the outside. We might have escaped some of the worst tragedies.

But inside, in our quiet moments when we're alone, we suspect we're missing out on something we can't define, that we don't measure up, that something is wrong. I believe we have this ache inside us because we know this world and all the chaos in it will someday end. But we won't.

Inside, in our heart of hearts, I believe we know we were created to live forever.

Also, I think we know there's a place where all dreams come true, where we will find forever perfect love, where we will live for for the purpose we were created for. Somehow I think we also know we can't ever get there on our own. But we try. We try to build a heaven on this earth with money and stuff and toys.

But the toys grow old and the dreams sometimes turn to nightmares. We try to make ourselves look perfect, thinking we'll create a perfect relationship.

But satisfying romantic relationships or friendships, let alone perfect ones, are hard to find. We also know at the end of this life, if we face death without God, eternity is frightening. What do we do then? We might try to reach up to God.

But just being a good person and trying to do all the right things never feels like enough. Simply being nice sometimes and feeling proud of ourselves when we avoid big sins always feels like it falls short, because it does.

The problem is that we can't ever do enough good because the problem isn't primarily with what we do on the outside. The big problem is inside us. It's our inner core that wants our way and not God's. That is a core definition of sin.

Sin at its core is wanting our way instead of God's way. It's saying no to God and yes to me. Adam and Eve did that in a perfect paradise, and we keep doing it.

Every sin, from a selfish lie to save our reputation to theft or murder to get what we want to a relationship we know isn't right, all results from doing it my way and not God's, no matter how hard we try to do better. The problem is, we were born with this desire to go our own way.

And as we grow, we get constant messages of do your own thing, be the master of your destiny, and similar platitudes that reinforce our selfish, innate desires. The sayings sound great, but following them has gotten us as individuals and our world into all kinds of messes. What does sin really mean?

We often limit the idea of sin to things like lies, murder, cheating on your partner.

And though these actions do qualify as sins, they come from the same heart in all of us that thinks we know better than our Creator what is best for us. And so we do what we do want to do again, that going our own way, blatant moral failure or not, is what defines sin.

And we can't make this bent towards sin go away on our own. Most of us can barely avoid chocolate for 24 hours, or exercise regularly or any other resolution we make, let alone stop sinning.

It gets even worse because God takes sin, this attitude of preferring our way over God's way and living without him very personally. God does not force his presence or his will on people. If we want to go our way, God allows us to do that.

What many people don't realize or want to think about is that this going our way not only separates people from God in this life, but if left unchecked, it will for all eternity. Here's the hard part. This is the one part of the gospel story that's really hard to understand, and I can't pretend to explain why.

But God tells us that sin, this deciding to go our own way, isn't something that he will ignore forever.

When we live for ourselves, only doing what we want, paying no attention to him, when we die and face him, he can't say, oh, that's all right, I know you had a hard time on Earth or a dysfunction family or whatever other excuses we might use. Let's just forget all the years you ignored me and how lived, how you wanted to live and welcome to my heaven. Anyway, he isn't going to do that.

When you think about it, it only makes sense if you've actively ignored someone who said they loved you, did things you knew they didn't want you to do, turned your back on them, perhaps even mocked them like we do with God. Would you expect them to welcome you into their home if you had nowhere else to go? Of course not. We wouldn't want a person who hated us around.

It's equally self deceiving for people to think that they can live however they want to live with no recognition of God as God and expect when they die to be welcomed into heaven which is his home. Sometimes I wish God wasn't like that, but he is.

Our turning away from God, even if our lives don't include substantial more moral failures, has consequences. When people say all during their earthly life, my will be done, God says okay for all eternity. You don't have to have anything to do with me.

You can continue doing what you want to do. The consequences though are pretty grim. On earth, a life never genuinely fulfilling, though it may be, filled with lots of stuff.

Unsatisfied longings, fears and frustrations. And then you die. Now that isn't a joke or a punchline, but a reality facing us all.

The pandemic of a few years ago brought it much closer to our consciousness than was really comfortable for many people. But comfortable or not, death is a certainty we all face.

Perhaps sooner if we catch a virus of some sort or another unexpectedly, in an accident or a heart attack, or quietly years from now as we quietly close our eyes, surrounded by loving family. But sooner or later, death will come. The Bible describes existence after death without God as a place of never ending regret and suffering.

It's not a party with the other guys who raised hell together. In life, in the real hell, you're utterly alone with regrets that can never be resolved. But it doesn't have to be like that.

That's what makes the gospel good news. Here's where the good news starts in our situation where we can't do anything to save ourselves, where the future looks bleak without God.

The good news in the Bible says that God loves us and didn't abandon humanity when we turned our backs on Him.

Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden and went their way from God, God first stated their punishment and then immediately said that he would provide a savior to bear that punishment. The Bible is All about the fulfillment of that promise.

It sometimes seems from a human perspective that God takes an awfully long time to work things out. And the good news of the Gospel is one of those things. The story of that outworking is the story of the Christian Bible.

The Old Testament is about looking forward to the day that Jesus would come and the preparation for it through the nation of Israel. The Old Testament taught humanity what God requires and tells the story of what happens when God's people don't follow his commands.

Through all of it, God did not abandon his people. He sent prophets to warn and encourage them and remind them of the coming Savior.

The New Testament tells the story of Jesus life, death, resurrection and the start of the Christian church. All the Bible stories at their core are about Jesus, death, resurrection and return to understand all God did and why.

The entire Gospel story is one of the reasons why it's important to read your Bible and not just bits and pieces here and there. All the Bible in chronological order is the best way to read it.

And in Bible 805, I've created schedules, podcasts, videos and lessons to help you through it. That's the only way, reading it through in chronological order, that you will get the complete story.

