Rejoice, all you people! Don't you know that the Good News is spreading so quickly?!? What is the 'Good News' you ask? Well, first let me ask you a really simple question...
What kind of things do we see today? On the news, in our daily lives, in the general media? We hear of sadness and death. We hear of mothers abandoning their children in garbage cans and we hear of children being shot down in their youth. We hear of wars in far off lands and we see so many natural disasters. I wonder sometimes, after hearing and seeing all this bad news, how refreshing it would be to hear and see some 'Good News'!
I know, after hearing about all these scary things and after seeing all the horror they cause in the lives of people all over the world and the effect they have in our lives too, that we sometimes wonder what life is all about... One huge question that we ask ourselves in secret, which we tend to not tell anyone else about because it sounds weird, is... "What happens when I die...?" Truly, this is the epitome of all questions in existence. It is neither proven by science, nor is it Dis-proven by science, but it is always a looming question over our heads. "Is there Life after Death?"
Are you ready for some of the best news you have heard all day?!? According to the Bible, there IS Life after Death! The Bible states that all Human beings have a 'Soul', and that this 'Soul' is an Eternal existing part of our being. The Bible states that every single Human will exist Eternally in one of two places. The Bible tells us that 'God' is the one who controls our Eternal Souls. Who is God? God is the ultimate and sovereign force in the entire universe, which, according to the Bible, created the Earth and all of Space, Time and Matter! Isn't that amazing?!?
Not only that, but the Bible tells us -HOW- we can come to live in Eternity with God in a place called 'Heaven'! As I have stated, all of us have a 'Soul', an Eternal existing part of our being, which continues to live on after we die, but, the place in which it goes after you die, depends on you. According to the Bible, Heaven is a Free Gift! We can neither Earn nor Deserve Heaven! Why, do you ask? Well, first of all, the Bible says that all Humans are Sinners. It means, we cannot EARN Heaven by any number of 'Good' deeds we think we have done in our lives. We also cannot 'DESERVE' it, because the things we do do not add up to the Free Gift of God.
We will use an example - Let's say you have a best friend who you have known since Elementary school, and one day, for your birthday, this friend drives up into your driveway with a brand new Ferrari and hands you the keys and says, "Happy Birthday!" This friend is giving you a HUGE and EXPENSIVE Gift for your birthday! Now let's say the first thing you do is dig into your pockets, pull out your wallet and try to give your friend $20.00 to help pay for the car! Sheesh, how do you think your friend would feel? Probably sad and maybe even a little annoyed because he got that present for you as a Gift and didn't want you to pay for it. Also, what would $20.00 mean to a car that costs possibly tens of thousands? And this is why we cannot Earn or Deserve Heaven!
Now, as I said, it is because of 'Sin' that we cannot Earn or Deserve Heaven. What is 'Sin', exactly? Sin is anything that goes against Gods moral standard. We understand this through our own human laws that we have in todays societies. Take for instance, you steal a loaf of bread. Surely, if you are not caught, maybe you won't get punished, but the Truth is that you still disobeyed the law, whether or not you were punished for it. In the case of God, He is all over the place, knows all things at all times and there is nothing you can hide from Him. The Bible tells us that 'All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.' So, if we understand this, we understand that all human beings have disobeyed Gods moral standard. Why is this important? Well, let's say for example that Life is a test, and the passing grade, which is Gods standard, is 100%! Imagine how tough that would be to pass! The one time we do something bad, from our conscience, willingly, we have already messed up that 100% standard. Even IF we did all the good things in the world, if we did even ONE bad thing in our lives, we get a failing grade. The Bible says, "You be perfect, just as I am perfect.", when speaking of God.
Now, the Bible tells us that God loves us dearly. God is like a Father to us and cares for us in the same way any good parent would care for their children. However, God is not only a loving Father, but also a harsh Judge. God hates 'Sin', but He does not hate the 'Sinner'. Nevertheless, that does not change the fact that God -IS- a Judge and according with His moral standards, in which He created for the entire universe when He first created it, He MUST punish 'Sin', and in this lies Humanities greatest tragedy and our hugest problem. EVEN STILL, although God MUST punish Sin, He also loves us beyond anything we can understand, and because of that love, God created a way out for us, a way to rid us of this 'Sin' and to save us from ourselves. In the beginning, God created humans perfect and in a loving relationship with Him, our Creator... But after time, we disobeyed Him and we did evil things in front of His eyes. This is the understanding of Sin.
