The Bible's Big Story: God's Plan to Rescue Humanity

Ask people on the street what Christians believe and you'll often hear the same answers: "Be a good person," "Love your neighbour," or "Treat others how you'd like to be treated." Many also believe that living a good life is enough to get into Heaven.

But that's not the Bible's main message.

The Bible tells one extraordinary story—how a holy God rescues sinful people through Jesus Christ.

God

Everything begins with God. He has always existed and is eternal. The Bible reveals one God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit.

God is perfectly holy, righteous and good. He is the Creator of everything that exists and loves His creation, especially humanity.

God is not just a bigger version of us. He is outside time and space and far above us in every way.

Creation

God created the universe, the earth, and the first humans, Adam and Eve. His creation was perfect. There was no suffering, death, disease or evil. Humanity enjoyed a perfect relationship with God which would have lasted forever.

What Went Wrong?

God gave Adam and Eve freedom but also one command—not to eat from a particular tree. He warned them that disobedience would bring death.

When they chose to disobey, they were doing far more than eating fruit—they were rejecting God's rule and choosing to live life on their own terms.

This rebellion is what the Bible calls sin.

The Consequences of Sin

Sin broke humanity's relationship with God and the effects were devastating:

• Humanity became separated from God.
• Every person inherited a sinful nature.
• Suffering, disease and death entered the world.
• The whole of creation was affected.

The evidence is all around us. Every person dies because sin has brought death into God's once-perfect creation. In simple terms; we die because we sin. 

But physical death is not the end. The Bible teaches that every person will one day stand before God and give an account of their life.

Our Problem

God gave His law, including the Ten Commandments, to show us His perfect standard:

1. You shall have no other gods before Me
2. You shall not make for yourself a carved image.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honour your father and your mother. 
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8.  You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.
10. You shall not covet.

None of us has kept God's law perfectly. 

Jesus went even further, teaching that hatred is the root of murder and lust is the root of adultery.

The Bible's verdict is clear:

We are not good people.

We have all sinned against a holy God and cannot save ourselves. We cannot enter Heaven with our unforgiven sin.

Because God is perfectly just, He cannot simply ignore our wrongdoing. The Bible warns that every one of us will one day stand before Him in judgement. Left to ourselves, we face God's righteous wrath and His punishment in Hell.

God's Rescue Plan

Although humanity rebelled against Him, God never stopped loving His creation.

From the very beginning, He promised to send a Saviour who would restore the relationship between God and mankind.

Throughout the Old Testament, God revealed His rescue plan through His prophets, hundreds of years before it happened.

Jesus

God's rescue plan was not simply to send a prophet or a good teacher.

God the Son entered His own creation and became a man.

Jesus lived the perfect life that Adam, Eve and every one of us failed to live. He never sinned—not once. He always obeyed His Father completely.

This is crucial.

The penalty for sin is death, but Jesus had no sin of His own to pay for. He was the only person who did not deserve God's judgement.

The Cross

Thousands of people have been crucified throughout history.

Jesus' death was different.

Because He was completely innocent, He could take the place of guilty people.

On the cross, God placed upon Jesus the punishment that our sins deserved. Jesus willingly bore God's righteous wrath in our place, satisfying His justice completely.

This is sometimes called the great exchange.

Our past, present and future sin was placed on Jesus.

His perfect righteousness is credited to everyone who repents and trusts in Him.

God now treats the believer as though they had lived Jesus' perfect life because Jesus has already borne the punishment they deserved.

Justice is satisfied.

Mercy is offered.

That is why the cross is the centre of the Christian message.

The Resurrection

Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead.

Death could not hold Him because He had committed no sin of His own.

By rising again, Jesus defeated death itself, overthrowing the curse given to Adam and Eve and proving that His sacrifice had been accepted by God. 

The Choice

Jesus has made a way back to God.

Anyone who repents—turns from living their own way—and trusts in Jesus Christ can be completely forgiven.

Our sin is placed on Jesus, and His perfect righteousness is credited to us.

God no longer sees our guilt but Jesus' perfect obedience.

Those who trust in Jesus receive eternal life and will live with Him forever in Heaven.

Those who reject Him remain under God's judgement and will face eternity in Hell. The Bible calls us to "flee from the wrath to come" by turning to Jesus while there is still time.

The Most Important Question

The Bible is not simply a collection of moral lessons.

Its big story is that:

Through the cross of Jesus Christ,

God

Offers

Sinful

People

Eternal 

Life

His invitation is open today, but it will not remain open forever.

The big question is:

How will YOU respond?

Should Christians Frighten People During Evangelism?

 

I’m guessing that most people, whether Christian or not, will respond to this question with a loud “no!” Scaring people is not part of our evangelistic work and puts people off rather than drawing them to God.

In the past, I may have agreed with this natural response but a few years down the line, my perspective has definitely shifted.

