Who is the God of this Gospel?

  The word “Gospel” literally means “the good news” or “glad tidings”. So what is the “Good news”? First let us read about some of the attributes of the ONE TRUE God of Holy Scripture (Deuteronomy 4:39; 6:4). God is the creator of the heavens and the earth and everything in it (Genesis 1:1; Acts 14:15). By His sovereign grace
He gives man his very next breath (Acts 17:25) and only by His
undeserving mercy that man can even breathe his next breath (Job 34:14-15).
God is omniscient (possesses all knowledge), omnipotent (having infinite or
unlimited power), and omnipresent (being present everywhere at once). No man or
woman in the universe can hide from His presence (Jeremiah 23:23-24).
Through His perfect wisdom He can see even the SECRETS of every man’s heart (Psalm 44:21; Proverbs 15:11; Hebrews 4:12-13). And if men tried to ruin God’s
purposes, His plans would never fail due to His unstoppable power (Job 42:2).
Even while reading this very article, God knows the very next word you will
speak (Psalm 139:4)! What should be your response to this truth?                

   David said in Psalm 139:6,

         “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”

  Now if you were told to write down any words you could use to describe God, what would they be? Would it be that He is love? That He is nice? That He is big? Though the Bible uses these terms and many more wonderful words to describe Him, in God’s very nature and essence He is HOLY.  In fact the fullness of God is best expressed
as being “holy, holy, holy” (a 3 word repetition in Greek; in Hebrew literature it is used to give emphasis).  So we read…God is “holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). No other description can better express the perfect and incomprehensible nature of God other than His holiness. 

  The truth that God is “holy” means that He is without sin (1 John 1:5), cannot sin (Job 34:10), and takes no pleasure in sin (Psalm 5:4; Habakkuk 1:13a). He esteems and
loves all that which is perfectly Holy and perfectly Righteous (Psalm 11:7; 33:5; 1 Peter 1:14-16) likewise, He loves everything about Himself! The word “holy” in the Hebrew language literally means “to be separated from common use; beyond or transcendent above sinful creatures” (sinful creatures are all people that are born into this world because we are all born in Adam’s condemnation of sin—see Job 14:4; Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12). And because of God’s holiness, He is also righteous (Psalm
7:9, 11; Deuteronomy 32:4). “Righteous” means that God is perfectly right and correct in all His laws, purposes, and commandments. And because of this truth He is always loyal to NEVER bending His law, causing injustice to occur (Job 34:12). God can NEVER justify nor forgive any wrongdoing (sin) against His perfect law (Proverbs 17:15) without there being a just punishment. Because God is Holy, He must therefore HATE all that is unholy and just ONE sin makes, “You unholy”. God is righteous, and so He must HATE all that is unrighteous. Breaking just ONE of His commandments makes,
“You unrighteous”. (James 2:10; 1 John 3:4)

  Here’s a logical example of this reasoning: If I LOVE children, then I must HATE child abuse and abortion. God loves holiness and righteousness, therefore He must HATE all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (see Romans 1:18).

God’s Wrath & Righteous Judgment against all Sin.

So how is God’s righteousness demonstrated and thus our sin revealed? It is revealed primarily through His Law (Romans 3:20; 7:7; Galatians 3:24). Have you ever heard of, “the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)?” If so, that is His perfect, righteous law

 Let’s take a test:
Over your entire lifespan, have you ever lied just one time? If you have,
you are a LIAR and God’s JUDGMENT is upon you (Revelation 21:8). Have
you ever coveted or desired something jealously that someone else had that
wasn’t yours? If you have, you are covetous and cannot inherit the kingdom of
God (1 Corinthians 6:10). Have you ever lusted (impure, sexual desires)
even just in thought after another person that was not your spouse? If you
have, Jesus says you are an adulterer at heart (Matthew 5:28), and
therefore God’s WRATH-FILLED JUDGMENT is upon you (1Corinthians 6:9;
Revelation 21:8). If you plead guilty to these three, you have broken 3 of
God’s perfect commandments and we haven’t even gone through half of them. The
Bible says if you have broken just one of God’s commandments, you are GUILTY of
them all in the eyes of His perfect JUSTICE (James 2:10). Because God is
holy and righteous, He CANNOT forgive you for your sins against His Law.

