Good News

Good news. That’s what the word “gospel” means. 

 

The good news is that there is a creator. One who made you in his image and holds the entire world in his hands. 

Now, I wouldn’t expect you to just take my word for it. What I would like for you to do is take a moment to think seriously about your world view. What is it? How do you justify it? Are you open to the possibility that just because you feel a certain way may not mean that it is true? I mean, you could honestly believe that 2 plus 2 is 4 and rightly so. But I could really believe that 2 plus 2 is 5. They can’t both be true at the same time. The fact is that there is such a thing as absolute truth. But you say, “Wait, there is no absolute truth!” My question to you is, “are you absolutely sure that’s true?”

We’ve been told all our lives that in the distant past we crawled up out of the swamp and that everything in our world sprang to life from nothingness. Let me ask you, have you ever seen nothing create something?

And here is where faith comes into play. You may say that you have no faith. But I would suggest that you indeed do have faith, probably more than me, if you’re willing to suggest that everything around us sprang up from nothing. The point is that if you really do believe that this is all random and without meaning, then you MUST give evidence outside of how you feel about it.

Now I wouldn’t expect you to give evidence without providing some myself. Here are a few things I'd like you to consider.

Where are all the transitional fossils? If evolution is indeed true then there would be mountains of evidence showing transition from one species to another. That’s an important distinction to make. MICRO evolution vs MACRO evolution. I once had a friend say, “Well, you can literally see the evolution from wolf to dog” and my response was, “That may be so, but I’ve never seen any evidence of a wolf evolving into a fish”. 

Something from nothing. You’ve got to be really honest with yourself here. Are you willing to believe that there is a God? I ask because it begs the question why is there something rather than nothing? You can either believe that “no one” created everything from nothing or that “someone” created everything from nothing. The latter seems much more likely to me.

 Morality. This is a big one. If there really is no reason for anything, and when you die you're just gone, then how do you justify morality? How do you even describe it? I've never met someone who would just flat out tell me they were an immoral person. Everyone believes they are moral according to their world view, but again, we can't all be right. And how can you say that anything is wrong or right? I mean truthfully, I don't know how you could ever question anything. But I guarantee that if you woke up tomorrow and someone had stolen your car over night you wouldn't say that it's ok because they were just acting according to their feeling that they deserved the car and you didn't.

These are just a few reasons it makes more sense to me to have faith in a creator and, being honest with yourself, if you are not willing to believe in a creator regardless of any evidence you could be shown then no amount of evidence could convince you otherwise. Unfortunately, this is where most people are today. It is simply that they are not willing to accept that there is an absolute truth not because they can't, but because of the implications that truth may have on their lives. 

So who is this creator? The fact is that there is more historical and contextual evidence supporting the life and works of Jesus than any other event in history. One example of this is the vast number, earlier copies, and supporting manuscripts of the New Testament that have been found. Nearly 5,800 hand-written Greek manuscripts and 20,000 in other languages. Many of these manuscripts date back to within 15-20 years of Jesus’s life. The next closest comparison in number of copies would be the Illiad by Homer with only 1800 manuscripts. However, I’m willing to bet you've never heard a teacher question other ancient works in the same way they do the New Testament, despite the evidence. 

There’s not enough space here to discuss every detail at length. And I’ve probably lost a few readers by now. BUT HERE IS THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL HEAR TODAY:

The truth is that you and I were made by a creator. After we were created we allowed sin into the world by rejecting God's perfect plan. Since that time we have continuously rebelled against him and that sin created has created a gap between us and God. But in his love he created a way for us to be reconciled to him. 

He sent his son, Jesus, who had no sin in him to die on a cross as payment. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ” Rom. 6:23.

Jesus paid that debt for us and all we have to do to accept that gift is “confess with your mouth the lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead” Rom. 10:9.

 The best part is this gift of eternal life is available to EVERYONE, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9.

 I ask you to take some time today, right now, to consider your life and it’s meaning. Consider the things you’ve read and ask yourself why it is you have faith in whatever it is that you do. You don’t have to be "ready”, or know what to say, or get things straightened out first. God wants you to come to him as you are. Ask God to reveal himself to you and he will be faithful to do so.