The Good News

Sometimes life gets heavy.

The fact that we’re hyper connected with access to a 24 hour news cycle, puts information at our fingertips that can be overwhelming.

But Easter week is the perfect time to put things in proper perspective. To focus on the Good News!

Jesus said in John 16:33, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” 

This world may be fraught with bad news, but we have reason to celebrate because Jesus is Lord! So in honor of this Holy Week, I want to share some key Scriptures that point to Jesus, and illuminate the Good News. 

Happy Easter - Jesus is Risen! ✝️

Every human being is created in God’s image. 

Genesis 1:27 “So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”

Every human being is loved by God because God IS love. 

1 John 4:8 “…God is love.”

God has Good intentions for His people. 

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Sin entered the human race with Adam and Eve (See Genesis 3). But God had a rescue plan from the very beginning, and it was Jesus. 

Romans 5:19  “Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”

It’s not God’s will that anyone should stay separated from Him, it is not his will that any should perish. 

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

God won’t force Himself on people. He’s not a controller. He gives us a choice. 

Joshua 24:15 “…Choose today whom you will serve.”

God is Three in One: Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:16-17 “After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

Jesus willingly left heaven to come to earth and put on flesh. He was fully God and fully human and was the only one who could stand in the gap for us. 

John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will.” 

Colossians 2:9. “Jesus was fully God and fully man. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.”

Jesus’ Birth fulfilled Old Testament prophecies, which included the Virgin Birth. 

Isaiah 7:14 “…the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”

Jesus never sinned.

1 Peter 2:22 “He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.” 

Jesus chose to go to the Cross and pay the price for my sin. For your sin. For all who would believe.  He wasn’t forced. He willingly laid down His life.

John 10:17-18 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

We are all in need of a Savior, because we all mess up. We all fall short of God’s glory, because only He is perfect. But He made a way for us to come to Him, and it’s through His Son, Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice on the Cross.

Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

John 1:29 “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

John 8:34, “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.”

Now, this may not sound like good news at first glance, but it is because Jesus rose again on the third day and now sits at the Father‘s right hand in heaven. We have the free gift of Salvation. 

1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “…Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.”

Mark 16:19 “When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.”

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We don’t have to try to be good enough. We don’t have to live in guilt or shame because of our mistakes, and we don’t have to do enough good things in order to get to heaven. It is only by Jesus’ blood that we can enter, and He has already paid the highest price! When we mess up, we can ask for forgiveness, and it is done!

1 John 1:9, “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

Now, this is very Good News!

No matter what is on your social media feed or local news, and no matter what you are facing personally, the Creator of heaven and earth loves you, He has good intentions toward you, and there is nothing that can separate You from him. What’s more, He has a mansion waiting for you in Heaven, for eternity!

John 14:1-3 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

I pray you are encouraged today, remembering the truth of God’s Good News and how much He loves you. This is my prayer for you straight from Scripture:

Colossians 1:9-14

“We (I) ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We (I) also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light. For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”

***If you don’t know who this Jesus is that I’ve been writing about, or if you can’t say for sure that you will spend eternity with Him, I encourage you to find a Bible or download a Bible app and read the gospel of John.  Before you do, why not say a simple prayer asking God to help you know who Jesus really is. Jesus wasn’t just a great teacher, a good man or only a prophet, He was and is the Son of God and the only way to heaven. Jesus made that clear in John 14:6, “I am the way yes and the truth and the life. No one can get to the Father, except by means of Me.” 

So who do you say Jesus is? I’d love to hear your answer. Feel free to reach out through my contact page.