  If He would merely forgive you without any punishment, JUSTICE would not be served in punishing your sin. This therefore would make God corrupt and UNJUST, changing His perfect nature (in which from Scripture we know can NEVER HAPPEN because He is Immutable; see Exodus 3:14; Psalm 90:2; Malachi 3:6). “Wrath” and “abomination” are two of the most horrible descriptions used in the Bible to describe the terrible anger and disgust of God towards wicked (sinners) and their sin. I know it sounds better to say that “God hates the sin and not the sinner”, but that’s not what the Bible says (for
examples, see: Deuteronomy 25:16; Psalm 5:5; Psalm 7:11; Psalm 11:5-6;
John 3:36; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:4-9).
There is not one place in the Bible where God will send the sin to Hell and not
the sinner, they are inseparable! All men (including You) are born in sin (Psalm 51:5), by nature hate God (Romans 1:30; 8:7), are enemies of God (Romans 5:10), never seek God (Romans 3:11), and drink iniquity down like water (Job 15:14-16). All men (including You) are born spiritually dead (Genesis 2:17; Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13), by nature love pleasure rather than God (2 Timothy 3:4), and are slaves to
sin (Romans 6:16-17). Since all men (including You) are born with a total depravity (total corruption) of sin, even your greatest deeds and works before God are an “abomination” to Him (Proverbs 15:8) and are deemed as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Because of your transgressions, sins, and rebellion against God’s Law, God’s WRATH and righteous judgment remain on your life now. 

       The LOVE of GOD is Demonstrated…

  As you have learned, because God is Holy, He is perfect in every attribute He possesses. And because of that truth, I have some GOOD NEWS for you.  Just as His
holiness and righteousness, God’s LOVE is also perfect (1 John 4:17-18).
The Bible declares that God is LOVE (1 John 4:8) and that God is LIGHT (1
John 1:5). The good news is that He has done something for this dark and
fallen world out of His Love. Over 2,000 years ago, the Light (John 1:4-9)
came into this world and became a man in human flesh (John 1:14), in
which He lived in perfect obedience by fulfilling God’s Law (Matthew 5:17).

  His name is Jesus Christ, who was both fully God and fully man (1 Timothy 3:16). He NEVER committed one sin in thought or deed against God His Father (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). And after living 33 years on this earth, Jesus Christ was put up on a cross to die under the predetermined plan of God His Father (Acts 2:22-23; 4:28;1 Peter 1:20) for the punishment of wicked man’s sin. And while Jesus Christ hung on that cross, the Holy HATRED and WRATH of God that should fall upon YOU fell upon the perfect one, Jesus. Isaiah 53:10 says, “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief…” On that day, Jesus Christ suffered the highest magnitude of God’s Incomprehensible WRATH towards sin that anyone could ever suffer. So notice that; God’s LOVE and Kindness wasn’t even present on that day. Matthew in his gospel account tells us of something horrible that occurred on Calvary where Jesus hung on that tree. Matthew writes, “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was DARKNESS over all the land (Matthew 27:45).” What does this mean?  
The LIGHT and LOVE of God the Father towards His Son was no longer present but rather the full force of God’s WRATH and JUSTICE towards the darkness of sin was present. That’s why we read towards the very end of Jesus’ suffering He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”(Matthew 27:46). Why did Jesus call out this unusual cry? This is the only time Jesus ever called out to His Father as “God” and not as His intimate Father. God poured out the cup of His wrath towards sin (Psalm 75:8; Matthew 26:39) by placing His divine and eternal, righteous judgment upon His only begotten son. By Jesus suffering and then dying on the cross, He paid the immeasurable fine for the sins that God’s people have committed and will ever commit. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf…” And in Galatians 3:13 it says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” When Jesus was bearing the sins of Hell-deserving sinners like YOU, He was put to death by the most humiliating and degrading way any man could die in that culture. God made a very specific law concerning the penalty to any person sinning in a way deserving of death. The law says, “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.” (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)

To hang and die on a tree was the most unclean, abominable, and vile thing before God’s presence. When Jesus Christ hung on that tree, He literally BECAME your SIN as well as a CURSE in which you and all men without question deserve. The “Holy One” (Mark 1:24) of creation who deserved all glory and honor was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah as one who was “despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:3). And when He suffered His own Father’s wrath, Isaiah writes that He “was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5).

 When Jesus died on the cross, His last words were, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). What was finished? God’s perfect JUSTICE towards sin was satisfied when Christ bore His people’s sins. By Jesus becoming the sin-atoning sacrifice (“propitiation”; See Romans 3:25), He stood in a sinner’s Law place, suffering and satisfying God’s eternal hatred and justice towards sin. But it doesn’t stop there! Christ died on the cross, and 3 days later He ROSE FROM THE DEAD (Matthew 28:6; 1 Corinthians 15:4)! Why is this significant?

      Here are 3 important reasons:

JESUS defeated the power of physical death and the power sin by coming back to life. (Acts 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

JESUS defeated the power of Satan by remaining both God and Human living sinless. (John 12:31; Hebrews 2:14)

JESUS satisfied God’s JUSTICE, saving you from all His WRATH that is to come. (Isaiah 53:10; John 19:30; Romans 3:25; 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 1:10)

     You are now RESPONSIBLE for what you just read.

    Now after reading this good news, the Gospel, has God revealed to you your hopelessness apart from His Son (Matthew 5:3)? Does sin now bother you to the point of hatred, sorrow, or disgust over it (2 Corinthians 7:9-11)? Do you have a desire to stop living for yourself and the world’s pleasures and now desire to trust in Jesus to save you from your sin and His wrath?

