This day and age in America we hear plenty about the good news of the gospel but to truly uderstand why the news is so good we must first understand the bad news:
THE BAD NEWS: While God is a loving God, we must also understand that he is a wrathful God. The Bible says that the wrath of God abides on us all (John 3:36). Everytime we sin we store up for ourselves wrath on the day of judgement (Romans 2:5). Like a just judge God has to punish all law breakers. So how do we know we are law breakers? Martin Luther talked about the law of God (10 Commandments) being a mirror to help us understand out need for God. So take yourself through the commandments: have you ever lied? Ever stolen? If you have lusted then according to Jesus you are guilty of adultry. If you have ever been unjustly angery Jesus says you are guilty of murder of the heart. All that said, the Bible says that all liers will have their place in the lake of fire. That is something to think about.
GOOD NEWS: Because we have all sinned against a perfect and holy God we are condemned to an eternity in hell. An eternity of weeping and nashing of teeth where the fire is not quinched and the worm never dies. It seems pretty hopeless...but God had a plan from the beginning of time. He planned for someone else to take our punishment. Someone who was perfect and righteous. The only person who could do it - God himself in human flesh. Jesus came to earth to suffer the wrath of God on our behalf. In Isaiah is says that it pleased the Father to crush His Son. Why would God be pleased in this? Because when Christ was punished for the sins of man He knew that for all eternity He would be glorified for His enormous love and mercy that was poured out on humans who did not deserve any of it. In short, Christ died so that we may live.
WHAT NEXT? A decision. Not simply a prayer, but a broken and contrite heart before God. We must understand how lost we are. How wretched we are, and then we can cry out for mercy and He will hear us and answer our call. Simply said it is repentance and faith that bring us to the throne of God. Repent means to turn. We must turn from ourselves and our sins and turn to Christ. In doing so we place our faith in the only one who can save us - Jesus Christ. Once saved we serve God not to gain access to heaven, but because He is worthy of all we have. For more details on becoming a Christian or how to live a Christian life check ou the links on this page and of course read your Bible (start in the book of John). Reading God's word is not a chore, but a desire of all those who are truly saved. It is our guide and our standard in this world.