But back to what this good news means to people personally.

Because of the death of Jesus on the cross, the Bible tells us that all the sin of humanity, past, present and future, was poured out on Jesus when he died on the cross. And God the Father accepted that sacrifice. We can't save ourselves, but if we accept what Jesus did for us for our sins, we can be forgiven.

I don't understand why Jesus death is what it took for our salvation and why it is a free gift to us. But that's what the Bible tells us. It is hard to understand how accepting what Jesus did for us can make us right with God.

It doesn't seem to make sense though. It's good news, it's hard to comprehend. I'm not alone in thinking this. CS Lewis also said that to him the Gospel does not make human sense.

And and that that was one of the reasons he believed it was from God. He says humanity would never come up with a system like that. He said humans want to take credit for everything.

We want to be the authors of our salvation. But it doesn't work that way. Here's a summary of the good news. We are born wanting to go our own way.

And from childhood on we do what God calls sin, choosing to go our own way instead of God's way. God required a penalty to be paid for sin, that of a sinless sacrif. It may not make sense why it is that way.

It may not be our calculation of how the universe works. But we don't make the rules and we couldn't pay the price.

Jesus, who personally never sinned, was willing to take on the horror of all the sins of humanity, past, present and future, and to endure them for us. As someone said, he lived the life we couldn't live and died the death we couldn't die.

Think for a moment about a horrible sin, something that makes you sick to even consider.

Imagine what it would be like if you were forced to bear the guilt and penalty of that sin multiplied a million times over throughout the history of humanity. That is what Jesus did for us.

And in the horror of it, God the Father, whom Jesus had had unbroken fellowship with from all eternity, had to turn away. How unfair you'd respond. And that's true. No one deserves to pay for the sins of someone else. But that's what Jesus chose to do.

He took our place on the cross and bore the penalty for our sin. It wasn't fair, but he did it because he loves us. I don't understand that either.

And not only did he die for our sins, but he entrusted us with his message to share with others and to work with him to share his love and redemptive purposes for this earth. Even more, he promises us an eternity with him where we will truly live in the freedom, joy and fulfillment we were created for.

The next moves up to us after the pain and hurt our sins caused Jesus. It's even more amazing that God doesn't force anything on us. He's given humanity free will, freedom to choose or reject this good news.

This is our Choice. There are several options for our response. 1. You can choose to reject it all. If so, if that is your choice, I would urge you to keep an open mind.

Keep checking out the Christian faith. Know that Jesus is always there, always waiting, always welcoming if you take the smallest step toward him. 2. You feel you need more information.

That's a great place to be in. To become a Christian is a solemn commitment. You need to understand what it means and what your obligations and responsibilities will be.

Listen to the podcast. Look at the videos. Read the blogs on Bible 805 about it. Go to a Bible teaching church to learn more. Ask questions. God welcomes serious seekers.

The best resource is the Bible. Check out my book Start a Plan for Curious People to Begin Reading the Bible.

It's available on Amazon.com and will help you Understand the basics of the Christian faith.

Third, if you feel that you understand this message and you would like Jesus to become the forgiver and leader of your life, you can ask him to do that. I'll explain how to do that in more detail in a minute. But before you do that, you need to carefully consider what what you are doing.

Becoming a Christian is not merely a fire insurance policy to escape the possibility of hell and then where you go on living your life the way you want. When you ask Jesus to forgive your sins, you're doing business with the Creator of the universe. It's not a step to be taken lightly.

The Bible says that he gave his life for you, and if you want his salvation, you must give your life back to Him. The Bible talks about becoming Jesus disciple. And the definition of a disciple is someone who wants to become like their master.

Becoming Jesus disciple means you are no longer in charge. That is what it means to truly repent of your sins. Remember, sins go in your own way. As a Christian, God is now in control of your life, not you.

You need to talk to your Savior daily in prayer. You need to read the Bible every day to find out how he wants you to live.

You need to find a good church where you can become involved with other members of the family of God and where you can grow in your faith. You'll want to get baptized in a church as a sign that you're now a follower of Jesus.

You'll make mistakes, you'll stumble and fall, but when that happens, you can ask forgiveness, get up and go on. If you become a follower, a disciple of Jesus, your life will not suddenly become easy, wealthy and trouble free.

The TV preachers or religious authors who promise this are not telling you the truth. The Bible, which is the only source of truth, tells us that Jesus promised, in this world you will have trouble. But he also said, be of good cheer.

I've overcome the world. Life is seldom easy as a Christian. But as a Christian, you're now assured that your troubles have a purpose and that someday they will be over.

And you are assured of heaven, where there will be no more pain, tears or death.

If you're ready to commit your life to Jesus, either out loud or in your heart, you can pray something like, Dear Jesus, I confess that I'm a sinner and I've chosen to live my life apart from you, to do what I wanted above all else. I don't want to do that anymore.

I believe that Jesus was God and that he came to earth, died on a cross, and and rose from the dead to pay the penalty for my sin, my going my own way. I'm now committing my life to you and asking you to be my forgiver and leader.

Help me to learn to pray, to read your Bible, to find a good church, and to follow through on my commitment to you by publicly acknowledging my decision in baptism. Thank you for loving me and coming into my life. Amen. If you made that decision. Welcome to the family of God.

The Bible tells us that when someone becomes a Christian, they pass from death to life and that the angels in heaven are rejoicing. Just think right now angels are singing because of you to help you get started in your Christian life.

Please tell a Christian friend, start reading your Bible and attending a church that will help you grow in your Christian life. Bible 805 has many resources for you. Please help yourself to all of them. They were created to help you come to know Jesus and grow as his disciple.

As you do these things, you will learn to be more like Jesus and your life itself will become a gospel, a living message of eternal good news for everyone around you.