Good News DECEMBER 2023 A4

More documents

Recommendations

Info

P A G E 2 T H E G O O D N E W S 3 — You shall not take God’s name in vain. (Have you ever used God’s holy name as a swear word?) 4 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 5 — Honour your father and mother. 6 — You shall not murder. (God considers hatred to be as murder). 7 — You shall not commit adultery. (“Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart”; this includes sex outside of marriage). 8 — You shall not steal. (Have you ever stolen anything, no matter the value?) 9 — You shall not lie. (Have you lied even once?) 10 — You shall not covet. (Have you ever jealously desired what belongs to others?) These sum up God’s moral law. If we’ve broken any of them, we’ve made ourselves enemies of God. Breaking God’s law comes with serious consequences. Because God is holy and righteous, His punishment is hell. In fact, He won’t only judge our actions, but our words and thoughts too. The bible teaches that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). In other words, the reason there is death in the world, and we will all one day die, is because of sin. The payment for our sin is death, both physical and eternal death. That is what God requires because of our sin. Many people think that they can make up for their sin by doing good deeds. But once we’ve committed the crime, it’s too late. No good judge would release a serial criminal just because they try to do nice things once in a while. After all, the payment God requires for our sin is death, not good deeds. Some believe that if they simply stop sinning or repent, that God will overlook their past sins. But again, no good judge would let a criminal go free...
...just because they were sorry and promised not to do it again. Of course they should be sorry and of course they shouldn’t do it again, but justice must still be served. So how can you escape God’s judgement? “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This is why the story of Christmas is so powerful, because despite our helpless and lost state before God, He sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world. He was born of a virgin, and lived a perfect and sinless life. He then gave up His life as a payment for sin when He died on the Cross. He was buried, and three days later He rose from the grave. His resurrection was witnessed by hundreds of people. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Remember how the bible teaches that “the wages of sin is death”, well Jesus had never sinned, and yet He died. Why then did He die? Because He was dying for the sin of the world. Man, He was able to taste death for everyone. The death and resurrection of Jesus means God can forgive you and grant you everlasting life. Wow, now that is good news! How could Christmas get any better than having forgiveness of sin and peace with God? To access this forgiveness, God commands you to repent (turn from sin) and put your faith (trust) in Jesus Christ alone. Don’t trust in yourself or your own efforts, instead trust only in what Jesus did for you when He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Read the Bible to learn more about God. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on is shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6-7). Because Jesus was both God and
Page 1: CONTENTS A Christmas Gift THE GOOD

Good News DECEMBER 2023 A4

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?