The Gospel means “good message” and Christianity has reasons
to be positive in a very negative world. Another word for Gospel is Evangelism
and look at the center of evANGELism. An angel is a messenger and when the
angel brought “good tidings of great joy” to world in Luke 2:10, the message
was “to all people”.
We live in a negative world. But the gospel is a positive
message and we need to share that good message to all people.
God’s Plan. Isn’t
it great that God has a good plan? His plan, the gospel, is not something to be
ashamed of. Romans 1:16 says “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it
is the power of God for salvation.”
Our Problem. The
very reason we became a Christian in the first place was because of a bad
“message”: we are all sinners and imperfect and in need of forgiveness. The
“ABCs” of evangelism begins with “Admit we have all sinned” (Romans 3:23).
Sometimes we, the church, get in the way of the “good message.” But we, the
church, are not the only ones who have sinned and we need to communicate to the
world that they too have a problem with not being perfect.
God’s Provision.
God didn’t wait for us to get perfect. Romans 5:8 says that even though we were
sinners Christ died for us. So God’s plan was to solve our problem with His providing
the solution through salvation. Rom. 6:23 says the cost of our sin is death,
but there’s a free gift: salvation. You don’t earn it. You don’t deserve it.
You simply receive it.
Our Prayer. How
do we receive a free gift? We must “leave” in order to “receive.” If you are
going in the wrong direction, you must leave that direction and turn to the
right destination. Romans 10:9-10 and 13 states you need to call on God from an
inner conviction that leads to an outer and life-long confession. The Biblical
word for leaving a sinful direction and receiving a salvation destination is
“repentance.”
My family was south of San Antonio once and we exited (okay,
I
exited) Loop 410 to head for Padre Island. However, my direction was just a
little off and we actually headed for Laredo. (If you don’t know, there is a
BIG difference in Laredo and Padre Island!) The only benefit from that
diversion is an illustration that even being a little off in our direction can
take us to a very different destination.
This simple Roman Road presentation has a four-point
outline: “Go. GO!”. Jesus commissioned us to go share this good message (Matt.
28:19-20) and the double “Go. GO!” indicates the urgency we must have to Go. So
GO!