Most of us would agree that Christians motivated by hate, anger and condemnation, preaching fire and brimstone with no hope of escape is an ugly spectacle. Perhaps, though, in seeking to avoid being associated with this type of behaviour, we have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

We may tell people that God doesn’t want us to be afraid, as in terrified, of Him because of His great love for us. Whilst this is true for believers who should instead have a healthy fear (awe, reverence) of God leading to wisdom, non-believers should be afraid, even terrified. They are urged to repent and believe, to flee from the wrath to come and warned that it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.

I was in Halifax this week talking to a man who claimed to be an atheist. He had some religious background but was pretty dismissive about the whole idea of God, laughing at various points and wasn’t exactly taking the conversation seriously. I persevered as, despite interjecting with unhelpful comments, he was listening and looking thoughtful at times. When the conversation was reaching a conclusion, he accepted a church leaflet.

Then, I felt prompted to urge the man not to appear before the God of the whole universe on Judgement Day with unforgiven sin like a giant rucksack on his shoulders because God would then have to punish him. Fear crept across his face as he quietly asked a slightly odd question for an atheist, “What will he do?”

We had already spoken briefly about Heaven and Hell so I just as quietly told him that God would send him to Hell. Usually, after saying something so sombre, I immediately revert to the Good News, desperate to remind people that God doesn’t want them to go to Hell which is why He sent Jesus to rescue us. However, the man began backing away saying, “You’re frightening me now!”

My first instinct was to apologise and say that that wasn’t my intention but instead I found myself saying “If that’s what it takes” and again urging him to think seriously about things as he mumbled his thanks for the leaflet and walked away.

Afterwards, I thought about the conversation and spoke to others in our small team. It was felt that the man’s response at least showed that he had understood the warning and was taking it seriously. I had no doubt that he would be thinking about things further as a result.

In evangelism, our task is to communicate the Gospel as clearly as possible which should include warnings of Judgement which may result in people feeling afraid. We are not responsible for a person’s final decision about whether or not they will trust Jesus or choose to face the wrath of God, but only telling them half the message ultimately does them a disservice. It’s almost impossible to get people to see the danger and urgency of their situation without talking about Judgement and Hell.

I was reminded of the time when Paul was before Felix in Acts 24. It was as he spoke about righteousness, self-control and the judgement to come that Felix became afraid and dismissed him.  Surely, like Paul, we want people to seriously consider their eternal destination.

Related to this topic, there is an ongoing discussion in my circles about street or open-air preaching. There is a perception amongst some Christians that people view this type of evangelism as “a bunch of old men shouting at people in the street”. Some wish to phase it out completely in favour of more modern methods. 

Whilst not a preacher myself, these discussions do have an impact on my work of supporting street preaching and seeking to speak to those who listen.

Whilst I would agree that not all street preaching is done with the right motivations or in the right manner, surely what’s needed is to train preachers so it can be done better rather than abandoning it completely. It is biblical and with the right tone and volume reaches the most people many of whom would never darken the door of a church.

The preaching needs to be loud enough that people can hear it so they can make a decision about whether they want to hear more but not so loud that they cannot escape it if they wish to do so. The tone shouldn’t be aggressive, angry or condemnational but it should be heartfelt, sincere and persuasive. As well as an appeal for a response, it should contain warnings for those who refuse.

Asking for a response, or asking people what their barrier is, is not the same as trapping people into praying the Sinner’s Prayer or similar before they really know what’s happening. I rarely pray with people on the street and would not be comfortable putting words in their mouth. I usually advise people to go home and pray to God by themselves. If they don’t know how to pray we can offer guidance.  

Some of those who are resistant to open-air preaching feel that question boards, book tables, children’s programmes, church events and things of cultural or historical interest are more fruitful. It may be that we have nicer/more pleasant conversations with people through these means. It may even be that people are converted. I’m not advocating stopping any of these other things which all have their place.

We may not see immediate fruit from street preaching but we know it works as God promises that His Word doesn’t return void. A rejection of a warning delivered by a street preacher can be a better response than a long conversation with a person agreeing with virtually everything that is said yet remaining unmoved in their mind and heart.

We are called to be courteous/respectful (as we were reminded in a recent sermon) but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be direct with people. It also means we should challenge people when they say things that aren’t true. We can disagree without being disagreeable, as the old saying goes.   

I believe street preaching should be central in our evangelistic efforts because it has such a wide reach. I would go beyond this and say that in an apathetic society like the UK, a more direct and bolder approach and tone is needed.

A preacher visiting the UK recently from another country was appalled at what he found and asked his friend, “Why aren’t Christians standing up in tube stations and at bus stops urging people to repent and respond to the Gospel?”

We should be seeking to wake people up and pleading with them to make a decision for Jesus before its too late. Sometimes, this will frighten them but if by the power of God's Holy Spirit, it leads them to repentance and faith that can only be a good thing.