Tell the World, Part II

Here is a scenario that comes up from time to time;
"Hey man, how is it going?"
"Not bad, what's up?"
"Well I have some good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

Have you noticed that more often than not, people will ask for the bad news before the good? Especially if the two are related, the bad news can actually bring context to the good news. For the sake of making my point, let's have the person ask for the good news first.

"I'll take the good news first"
"Ok, the good news is that you won't have to go to jail because someone paid the fine for you".

Can you see how this would be strange and even insulting to the person? Why in the world would you even have to tell me something like this, they may wonder.

Watch what happens when the bad news is told first.
"I am sorry to have to tell you this, but you have been charged with wreckless driving for speeding through a zone clearly marked for deaf kids. You are going to have to go to prison."

Do you see how the good news now actually makes sense? It is no longer foolish or even insulting. The bad news makes the good news "good".

In my last post we took a hard look at the Law of God, the Ten Commandments. The bad news is that none of us are good. And when we stand before God on the Day of Judgement, we will give account for our actions. And the standard will be God's perfect and Holy Law. We have all been caught by the Law and deserve to be punished for breaking it. Because He is a good Judge, He must punish us and send us to Hell.

But here is where the good news comes in. Around 2,000 years ago, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to pay the fine for us. The Bible says that He "gave himself as a ransom for all men" (I Timothy 2:6). If we repent (turn from) our sins (lying, stealing, adultery, etc...) and put our faith in Jesus Christ then God will accept the sacrifice of his Son as payment for our transgression.

Do you see how great this news is? That is why it is called the gospel, or the good news.