THE GOSPEL
Do you understand what Christianity is all about? I find that many have no idea. This pamphlet has been put together to explain to you God’s eternal plan for mankind as laid out by Jesus Christ and His apostles. Christians have been commissioned by Christ to convey this information to the world and the eternal destination of every man and woman in the world is determined by whether they believe and accept the information.
Here is the information God wants you to know.
THERE IS A GOD AND THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD
To understand Christianity and God’s plan for mankind, we must first understand a few things about God. The Bible tells us there is but one God. Deut 32:39a says, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me…”
2 Kings 19:15 says, “And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.” He is THE SUPREME BEING.
This one and only God is eternal. Ps. 90:2 says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
He has always been and will always be (Rev. 4:8). Did you ever wonder where the universe came from? It came from God and God has always been. It stands to reason something or someone has always existed. Our presence gives evidence to a beginning. God was before anything.
This one and only God is not only eternal, He is omnipotent or “all powerful.” Rev. 19:6 says, “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent (all powerful) reigneth.”
(See also Rev. 4:8).
This one and only God is not only eternal and all powerful, He is everywhere and He fills heaven and earth. Acts 17:28 says, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” (See also Ps 139:7-9).
This one and only God is not only eternal, all powerful, and present everywhere, He is the Creator of all things. Rev 4:11 says, “Thou art worthy , O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” This is God’s universe. All things were created by Him and for His pleasure including man.
The God of the Bible, the God of Christianity is a God full of love. In fact He is the personification of love. If love were a being it would be God. Love is not what God does. It is who God is. 1 John 4:8 says, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (See also 1 John 4:16). He cannot stop loving because love is not what He does, it is who He is. He loves all of mankind, every man, woman, and child.
At the same time, God, this Supreme Being and Creator, is just. Deut. 32:4 says, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (See also Zech. 9:9). He believes in and executes justice against those who injure others (Ps. 103:6; Heb. 10:30). He will not overlook sin, not even one. Nahum 1:3 says He, “will not at all acquit the wicked.”
That’s quite a contrast isn’t it? God is both a loving God and a just God who will not acquit the wickedness of man.
This brings us to man. Man is God’s prized creation upon the earth. Upon creating everything else in this world God concluded by saying, “…Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”(Gen 1:26-27) The Psalmist said, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet…” (Ps 8:4-6).
When creating His prized possession, God didn’t want a being who served Him because he was programmed to do so. He wanted man to choose to serve Him so God created man with “free will” or the ability to make choices. This allowed man to decide whether he wanted to serve God or not. Of course if a man chose not to serve God then he could not live in God’s eternal Kingdom. How could one be a part of God’s Kingdom when He refused to accept God’s rule? The problem with giving man free choice is that man can then make WRONG choices. Inevitably, man would make the wrong choice of rebellion or disobedience. As such, the JUST God would have no choice but to punish man or become UNJUST by overlooking sin. Remember, God “will not at all acquit the wicked.” On the other hand, the merciful and loving God would want to show mercy to the offender. How could God be just and yet show mercy to the offender? If He simply overlooked sin, He would not be just. If He simply judged all sin, man could not survive and God would never have an outlet for His mercy.
To answer this “Divine Dilemma” God devised a plan. He would create only one man (Adam) and He would make him the father or ancestor of all mankind. He would also make him the representative of all of mankind. Whatever Adam did would have consequences for all of mankind that followed after him. He then took the man (Adam), and the woman He created from that man (Eve), and placed them in a Paradise on Earth called the Garden of Eden.
Everything was perfect but in order for man to have “Free will” God must provide man with a choice. He had to give him the opportunity to obey or disobey. To provide man with the choice, He placed within the Garden a tree He called the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Gen 2:16-17 says, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” This representative of mankind (Adam) had a choice. He could obey and live in Paradise or disobey and experience DEATH. God knew the outcome.
