Some simple truths that we need to share with our friends.

God is real.

He created everything. It was good.

We destroyed all semblance of good.

God gave us the law to show us sin.

God promised a Messiah.

Jesus, our promised Messiah, fulfilled the law and freed us from the curse.

Our worship is a response to good news.

He is returning and will restore all.

This boiled down gospel presentation has a purpose. First, God is real is a very basic concept that is not naturally accepted by many of our friends. Even some of our church-going friends don’t believe this. We must start there. If He is real, who He is and what He does is important – He is the source of good and the creator of all. That is huge! We are not good and not creator. We destroy things – and we did that to God’s creation. We still do that. God loves us enough to show us the way – which He did in the law. Part of the law is the promise of one who would fulfill the law, be the king we need and provide access to the Father. Jesus is that Messiah! Not Buddha, Mohammed or any other Messiah-type history has thrown at us! Jesus is the one! Now that He freed us from the curse, we worship God in response. You and I may be perceived by others as a “good” person, but us being “good” is a response to God’s goodness. Being good doesn’t save us – Jesus does! We are following Jesus. He leads us to do good things. But good things don’t save us. He is coming back and when that happens, all will be made good! In the meantime, we wait eagerly. We also serve Him and join Him on mission to accomplish His purposes so that many more may hear about Him. It also means that things right now are not as they should be. We can’t expect them to be either. This world is broken and is not yet restored.

So, how does this play out? Here’s one scenario: A young lady, being pressured by her church-going boyfriend to have sex comes to talk to you and sort it all out.

Is God real? She thinks He is, she’s just confused because she “knows” the church has thoughts about sex and that the church is against it. However, she doesn’t see a passage that says a boyfriend and girlfriend can’t have sex. She believes He’s real, but is confused.

He created everything. It was good. Does she believe this? She’s not sure about “everything” and can’t figure out why sex is such a problem for Christians. This must be a place to hover. Spend time explaining God’s plan for relationships and physical intimacy. He loves the covenant of marriage and is fully in favor of physical intimacy – with the right guidelines! Hover until she is willing to at least give this a chance.

Here’s the sticking point – we break things! God is good, we are not. We take something beautiful and taint it until it hurts. We’ve done this with relationships and sex. This should be no surprise. We’ve done it in EVERY. OTHER. THING. God gave us!

Jesus made things right. Christian boys pressuring their girlfriends aren’t getting the Gospel. Jesus saved us – now we respond with worship (one aspect is waiting until marriage). If they’ve sinned and already are active – Jesus restores and fixes all things. One day He will do this for all! At the moment, it is done little by little.

I have met with many couples who have stopped being active sexually and have chosen to “start over” and worship God with their lives, minds and bodies. Praise Him, but this simple understanding of the Gospel can lead us to having better thoughts, better help and better plans for the future.