Youth with Truth

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek (aka Gentiles).”

I was listening to an interview with Christian apologist, evangelist and writer Josh McDowell done some years ago and what he had to say about his experience in bringing the “good news” of Jesus Christ to the youth of today was quite eye-opening. With all the programs designed to draw youth to the church like friendship evangelism to develop a relationship first and the belief that you have to entertain kids or lose them, which denies the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing them to a saving knowledge of the Lord, He found that this is not meeting their deep spiritual needs. They have the same desperate fears, the same hurts in life, the same insecurities and the same lack of esteem. They are looking for the truth that God is Holy & Righteous and loves them. God has placed the truth in their heart to deal with.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

This asks the question: Church, are we keeping the main thing the main thing? Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. Why? I read that one of the most amazing and most difficult facts to learn about God is that He loves us in spite of what we are. He loves us, not because of what we are, but because of what He is. For the Bible tells us that “God is love” (I John 4:8). God loves you. You couldn’t do anything to keep God from loving you, just as you could never stop the Sun from shining. Now, in the same way as you can take yourself out of the Sun’s light, you can take yourself out of God’s love, but the Sun doesn’t stop shining and God does stop loving.

But the same Bible that tells us that God is loving and gracious also tells us that this same God, because He is” just and righteous” must punish sin. God can’t open the backdoor of heaven and slip sinners in. He’d be no better than a crooked Judge who lets criminals off. God must do something for the guilt of sinners. There must be judgment and justice served. Everyone understands this in their heart. Hebrews 9:27 “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”

This creates a problem, which God has solved in Jesus Christ. He died upon the cross and roes from the dead to pay the penalty for our sins and purchase a place in heaven for us. Hallelujah (Praise the Lord)! The youth want to know this truth. Share about the deity of Christ. Share about the truth of the Holy Scriptures and why its reliable. How you know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. How you know it’s true. Never discount the work of the Holy Spirit in your and their lives.

1 Corinthians 2:14 “ The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

In a world of empty promises for happiness, the youth today are starving to hear the truth. They have haunting questions that they do not believe there are answers for. When you share the truth of the gospel, they will listen to you more than ever before. Are you a Christian? Can you explain why? Because the gospel is true. It’s about the person of Jesus Christ, not religion (man attempt to reach up to God); God - the One who is passionate to have a relationship with you - reached down to us. Reach the youth with truth.

In Christ, Brian