A newsletter, a Christian newsletter, was published by my father, Jim Knox, through his Pilot Press. He began addressing this question in his first Zacchaeus Letter. Faithfully presented below:
WITNESS
Like cool water to a weary soul so is good news from a distant land."- Proverbs 25:25
It is indeed sweet to the soul to receive God's good news, the Gospel, and it is to that end for which we pray.
Zacchaeus, the reviled tax collector, eagerly accepted the honor of having Jesus as his guest. It was the best news he had ever had. It was also the best news the people of the world would ever have, because if God would accept a sleaze like Zacchaeus, He would accept anybody. That is the point of the Christian faith.
Many church goers fall into the belief that one has to be a good person, doing good deeds, living by the Ten Commandments, etc. in order that God may find him deserving. In the process, it is hoped that God will understand and overlook his shortcomings. To many, it may come as somewhat of a shock to learn that the Bible does not teach that!
The first issue is that eternal life with God can be known with complete assurance. The second is that one can only be deserving of Heaven if they keep the Law perfectly.
The third is that nobody is perfect!
Did that get your attention? We hope so for the message of God's Word is a rational one and too strong to be ignored. It was written so that you might know how to have a personal relationship with God, and know for sure that you'll go to heaven when you die.
Let us share this Good News with you in five compact steps with the warning that this is only the basic outline. Learning the details is vital, for they verify these basics.
1. God's standard requirement of us is total perfection. The Ten Commandments are to be observed without deviation (Exodus 20). The Sermon on the Mount is a stern admonition of Godly obedience which commands perfection (Matthew 5:48). All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). None is perfect! Therefore, none is able to meet the requirements. Thank God, there is another way.
You have to personally know the Owner, and fortunately, the Owner is God, who has already reached down to us two thousand years ago in love and compassion for our predicament. To illustrate:
Imagine you knew a bulldozer was approaching an ant hill. Imagine further that you loved those ants and wanted to save them. One way would be to shout, "Look out!", but they couldn't understand English. You think, "If I could only change into an ant I could warn them."
This silly little story paints a word picture. You can't help these ants because you can't turn into an ant. God, in his infinite power did become a man. The Bible says, "The Word became flesh and lived among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only Son, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) God came into this universe in time and space because mankind's relationship with Him is broken by sin.
2. Sin is a comedy word to some people but it's not funny, because sin brings death and destruction. Sin is anything that falls short of perfection thereby causing separation from God.
Sin also separates us from others, and enmity rules in the world. The problem is compounded when we begin to understand the character of God.
3. The Bible says that God is a perfect, loving Father who loves us with an eternal love and draws us with loving kindness (Jeremiah 31:3). But the same loving God is also described by the Bible as a perfect judge, who cannot look upon evil nor tolerate wrong (Habakkuk 1:13).
God loves us, but is also perfectly just. Another example might be in order here:
A
It so happened that his son was brought before him one day on a DUI charge. The courtroom onlookers were enthralled with the possibility that the judge would let his son off, because they knew he had no money. But a judgment of $5000 or one year in jail left no doubt as to the judge's character. However, the judge did a strange thing. He put his arm around his son and paid the fine himself, satisfying the limits of the law and showing love to his son.
We may huff and puff a bit with that, but we'd better not be too judgmental, because it's just a glimpse of what God did for us through Jesus Christ.
4. Jesus Christ came in time and space to be our Savior and our Lord.
As our Savior, He lived the perfect life we could not live, and then He traded His perfection to all mankind in exchange for all the human sins that had ever been committed or ever would be. Then He was tortured and crucified in punishment for all of them.
Christ paid the penalty and so our sins have removed making us perfect in His sight. It is the salvation of our souls that we have all heard so much about. No longer are we separated from God! He has lived among us and has taken our punishment for us. When we gratefully accept that, it means that we are changed. We now have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and yearn for Him to be our Lord as well as our Savior.
5. The key action is our grateful acceptance. This triggers an emotion that screams at us to serve Him in whatever way He wants. It is the beginning of our obedience to the words of Christ:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39)
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