Adam eventually disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit. Once he did, he and his descendents were changed. He became sinful, prone to sin and condemned to death. As representative of mankind he passed this “sin infection” on to his children and it has continued to be passed on to mankind, father to child, ever since. Along with this “sin infection” came the consequences of death upon all mankind. Rom. 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” From that day forward every baby born into the world has inherited the nature of sin and therefore they “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). Because all of us have sinned, all of mankind has been condemned to death. Rom. 6:23a says, “For the wages of sin is death…”
Why did God do it? Why did God allow one man’s sin to infect and condemn us all? Because God had a plan. If God allowed one man’s sin to infect and condemn all of mankind, He could then allow one man’s death to pay the price for all of mankind’s sins. If one man brought sin and death upon all, then it was just for God to allow one man’s righteous act to give mankind life (Rom. 5:17).
How could God do it? Where would God get this “second Adam” or second representative of man (1 Cor. 15:45)? The answer is God sent His only begotten Son. His Spirit overshadowed a “virgin” named Mary and created in her womb a male child (Luke 1:35). This child was the maternal descendent of Adam but was by a supernatural act of God the “only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). Because He was the Son of God, He had no sinful nature (2 Cor. 5:21) and even though Satan tempted Him as he had Adam, Jesus committed no sin (Heb. 4:15). Because He had not sinned, He didn’t have to die and yet He allowed Himself to be taken and nailed to a cross where He hung until He died. There on the cross God laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all Isa. 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
2 Cor 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us , who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
So Adam sinned and brought sin and death upon all but Jesus died and brought the hope of righteousness and eternal life to all. Romans 5:18 says, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”
Once God sent Jesus to die, God could choose to forgive and give eternal life to mankind. He chose to only give eternal life to those who freely chose to accept His leadership. Here is how He chose to distribute eternal life. Jesus told His disciples, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”(Mark 16:15-16)
1 Cor 1:21 says it is just the way God chose to distribute eternal life. “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Now God says, “Go and tell the world what I have done for them and what I am offering them. If they will truly believe the message and accept the Lordship of My Son Jesus Christ, they will be forgiven for their sins (Acts 13:38), transformed by My Holy Spirit (2 Cor 5:17), given everlasting life (John 3:16), citizenship in My eternal Kingdom (Col 1:13), and I will adopt them into My family as my child (John 1:12). Those who do not believe and do not accept My Son as their means of Salvation (Saviour) and Lord (Master) will die, be cast out of My Kingdom, and thrown into the lake of fire for eternity (Matt 13:41-42).”
The message is that man is condemned because we all have sinned. We are doomed to die (Rom 6:23) and bound for an eternity in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:14:15). God doesn’t want any man to perish (2 Pet. 3:9). In fact, God wants us to have eternal life (John 3:16). To accomplish this, God sent Jesus to die for our sins, the innocent dying for the guilty (2 Cor. 5:21). Now God says, “Whosoever believes in Jesus’ sacrifice, to the point they are willing to repent, will be forgiven of their sins, changed in their spirit, given eternal life, granted membership in God’s eternal kingdom, and will be adopted into God’s family. Whosoever does not receive Jesus’ substitution will have to take the punishment themselves which is death and eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:15).
The information regarding Jesus’ sacrifice and the invitation given by God to be forgiven, transformed, receive eternal life, membership in God’s Kingdom, and adoption into His family is THE GOSPEL.
When that information is shared, it has the power to do all those things for the person who will believe unto repentance (Rom. 1:16).
Now you know the information God wants you to know. Do you believe it? Your eternal destiny depends on whether you REALLY BELIEVE this GOSPEL MESSAGE.
Do you believe in the God revealed in the Bible? Do you believe you are a sinner? Do you believe Jesus died FOR YOU? Do you believe He rose from the dead as a testimony to God’s acceptance of His sacrifice?
To believe is to have faith. True faith is more than saying you believe and then going about your life like nothing ever happened. If you believe in God’s eternal plan, you can never go back to life like it was. Many will profess to being believers in Jesus Christ but TRUE FAITH will change everything about your life. Are you ready for a change? If you are, pray this prayer and submit your life to God.
SINNER’S PRAYER
God, I believe Jesus Christ is your Son, that He came in the flesh and that He died on the cross to take the punishment for my sins and the sins of the world. I believe You raised Jesus Christ from the dead the third day and that He has ascended to Your right hand in Heaven. I confess to you that I have sinned. I ask Your forgiveness for my sins and I repent of my rebellion. I accept and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour from this moment on. I ask you to save me and change me in Jesus’ name. Amen
If you prayed that prayer and you meant it, e-mail me and let me know.