The solution? The Bible says, "For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should have Eternal Life!" God sent from Heaven, the one He called His 'beloved Son', and the only One who could resolve this issue of 'Sin' that keeps Humanity away from God for all time. Who was this 'Son of God' that He sent into the world to save it? His name was J-E-S-U-S! Yes, a lot of people know the name of 'Jesus', but do they really know who Jesus is? Do YOU? If I asked you, "Who is Jesus?" what would you say? Most would answer, "Oh, he was a good teacher." others would say, "He was a prophet!" and still others would say, "He was just a man." - A lot of people know He existed, or at least believe it, but do they actually believe IN Him? The Bible tells us that, Historically, a man named Jesus walked the Earth. The Bible also tells us that, this man named Jesus, who God sent and called Him His Son, walked the Earth and preached the message of Salvation and freedom from our 'Sins'. The Bible also tells us that people hated Jesus because of what He taught, and they went so far as to kill Him. They crucified Him on a cross and He died completely. The Bible tells us that the reason for His death was because through His Death, we could have 'Eternal Life' with God in Heaven again! He was the only one who could take our Sins from us and free us from it. He died on the cross in order to take our punishment. Why, do you ask, was He the only one who could pay the penalty and take the punishment for our Sins? It's because Jesus was not only the 'Son of God', but He was in fact, God Himself! God made flesh, rather, or as one could say, the infinite God-man. God, coming down from Heaven and showing us His love, by becoming a Man and dying for us!
Now, Jesus died on the cross so that we could obtain this 'FREE GIFT' of 'ETERNAL LIFE'! But you ask, "Well, I understand that and it sounds amazing!... BUT, HOW DO I RECEIVE THIS GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE?!?!" The answer lies in this one singular word, which most people misuse so boldly... It is this: 'FAITH'
The Bible says that the key to Heavens Gate is 'Faith'. What is 'Faith' exactly...? Well, most people think it is just some head knowledge. People say, "Well, yes, I believe Jesus existed and I believe he was a man who walked the Earth." The Bible says, "You believe in God? Good, rightly so. Yet, even DEMONS believe in God and tremble, but do not receive salvation." Another idea of 'Faith' is called 'Temporal Faith', which is placing your trust in God or Jesus, only when you need something. A lot of people do this and without understanding it. Let's say you are going through tough economical times and you need help or you need money. Most people would pray to God and ask Him to help them out. Yet, when the situation is resolved, they forget all about God. This in itself, is not a BAD thing, asking God for necessities, but the problem lies in the afterwards. This, in itself also, is not what grants you Eternal Life.
So what is it exactly that grants you the ability to obtain and receive this FREE GIFT of Eternal Life? It is what's called 'Saving Faith'. What is 'Saving Faith', you ask? It is this - Transferring all of your trust in whatever you are believing now, on to Jesus. What does that mean exactly? Let's consider, for example, I am sitting in this chair, typing this blog right at this moment! When I came to sit down at my computer, did I stop to check my chair, to see if it would hold me up? No, because I knew for a -FACT-, with 'Faith', that it would hold me up, and I was not mistaken! Another example - Imagine right now I am sitting in this chair, but staring at another chair. I can profess and say, "Yes, I believe that other chair will hold me up if I sit in it! No doubt!" And yet, I never move from this chair to sit in the other chair... Is that 'Faith'? No, not at all! That is mere talk! 'Faith' is transferring all my trust from this chair I am sitting in now, into the other chair and standing up from where I am now and moving over to AND sitting down in that other chair, that I say I believe will hold me up!
Now, the question that comes now is... "Are you willing to accept this Free Gift of Eternal Life?" If your answer is "No, I don't believe in this! I don't care!" then I'll ask you to consider it, at the very least, and even if you don't trust my own words, go look into it yourself. Go read 'The Holy Bible' on your own and you can make up your own mind. At least have an open mind and consider it. :) If your answer is, "YES! I WANT THIS!" then, I'll ask you to do one more thing... Search deep within your heart and ask yourself, "Do I really understand all this?" if your answer is, "Yes, I understand this and I want 'Eternal Life'!" - Then, I ask you to truly believe this in your heart, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for your Sins and that, as the Bible says, if you believe in Him and you accept Him as your Salvation, and transfer all your trust from whatever you are believing now, and giving it all to Jesus, then repent for your Sins and ask God to take your Sins away, then if you do this thing, and you TRULY accept it in your heart, with 'Faith', then the Bible says you are 'Saved' and you now have 'Eternal Life'! Do this, with a prayer, and PRAY these things, to God, with Truth in your Heart and 'Faith', then, when the time comes, if it comes your time to move into the next life, you know as a matter of fact, that you will have Eternal Life with God in Heaven and not in a place that is far away from God, for Eternity!
This is the Good News!! Isn't this amazing?!?! For those of you who have accepted the Lord, I welcome you into the family of Christ! Welcome! If you feel this changes your life in ANY SMALL WAY, or in ANY BIG WAY, then please, go out and tell everyone about what you've just experienced and tell them all the good news! For now, this is all I have to say. God bless you all!
~Shade
