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The Gospel Message |
| Although the writing style and design of American Tract's literature
has changed and developed during its 178-year history, its central
message has remained unshakably consistent. In fact, the gospel
that is the centerpiece of most of our tracts is the same now
as it was during the early Christian church when the apostles
and disciples of Jesus Christ began to spread it to "the
remotest part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). From the
beginning of time, according to the Bible, life was meant
to be a richly satisfying experience. The purpose of life
even included friendship with God! In fact, God created man
and woman to enjoy His friendship in a perfect world of love
and trust. The Bible says that "God created [mankind] in His own
image" (Genesis 1:27). He shared with them qualities
similar to His own--intelligence, conscience, personality,
speech, the ability to choose. The things that still give
our lives meaning. Despite a great start, there came a time when the first man
and woman, Adam and Eve, chose to go against one of God's
instructions to them. The consequences were immediate. Their
sin--the choice to disobey God--broke their once-close friendship
with Him (Genesis 3). Even worse, sin's eventual result was
physical death. And death opened the door into sin's final
outcome, eternal death, separation forever from God. And from their day to ours human history can be summed up this way: Although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death (Romans 1:21, 3:23, 6:23). We have all followed in the footsteps of our forefathers.
Disobedience. Deceit. Lies. Using others. Loving money. No
time for God in our lives. No wonder our lives offend GOD.
. .we offend our FRIENDS even though they're sinners like
us! As hopeless as it sounds, when mankind ruined things God had a solution. His plan: Have someone who had never done wrong take the place of everyone who had ever done wrong. An innocent substitute for guilty wrongdoers. The Original Plan RestoredTwo thousand years ago the plan went into action. Jesus Christ,
God's Son, became one of us. In His 33-year lifetime as the
God-Man, He fulfilled every requirement and expectation God
ever hoped for us. He never once sinned against His Father
or those around Him. In other words, Jesus qualified as the
perfect substitute for all the rest of us! So His death on a cross was not the tragic end of the world's
greatest teacher. It only appeared to be "just"
another cruel Roman execution. Actually, in dying Jesus carried
through with His desire to take the eternal death penalty
for us all. One sinless Man for all sinful mankind (Romans
5:8)! Because He is the one and only God-Man, Jesus' suffering
equaled the eternal judgment in hell that we all would otherwise
experience. That's how much He wanted to restore God's original
purpose for us. The Bible puts it this way: God so loved the world that He
gave His one and only Son [Jesus Christ], that whoever believes
in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did
not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but
to save the world through Him (John 3:16, 17). Jesus' resurrection from the dead three days after His burial
(1 Corinthians 15:1-8) proved that, in paying the death penalty
for us, He had also conquered death, not only for Himself,
but for all those who believe in Him. That means those who
trust God to forgive their sins will also share in Jesus'
resurrection life forever in Heaven (John 14:1-4). There's more. Those who admit their sins caused Jesus' death, and trust God to save them from the eternal judgment their sins deserve received that eternal, spiritual life the moment they believe. Jesus put it this way: "I have come that they [who trust in Me] may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). The Choice Is YoursThose are the basic facts of the gospel message. Will it
make any difference whether or not you agree with them? Look at it this way: If there is no existence after this
life on earth, what will you lose by ignoring this message?
NOTHING. But if what the Bible says about eternal life and
eternal death IS true, and you ignore it, you have EVERYTHING
to lose. If you want God's offer of eternal life, you may want to
put your choice into words something like these: Dear God, I admit I have sinned against you. I'm convinced
that Jesus died in my place and took the judgment for sin
that I deserved. I accept your offer of forgiveness. I want
the new life Jesus promises to those who believe in Him.
Thank you for letting me find out how to know You. If you've made the choice to trust Christ as your Savior,
please tell us about it, by responding to this message. Simply
visit our decision site, www.ICHOOSEJESUS.org |
