We live in a time when we are literally bombarded with messages that attempt to influence our buying decisions, attempt to sway us to vote for certain candidates, influence our hearts to donate to different charities, and a hundred other appeals to sway us to act in certain ways.
While most of these decisions don’t have a major impact on our lives some do. For example, what job you decide to apply for can have a major impact on your career. And if you have ever tried internet dating, what person you decide to date could impact who your future marriage partner will be.
But there is only one message in life that has eternal implications. I love how author Jerry Bridges puts it: “The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history.”1 Sadly, most people have been blinded by Satan to give little thought about eternity. Most people are too consumed with the here and now and how their decisions effect today and maybe tomorrow, but rarely eternity. In fact, Satan has even blinded most people to believe that we can’t really know what happens to us when we die. As a result, most individuals try to find as much meaning as they can through people and possessions rather than God.
But praise the Lord, for God has left us with His own special message and it is contained in a very special book called the Bible. For 2,000 years mankind has been blessed with the most amazing, influential, and transformational book ever written – the Bible. And within it pages is the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. And not only is the gospel message full of hope for our eternal souls, it promises us so much more meaning and joy in the now than what our sin-filled world can offer.
My friends as Christians we have the only truly “good news.” And Christianity is the only religion that appeals to our emotions, our intellect, and our spirit. Of all the so-called holy books, only the Bible states that man is a sinner and his only hope for salvation can be found in the message of the gospel. So, not only is the message contained in the Bible good news but I believe Christianity, if presented to any reasonable open-minded seeker of truth, can at least get them thinking about reading the Bible and eternal things. And if they open the Bible there is just no telling how the Holy Spirit can work on their heart!
1 TOP 25 QUOTES BY JERRY BRIDGES (of 178) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)