Pastorbps@aol.com
Here is the information God wants you to know.
THERE IS A GOD AND THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD
To understand Christianity and God’s plan for mankind, we must first understand a few things about God. The Bible tells us there is but one God. Deut 32:39a says, “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me…”
2 Kings 19:15 says, “And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.” He is THE SUPREME BEING.
This one and only God is eternal. Ps. 90:2 says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
He has always been and will always be (Rev. 4:8). Did you ever wonder where the universe came from? It came from God and God has always been. It stands to reason something or someone has always existed. Our presence gives evidence to a beginning. God was before anything.
This one and only God is not only eternal, He is omnipotent or “all powerful.” Rev. 19:6 says, “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent (all powerful) reigneth.”
(See also Rev. 4:8).
This one and only God is not only eternal and all powerful, He is everywhere and He fills heaven and earth. Acts 17:28 says, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” (See also Ps 139:7-9).
This one and only God is not only eternal, all powerful, and present everywhere, He is the Creator of all things. Rev 4:11 says, “Thou art worthy , O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” This is God’s universe. All things were created by Him and for His pleasure including man.
The God of the Bible, the God of Christianity is a God full of love. In fact He is the personification of love. If love were a being it would be God. Love is not what God does. It is who God is. 1 John 4:8 says, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (See also 1 John 4:16). He cannot stop loving because love is not what He does, it is who He is. He loves all of mankind, every man, woman, and child.
At the same time, God, this Supreme Being and Creator, is just. Deut. 32:4 says, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (See also Zech. 9:9). He believes in and executes justice against those who injure others (Ps. 103:6; Heb. 10:30). He will not overlook sin, not even one. Nahum 1:3 says He, “will not at all acquit the wicked.”
That’s quite a contrast isn’t it? God is both a loving God and a just God who will not acquit the wickedness of man.
This brings us to man. Man is God’s prized creation upon the earth. Upon creating everything else in this world God concluded by saying, “…Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”(Gen 1:26-27) The Psalmist said, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet…” (Ps 8:4-6).
When creating His prized possession, God didn’t want a being who served Him because he was programmed to do so. He wanted man to choose to serve Him so God created man with “free will” or the ability to make choices. This allowed man to decide whether he wanted to serve God or not. Of course if a man chose not to serve God then he could not live in God’s eternal Kingdom. How could one be a part of God’s Kingdom when He refused to accept God’s rule? The problem with giving man free choice is that man can then make WRONG choices. Inevitably, man would make the wrong choice of rebellion or disobedience. As such, the JUST God would have no choice but to punish man or become UNJUST by overlooking sin. Remember, God “will not at all acquit the wicked.” On the other hand, the merciful and loving God would want to show mercy to the offender. How could God be just and yet show mercy to the offender? If He simply overlooked sin, He would not be just. If He simply judged all sin, man could not survive and God would never have an outlet for His mercy.
To answer this “Divine Dilemma” God devised a plan. He would create only one man (Adam) and He would make him the father or ancestor of all mankind. He would also make him the representative of all of mankind. Whatever Adam did would have consequences for all of mankind that followed after him. He then took the man (Adam), and the woman He created from that man (Eve), and placed them in a Paradise on Earth called the Garden of Eden.
Everything was perfect but in order for man to have “Free will” God must provide man with a choice. He had to give him the opportunity to obey or disobey. To provide man with the choice, He placed within the Garden a tree He called the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Gen 2:16-17 says, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” This representative of mankind (Adam) had a choice. He could obey and live in Paradise or disobey and experience DEATH. God knew the outcome.
Adam eventually disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit. Once he did, he and his descendents were changed. He became sinful, prone to sin and condemned to death. As representative of mankind he passed this “sin infection” on to his children and it has continued to be passed on to mankind, father to child, ever since. Along with this “sin infection” came the consequences of death upon all mankind. Rom. 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” From that day forward every baby born into the world has inherited the nature of sin and therefore they “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23). Because all of us have sinned, all of mankind has been condemned to death. Rom. 6:23a says, “For the wages of sin is death…”
Why did God do it? Why did God allow one man’s sin to infect and condemn us all? Because God had a plan. If God allowed one man’s sin to infect and condemn all of mankind, He could then allow one man’s death to pay the price for all of mankind’s sins. If one man brought sin and death upon all, then it was just for God to allow one man’s righteous act to give mankind life (Rom. 5:17).
