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The Gospel Is the Good News About God

The Gospel Is the Good News About God

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3–5, emphasis mine).

We are in a war over the truth about God.

Satan is the liar who has misled the world about God. The eternal gospel, the eternal good news, is that God is not the kind of being that Satan has presented Him to be.

Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9 NIV84). The good news is that God is exactly as Jesus has revealed Him to be—the God of infinite love, mercy, and grace who became human, who gave up divine privileges and sacrificed Himself to save us from eternal death.

But Satan has a false gospel (not just every false religion, but a false gospel within Christianity) that presents a god cloaked in the attributes of darkness, in the characteristics of the evil one; a god who is angry, wrathful, unforgiving; one who is the source of inflicted pain, suffering, and death; a being who will use his power to punish his intelligent beings in eternal torment (or as long as they deserve before he uses his power to kill them).

The gospel is the good news that God is not like what Satan has represented Him to be. So where has this false version of God come from? What is it built upon? It is built upon the lie that God’s law functions like human law, made-up rules (like the laws that humans make) that require the law-giver to use power to enforce those rules. Once a person accepts this lie about God’s law, belief in all the other distortions of God’s character eventually follow.

But God is the Creator of reality. His laws are the protocols upon which life is built to operate. Breaking God’s laws results in pain, suffering, and death—from unremedied sin; the pain, suffering, and death is not inflicted by a wrathful god! “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NIV84), for “sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:15 NKJV), and “the one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; [but] the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8 NIV84).

God is the source of life. Satan is the source of death. God sent Jesus as “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6 NIV84). Satan is the “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). And God sent Jesus to “destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14 NIV84). “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11, 12 NIV84).

 

Believing the Lies

But sadly, billions prefer the false gospel to the truth. They prefer a god who is the source of inflicted death as punishment for sin over the Creator God who is the source of life. They prefer a god who uses his power to torment and destroy over the Creator God who uses His power to save and to heal. They prefer a god who makes up rules and enforces those rules with power and might over the Creator God whose laws are the protocols that life, health, and happiness are built to operate upon. They prefer a god who will torture unrepentant sinners to make them pay over the God who forgives even those who tortured Him on a cross.

Yes, God is the source of life. It is Satan who is the source of pain, suffering, and death. Yet billions reject the good news that Jesus Christ revealed about His Father—preferring instead a dictator god who runs his universe like Caesar ran Rome.

It is time for us to reject the penal-legal lies about God. It is time for the church to throw off the shroud of the Dark Ages god who requires blood payments be made to him so that he won’t torture and kill us. It is time for us to worship the only true God, Jesus Christ, “who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water” (Revelation 14:7 NIV84).

The gospel, the good news, is about God! He is not the one from whom we need protection. But sadly, because of the belief in the lie about God’s law, that God is required by law to inflict punishment upon unrepentant sinners, billions are more afraid of the loving God who is working to save them than the sin in their lives that will actually kill them. Why? Because they believe the lie that God is a heavenly legal judge who must find them guilty of any unrepented sin and then use His power to punish them.

 

Breaking the Lies

If they could only see the truth that “if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:31–34 NIV84 emphasis mine). The good news is that God is for us and that Jesus joins with His Father to also intercede for us.

  • The good news is that God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in perfect unity in their intercessions for us—for our salvation. They intercede in our hearts convicting us of sin, implanting a desire for good, and wooing us back to Them with Their love (Genesis 3:15; Romans 2:4, 8:26); They intercede by holding at bay the principalities and powers of darkness that tempt; and They have also interceded, in the Person of Jesus Christ, to provide a different option than the death that sin brings. In Jesus, the Godhead has opened a new path that leads to eternal life. In Adam, all humanity is dead in trespass and sin, but “God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV84).
  • The false gospel is of a god who requires someone to intercede with him to keep him from lashing out in anger, wrath, and so-called justice with inflicted torment and death.
  • The good news is that God loves people and surrendered His power and sacrificed Himself to save and uplift sinners (Philippians 2).
  • The false gospel is of a god who loves power and will torture and kill people to maintain his power and authority and to satisfy his so-called holiness, a god who requires some payment be made to propitiate his wrath.
  • The good news is that God pardons freely (Isaiah 55:7).
  • The false gospel is of a god who requires a legal payment of a human blood sacrifice in order to pardon.
  • The good news is that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV84, emphasis mine).
  • The false gospel is of a god who, if he receives the right blood payment, will declare us to be legally righteous in a heavenly registry even while we remain unrighteous.
  • The good news is “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19 NIV84).
  • The false gospel is of a god who keeps a record of our sins in order to punish us, a god who must have his wrath propitiated by blood in order to be reconciled to us.
  • The good news is of “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NIV84)
  • The false gospel is of the lamb of a god that takes away the punishment inflicted by the offended god.
  • The good news is of the God who is so committed to protecting the liberty of His intelligent beings that He who would rather suffer and die on a cross than take away their freedom to kill Him.
  • The false gospel is of a god who says, “If you don’t obey me, I will torture you in hell.”
  • The good news is of the God who loves us like a parent, One who has given His rebellious children rules to protect us and lead us to Christ for healing from sin (Galatians 3:24).
  • The false gospel is of a god who is like a dictator; he gives rules to dominate, subdue, and control.
  • The good news is of the God who took sin upon Himself (Hebrews 2:14, 15; 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:21) and accepted the pain, suffering, and death that sin brings in order to destroy death and bring life and immortality to light (2 Timothy 1:10)—in order to provide the cure that heals all who trust Him.
  • The false gospel is of a god who executed an innocent in place of the guilty and requires the blood of that innocent be paid to him to stop him from killing the guilty.
  • The good news is of the God who examines us perfectly and identifies every wicked way and sinful defect—and then He cleanses, cures, heals all those who trust Him, creating within them new hearts and right spirits and making them new in Christ (Psalm 139:23; 51:10; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
  • The false gospel is of a god who examines legal records of sinful acts to determine if the right blood was claimed and applied to every single entry in the legal registry, searching for any unpaid sin in order to execute the guilty sinner.

Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14 NIV84). It is time to reject the lies about God and to take the true gospel, the good news about God that Jesus revealed, to the world!

I long to see Jesus. I want Him to come and bring an end to the pain, suffering, misery, and death that sin causes. He is waiting for His people to throw off the lies about Him, to embrace the truth that He has revealed, and take the eternal gospel, the eternal good news about our Creator God of love, to the world—and then He will come and take us home. Will you join me in this work? Will you join me in rejecting the lies about God and taking the true gospel to the world?

 

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Testimony 6

I got the book “Could It Be This Simple?” a few months ago and the reading was wonderful and I was fascinated. I lent the book to a friend at work. She is having a difficult time and the book is helping her to find Jesus and I found this very exciting. She has asked me questions and I can see her life changing.

H. S., Australia

 

Testimony 34

I was introduced to Come and Reason Ministries by accident, via a passing comment made in a bible study class we were visiting. I checked this website out and my life was changed. The understanding of the truth of God’s character, and how we apply it, is so right. The tricky part is consistently applying which “lens” to look through. As I began to understand, I started sharing the basics of this understanding with a discussion group I was leading and, suddenly, a lot of things started to make sense that never used to. At the same time, I enjoyed an amazing opportunity. I was able to conduct a full bible study at WORK! What an amazing experience! It is such a joy to share the truth about God and to share how it all fits in the war between God and Satan. So many people benefit when we have a correct understanding about how God works and who He really is! Thank you for this transformational understanding. Keep up the good work! God Bless you!

Tony P., CA, USA

 

Testimony 54

I had a lot of pressure, as a pastor’s kid, to conform and be “good.” I was good at being “good.” I thought my life was going along well until it all started falling apart and I could not figure out why! In my search for “why is this happening to me, God?” I came across your book, “Could it be this Simple,” and God started revealing to me the many distortions I held about His character, His principles, and how He has designed His universe to operate. I remember thinking, “Wow, I have had this all backwards.” I was happy and angry all at the same time. Happy to have the light of truth break through the darkness, revealing a wonderful, beautiful way of understanding God and His plan for His children, and angry, because I felt deceived and cheated by the church, my family, and myself!

My heart thrills when I listen to your bible study lessons. Literally I have gone from death to life. It is a journey I look forward to every day, as God reveals areas this distortion affects. Praise GOD! I will ever be grateful to God for this ministry and your cooperation with the Spirit!

Karen S., Portal, AZ, USA

 

Testimony 68

Your message of design law vs imperial law is so uplifting and makes so much sense- it is a game changer for me. The fact that Jesus’s death is not a big payment by an angry God is , quite frankly, a relief.

Laura G., London, Ontario, Canada

 

Testimony 59

I’m a native Ghanan, but am currently in France for my master’s degree. Prior to this, during my final years at undergraduate studies in Ghana, I was introduced to your ministry and I’ve been immensely blessed by what you share, especially about the Design and Imposed Laws. God richly bless you for that.

One of the first things I did when I arrived in France was to buy all four of your books. They not only helped me, but those I shared them with. I shared the message with an atheist student and I marveled at how God worked mightily in his life. Today this person shares the Love of God with others and debunks theories of who God is not. I want to share what you present in your “Heavenly Sanctuary and Investigative Judgment” pamphlet, because the message brought rest to my soul and I live today as a healthy person.

