The Gospel is a Love Letter from God to You–The Good News!

LIFE IS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

Because God is a Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—He is relational, a being of self-giving love. The world and humankind were created out of the overflow of love in the Trinity. God is love and seeks relationship and created us such that every person needs love.

The desire to love and to be loved has been given to you (or created within you) by God. Without love, your soul will start to shrivel-up and die. Your basic need is for love, acceptance, and forgiveness. Life is about relationships, and only God can heal and restore relationships.

Once Jesus was asked “What is the greatest commandment to please God?” His reply was “You must love the LORD your God with all your heart… This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matt. 22:37–40).

A violation of love is what we call sin. The things we call sin, such as lying, stealing, adultery, and murder are violations of love. Failure to love breaks relationships and will be manifested in rejection, pride, jealousy, greed, arrogance, rage, resentment, contempt, fear, and lack of respect. These all break the natural expression of love.
Then there are those who are broken because of relationships in their families or with friends caused by lying, faultfinding, indifference, pornography, and unforgiveness. Healing of those relationships begins when our relationship with God is first healed.

Sin is always a failure to love that often springs from a failure to recognize how much God loves us. Sin, at its core, is about selfishness, and the breaking of relationships.

“Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law [of Love], for all sin is contrary to the law of God. And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in Him. Anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know Him or understand who He is” (1 John 3:4–6 nlt). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23) Death means separation. Jesus died for your sin, took your place of judgment upon Himself so you don’t have to be separated from God in Eternity. “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). Verse 18 nlt, “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.”

God’s voice within you will urge you to love, to be honest, to be grateful, and to do what is right and just. These qualities will bring life and fulfillment to others, yourself, and a relationship with God. “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you!’” (Jer. 31:3). We are never in the position of trying to get God to love us; it is simply for us respond to His deep love. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

When you love someone, you care about them, you want to help them and to be with them. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about what happens to you” (nlt). Jesus is the way to God; He is the way to truth that sets you free, the way to life in relationships. He gives eternal life to all who call on His name, for no one can come to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6). God loves you and wants a relationship with you. “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come into you and eat with you, and you with me” (Rev. 3:20 nrsv). If I knock on your door; you can say, “Come in, stay out, or ignore me.” That’s what you can do with Jesus. Why don’t you “open-up,” and let Him come into to your life? “But to all received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12 nrsv).

PRAY WITH ME: Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you died on the cross and rose again to forgive me of all my sins. I now receive you as my Savior and turn from sin. I invite you into my life to cleanse me from all my sins. I accept your gift of forgiveness and eternal life. Thank you for loving me and being my Savior and Lord. Give me the power to live my life for you. In Jesus’ name I pray. –Amen.

The Bible says in Romans 10:10-11 amp, “For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation. The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him [who adheres to, relies on, and trusts in Him] will [ever] be put to shame or be disappointed.”

© For more information visit: www.faithencounter.org – John David Hicks