How could God do it? Where would God get this “second Adam” or second representative of man (1 Cor. 15:45)? The answer is God sent His only begotten Son. His Spirit overshadowed a “virgin” named Mary and created in her womb a male child (Luke 1:35). This child was the maternal descendent of Adam but was by a supernatural act of God the “only begotten Son of God (John 3:16). Because He was the Son of God, He had no sinful nature (2 Cor. 5:21) and even though Satan tempted Him as he had Adam, Jesus committed no sin (Heb. 4:15). Because He had not sinned, He didn’t have to die and yet He allowed Himself to be taken and nailed to a cross where He hung until He died. There on the cross God laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all Isa. 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
2 Cor 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us , who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
So Adam sinned and brought sin and death upon all but Jesus died and brought the hope of righteousness and eternal life to all. Romans 5:18 says, “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”
Once God sent Jesus to die, God could choose to forgive and give eternal life to mankind. He chose to only give eternal life to those who freely chose to accept His leadership. Here is how He chose to distribute eternal life. Jesus told His disciples, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”(Mark 16:15-16)
1 Cor 1:21 says it is just the way God chose to distribute eternal life. “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Now God says, “Go and tell the world what I have done for them and what I am offering them. If they will truly believe the message and accept the Lordship of My Son Jesus Christ, they will be forgiven for their sins (Acts 13:38), transformed by My Holy Spirit (2 Cor 5:17), given everlasting life (John 3:16), citizenship in My eternal Kingdom (Col 1:13), and I will adopt them into My family as my child (John 1:12). Those who do not believe and do not accept My Son as their means of Salvation (Saviour) and Lord (Master) will die, be cast out of My Kingdom, and thrown into the lake of fire for eternity (Matt 13:41-42).”
The message is that man is condemned because we all have sinned. We are doomed to die (Rom 6:23) and bound for an eternity in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:14:15). God doesn’t want any man to perish (2 Pet. 3:9). In fact, God wants us to have eternal life (John 3:16). To accomplish this, God sent Jesus to die for our sins, the innocent dying for the guilty (2 Cor. 5:21). Now God says, “Whosoever believes in Jesus’ sacrifice, to the point they are willing to repent, will be forgiven of their sins, changed in their spirit, given eternal life, granted membership in God’s eternal kingdom, and will be adopted into God’s family. Whosoever does not receive Jesus’ substitution will have to take the punishment themselves which is death and eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:15).
The information regarding Jesus’ sacrifice and the invitation given by God to be forgiven, transformed, receive eternal life, membership in God’s Kingdom, and adoption into His family is THE GOSPEL.
When that information is shared, it has the power to do all those things for the person who will believe unto repentance (Rom. 1:16).
Now you know the information God wants you to know. Do you believe it? Your eternal destiny depends on whether you REALLY BELIEVE this GOSPEL MESSAGE.
Do you believe in the God revealed in the Bible? Do you believe you are a sinner? Do you believe Jesus died FOR YOU? Do you believe He rose from the dead as a testimony to God’s acceptance of His sacrifice?
To believe is to have faith. True faith is more than saying you believe and then going about your life like nothing ever happened. If you believe in God’s eternal plan, you can never go back to life like it was. Many will profess to being believers in Jesus Christ but TRUE FAITH will change everything about your life. Are you ready for a change? If you are, pray this prayer and submit your life to God.
SINNER’S PRAYER
God, I believe Jesus Christ is your Son, that He came in the flesh and that He died on the cross to take the punishment for my sins and the sins of the world. I believe You raised Jesus Christ from the dead the third day and that He has ascended to Your right hand in Heaven. I confess to you that I have sinned. I ask Your forgiveness for my sins and I repent of my rebellion. I accept and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour from this moment on. I ask you to save me and change me in Jesus’ name. Amen
If you prayed that prayer and you meant it, e-mail me and let me know.
Pastorbps@aol.com