  If these are true realities in your heart, what does the Bible say that God has commanded you to do? In Acts 17:30 it says, “God now commands all men everywhere to REPENT“. Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “Repent and believe the Gospel!” Acts 2:38…  Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). So what does it mean to repent and be baptized?  

  To repent means to “turn away from; a change in direction”. To be baptized means to “be totally immersed in water”.  Friend, has God done such a work in your heart convicting you of the sin you have committed against His perfect Law, sin you didn’t even know you had and now given you a desire to believe on Him, serve Him, and obey Him? And are you ready to identify with Jesus life, death, burial and resurrection in water baptism. If so, then Acts 2:38 says, “Repent, and each of you
be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your
sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”.  Acts 16:31 says, “Believe in
the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”       

   How would you react if there was a piece of rope hanging from a helicopter hovering
over a towering inferno and it was your only way of escape? Or how about towards the captain of a boat reaching down to pull you from the middle of shark infested waters? Or how would you respond to the sound of keys if you were locked in a prison, where darkness and chains were the only things that surrounded you? As if God was speaking through this article, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to save you (Acts 16:31) because He is your ONLY HOPE!!!

 In Jesus Christ, You are a NEW CREATURE!

By placing your faith in Jesus ALONE God will DECLARE you RIGHTEOUS, or JUSTIFIED, before His perfect law (Romans 3:21-28) leaving no place for a guilty Condemnation on your life (Romans 8:1)! Your sins will be washed as “white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18) and your sins He will “remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

   Once you repent of your sins and your self-serving life, and turn in FAITH to Christ, God promises that in Christ you are NEW CREATURE (2 Corinthians 5:17). He will place His Holy Spirit within you (Romans 8:9), give you a NEW NATURE (Matthew 7:17-18; Galatians 5:22-24), and a NEW HEART (Ezekiel 36:26) that gives you
desires to seek Him, love Him, worship Him and obey Him. Will you still sin?
Yes. Will you struggle with sin and possibly fall into sin? Yes. But when you
do sin, God will discipline you as a loving Father (Hebrews 12:5-11) by
convicting your heart through the Holy Spirit (John 16:8), the Word (Hebrews
4:12), or through a fellow brother or sister in Christ (2 Samuel 12:1-15; Proverbs 27:6; Ecclesiastes 7:5). Leading you to “Godly sorrow which leads to repentance”                (2 Corinthians 7:10).  Then, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all   unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). He promises
to continue disciplining you out of His LOVE, GRACE, and MERCY (Proverbs 3:11-12),
always bringing you back to Himself and never leaving nor forsaking you (Hebrews
13:5). His WRATH will NEVER be on your life EVER AGAIN. He will love you
with an EVERLASTING LOVE that never stops or slows down (Jeremiah 31:3).
He will never give you more than you can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13),
and He will always give you more than you deserve (Psalm 84:12). He
works all things out for your GOOD (Romans 8:28), not promising you a
life of constant comfort, but does promise that He WILL make you in the
likeness of His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). Though there will be
trials and sufferings (Romans 8:18-23; James 1:2-3; 1 Peter 4:12), God
will fill you with HIS joy, HIS power, HIS strength, and HIS grace leaving you
with no reason to fear or worry (2 Corinthians 1:3-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10;
Philippians 4:13).

  As you grow in the grace and knowledge of Him through prayer, fellowship, and reading in His Word (2 Peter 3:18), God calls you and all Christians to share this good news with all people groups in the world (Mark 16:15)! The Bible says it is by the POWER OF GOD that Salvation occurs (Romans 1:16) through the preaching of the Gospel. Romans 10:14-17 says, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace who bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

The Reality of Eternal life.

  Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Jesus Christ will judge the world in RIGHEOUSNESS (Psalm 9:8; Acts 17:31), and that righteous judgment includes YOU! Your life on earth is merely passing away like “vapor” in the realm of eternity (James 4:14). If you are still breathing, God’s invitation for forgiveness and mercy is still extended to you. If you thirst, COME TO CHRIST and you will never thirst again (John 4:14)! Acts 4:12 says, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

 The gracious, merciful, and loving hand of God has been demonstrated and now extends out to you through what His Son Jesus Christ has done for sinners on the cross (Romans 5:8). Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).

    However, one day that gracious and merciful hand of God will be pulled back from your presence, and the only thing left for those who have not repented of their sins and believed on Jesus ALONE for salvation, will be the wrath-filled, holy hatred, and righteous judgment of God in crushing sinners for eternity in Hell.

      The Bible is VERY CLEAR:

If you “do not know God and do not obey the Gospel” you have been presented, the only thing left for you will be God and His righteous judgment “in flaming fire taking vengeance” against YOU (2 Thessalonians 1:8).

       The invitation is before you…

   “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him,

and to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6-7)

 Contact information:
Email david@hiscall888.com  FB David Banton