God bless you so much and your ministry.

Michael A., Ghana

 

Testimony 46

Over the past couple of years God has been expanding my view of Himself and His character. Along my approximately 40-year journey, I have often had questions, but was hesitant to voice these and step outside the traditionally accepted thinking, for fear of admitting that I may in fact be eternally lost. In the recesses of my thinking has been the thought – if one blindly accepts (which is widely regarded as “real faith”) and does not question, is this really ‘truth?’ I often find it challenging to grapple with very theological ‘speak,’ but Dr. Jennings has a real gift of explaining spiritual concepts with clear practical examples. The weekly discussions are growing my Christian experience and slowly changing my view of how to live as a child of God in today’s complex world. Finally the whole Old Testament sanctuary teaching moved in my mind from fantasy to reality!

Beverly S., South Africa

 

Testimony 10

I personally download and listen to each of Come And Reason Ministries Bible study class lessons and PDF study notes to use when teaching my class. Really appreciate the class especially when Dr. Jennings is teaching. Thank God there are persons like him doing His work and traveling to share His beliefs.

B. L.M., North Plains, OR, USA

 

Testimony 38

Since November 2015, when I started studying Gods word from this God Is Love point of view, my life has been transformed. My troubled marriage of 15 years has been healed and my husband and I are truly happy for the first time in 15 years. Now When I read the word of God I understand it so much better and I can’t help but see Gods love radiating through the pages to humanity. Gods word is living and active and I am blessed beyond measure to be having this amazing experience. God has given me a beautiful understanding of Jn 3:16 that amazes me more and more each day. Thank you again for your ministry.

Helen D., London, England

 

Testimony 21

I am absolutly on fire with the message at Come and Reason! I can’t get enough! I’ve read your book, blog, and articles. I’ve listened to your Bible study podcasts, your radio show, and your series – all excellent! It wasn’t until the past couple of years that I have I like I’m becoming “healthy,” with more to share with others than just beasts and commandments! I used to be a Bible worker and preached when the pastors were gone until I had had enough. I didnt realize at the time what the problem was, but i know now… the message wasn’t properly focused. Now my flame is rekindled. All of your little examples are so perfect in explaining something “complicated” and making it easily understood! Now I’m trying to shape it into a life changing evangelistic series! Thank you!

M.T., USA

 

Testimony 66

I am incredibly grateful for the transformative impact you’ve had on my life, and words cannot fully express my appreciation. Over the years, I have been an avid listener and follower of C&R and extend my heartfelt thanks for creating the C&R mobile app. It has allowed me to immerse myself in your lessons repeatedly, enabling me to grasp the profound significance about the Character of God, Design Law, the protocols for life, the reasons behind the current chaos, and Christ’s mission to restore everything. They have deeply touched me. Having studied with various churches, I came away with the perception that God is no different from the deities of ancient Greek or Roman mythology—demanding sacrifices and taking pleasure in bloodshed. Thanks to your transformative teachings, I have experienced a profound awakening to the true nature of God and the immense power of His love. It is truly a remarkable and liberating sensation to finally grasp the truth and embrace the empowering nature of God’s laws. My self-perception has become brighter and more infused with love. My journey of growth continues on a daily basis.

Chris P., Lake Mary, FL, USA

 

Testimony 26

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 27

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 19

I truly believe that to know who God really is the first step to understand ourselves in a balanced and kind way, so the healing can take place. Your approach really makes sense – Thank you for your ministry!

A.M., Pittsburg, PA, USA

Testimony 24

I wanted to thank you very much for presenting your understanding of God. I’ve always been troubled by this question: Why did Jesus have to die? Since my conversion I understood that The Father & Jesus are one, I did not have issues with that. But was there not any other way to save us than for Jesus to die? I guess I actually had a question about God – if He is so wise, how come He did not find another way? I did not see the real ‘beauty’  in the cross. Only when you explained the picture in the medical context, Jesus providing medicine for my selfishness, have I started to finally ‘see the light’. Thank you so much. Your seminar, “Healing the Mind,” are absolutely marvelous & have shared them with my family and many other people, including colleagues at work. Thanks, thanks, thanks. May God bless you abundantly in your ministry.

M. W., Australia

 

Testimony 32

The message [of Come And Reason Ministries is] for all Christians (and those who may become Christians) and not just Adventists or any other group. It is difficult to imagine why any [anyone] with intellectual and spiritual honesty could find fault with the way you explained the healing substitution concepts and the truth about God’s character, though I know some will reject and criticize. On behalf of those in our group near Tacoma, WA, thank you and your staff for all of the hard work and for sharing the Gospel in this manner. God’s message of healing love will be carried to the whole world and then Jesus will come – He promised it.

Terry U., Tacoma, WA, USA