Good News for All People

Many First Nations people know that there is One who created the earth and all that is in it. Some prefer to ascribe deity to parts of creation such as the earth, sky, sun, or living creatures. The good news is the Creator is far greater than all or any part of His creation, and He wants to know you and you to know Him by name! His desire for you to know Him is so great that He has revealed Himself to us through His written Word. This written Word, known as the Holy Bible, is far greater than any other book ever written and any other story ever told. It is the very breath of God,

“All Scripture is God-breathed . . .”  (2 Timothy 3:16).

Speaking further about His written Word, God inspired the following verses,

“And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit ” (2 Peter 1:19-21).

This written Word was given to all mankind through a nation of tribal people in a far-off land through whom God wanted to bless the entire world. This nation is Israel. The tribes of Israel, from their beginning, would tell the stories of how God chose them and worked among them and would pass these stories from one generation to the next. From time to time, God would raise up prophets whom He would inspire to record these things and further revelations about Himself and what he requires of mankind – His creation.

The content of God’s written Word tells us of extraordinarily good news! We call this good news the Gospel. Inspired by God, the apostle Paul wrote the following verses about the purpose and power of the Gospel (or good news):

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . . For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”  (Romans 1:16-17)

God’s Word is complete, perfect, and true, and reveals everything about God that we need to know to have a personal relationship with Him, which is what He desires. In the last Scripture that you read above it mentions salvation being available to everyone who believes. Let me tell you about this salvation.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”  (Genesis 1:1).

The earth began when God created it from nothing. He spoke, and it came into being. The creation story found in the book of Genesis tells how God created the world and everything in the world in six days. It was on the last day of creation that God created the first man. His name was Adam. Later, because Adam was lonely for a companion, God created for him a companion, a woman called Eve. Adam and Eve would spend time in the very presence of God each day, walking through the beautiful garden that God had made for them. Their hearts were clean and pure, just as God had made them.

On a certain day, the Devil came to them in the garden in the form of a snake and spoke to them. He tempted and lured them to disobey the only thing that God had told Adam and Eve they could not do. That day, they disobeyed God’s command, and their hearts were immediately full of shame and guilt. When God came walking through the garden looking for Adam and Eve that day, they heard Him coming and hid from Him because their hearts were guilty. It was on that day that sin, which means to miss the mark of perfection, entered the heart of man. And it is sin that keeps us from having a relationship with our Creator, for He is perfect and holy. He is righteous, and we are unrighteous.

On that day, God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and out of his presence. From that time until now, all of mankind, every tribe and every nation has lived under the penalty of sin. The prophet Isaiah wrote,

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”  (Isaiah 59:2)

The apostle Paul wrote the following verses,

“. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23)

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

Because we are all guilty of falling short of God’s mark of perfection, we are separated from our Creator, unable to have a relationship with Him. He will not even hear our prayers because of our sins. Furthermore, the final payment for our sinfulness is death. This does not just refer to our physical death. In a more important way, it refers to the everlasting punishment of our soul. This is not what God wanted for you. His desire was to have an everlasting relationship with you and every other person who has or ever will live on the earth. Because our Creator is a righteous God, the only way to correct man’s problem of sin was to have someone who is perfect and without sin to suffer humanity’s punishment in their place. But there is no such person in the world. That is when our Creator gave the greatest gift that has ever been given!

“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”  (John 3:16)

This is the greatest message of hope that this world has ever known. This gift from our Creator was motivated by His endless love for His creation. Jesus, the Son of God, left Heaven to become a man. He was completely God but also became completely man. The difference about Jesus is that He lived a sinlessly perfect life, and then He offered Himself as a sacrifice to suffer the wrath of God for the sins of the world. He died on the cross in your place so that you can have life. He was laid in a poor man’s grave. But He rose from the grave, arose back up into Heaven, and is alive today, praying for you to trust in Him.

Now, the choice is up to you and every other individual person in the world. No one can make this choice for you. The choice you must now make is simply to believe. Believe that Jesus is God; believe that you are a sinner and fall short of God’s perfection; believe that you deserve the punishment and wrath of God because of your sin; believe that Jesus has already suffered in your place to remove your sinfulness before God; believe that Jesus arose from the grave. The verse just above says that if you believe in Jesus, you will not be condemned; rather, you will have everlasting life with God in Heaven. However, it also says that if you do not believe, you are already condemned because of your sin. Refusing to believe in Jesus as the only way to Heaven will result in your everlasting punishment in hell – the eternal destination of Satan and his demons.

Jesus said,

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  (John 14:6)

The apostle Peter further said,

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:12)

Jesus is the only way of entrance into the heavenly home that God has prepared for those who believe in Him. No one can pray enough, dance enough, sweat enough, fast enough, work enough, or be good enough to gain God, the Creator’s, favor. Jesus is the only way for the whole world.

The choice is now yours. You are standing at a fork in the road. Which path will you choose? Will you choose to travel the path of unbelief? Will you follow in the steps of those who looked for God by other means, only to find hopelessness and despair? If these voices could speak from the grave, they would plead with you, with their present understanding, to choose the path of faith in Jesus Christ alone. It is a path that leads to abundant and everlasting life.

If your choice is to believe in Jesus by faith, then pray from your heart the following prayer out loud:

God, now I know who You are. You created me to have a relationship with You. But I am a sinner; I have offended you by disobeying your commands; I fall short of your perfection and holiness. I now understand that you loved me enough to die in my place on the cross. I believe that you arose from the grave so that I can live with you in heaven when I die. Jesus, I believe in You. I believe You are the only way to heaven. I turn away from my sins and want You to come and live in my heart. I proudly and thankfully claim You as my Savior and the Master of my life.

Jesus, help me now to live every day for you. Pick me up when I fall, and help me to keep walking this path with You. Help me to tell everyone I know about Your love and the life that You can give. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen.

If you prayed the prayer above, I would like to be the first one to welcome you to the family of God. I would like to send you some free information about your decision that will help and encourage you and let you know what you need to do now. Please contact me by email at mcustalow@sbcv.org to let me know about your decision. I pray God’s richest blessings for you in your new walk with Jesus!

If you have further questions about the information above and are not yet ready to believe, please email me with your questions. I will be more than happy to help you in your search to know your Creator.

Mark “Soaring Eagle” Custalow
Mattaponi Tribe  – Virginia