The Best News Ever

By D.E. Esseson

In the midst of a world that is filled with emptiness and depression, are you weighed down and burdened by life's never-ending struggles?

From the depths of your very soul, do you find yourself pressed to the max and grasping for answers? If so, please, please believe GOD REALLY DOES LOVE AND CARE FOR YOU!

God specially and uniquely created you and HE FOR SURE KNOWS YOU PERSONALLY! YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Jesus Christ absolutely hears your heart's cry!

There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still. (Corrie Ten Boom)

Please turn at once to chapter 9 ("What Is the Meaning of Life?") To learn of God's amazing grace and unconditional love for you!

"THE BEST NEWS EVER!"

QUESTION: If there is a heaven after death, how do you qualify to get in?

THE DEVIL'S ANSWER: You have to be "good enough," or he says "There is no heaven or hell." But the Bible says, "He is a liar!"

GOD'S ANSWER: In love so amazing, Jesus Christ was "good enough" for you! He offers forgiveness for sin and everlasting life in Heaven to ALL who, in believing faith, will receive His unfathomable GIFT of salvation!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781638749400

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The Best News Ever

D.E. Esseson

ISBN 978-1-63874-939-4 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63874-940-0 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by D.E. Esseson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

All Bible references are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Unless marked with (KJV) for King James Version.

Cover photo: Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

1

Introduction: Part A

Part A: Is The Bible Really God’s Word?

How does one determine for sure that the Bible is, in fact, the written word of the ONE TRUE GOD? How can you know the Bible is definitely and unequivocally not a book of fairy tales and folklore? AND does the Bible genuinely convey a personal communication from God to each of us?

Throughout the ages, mankind has grappled and debated the very essence and merits of these questions—whether or not the Bible actually is a supernatural book that outlines God’s ONLY WAY to eternal life.

Since faith comes from hearing God’s word (Rom. 10:17)*, Satan, who is the god of this world (1 Cor. 4:3, 4; 11:13–15)*, has always worked to deceive and confuse people concerning anything Bible so to maintain his rebellious kingdom for he is a liar and the father of lies. Did God really say that—is Satan’s famous temptation to Eve in the book of Genesis! The Word of God warns to beware of the devil (2 Pet. 5:8)* and his tactics. He loves to stir up fierce blinding pride in the hearts of men. The Bible calls on each of us individually (plus exhorts all humanity) to sincerely examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5; 1 John 4:1)*!

So first off, is the Bible true? And secondly, should you come to understand that the Bible is true, then what does it actually say (Gal. 4:30a)*? God states clearly He gave us His written word that you may know that you have eternal life and he that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life (1 John 5:12–13)*! Our Lord desires that we would surely understand All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16)!

The Great God of Heaven gives us many evidences and empirical proofs to absolutely demonstrate the supernatural power, veracity, and the believability of His word. God tells us to "love Him with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37)*.

I ask you to just honestly consider, examine, and even test the following seven evidences that God provides from His word with an open mind. Please ask God to truly unlock your heart to these empirical proofs He gives from the Bible to allow you to not only see God’s word is true but also to learn of His great love for you!

Seven Concise Evidences to Demonstrate and Validate the Supernatural Power and Claims of the Word of God

The uniquely and finely detailed accuracy of biblical prophecy. This is one of God’s greatest proofs that the Bible is a supernatural book without equal. (Please see Part C below and chapter 6 for simple yet staggering prophecies that conclusively prove God’s word is of supernatural origin.)

The Word of God is supernaturally preserved. The Word of God has remained unchanged through the ages, as has been proven through the annals of time. Spectacularly, most recently this has been conclusively verified once again by and in the huge discovery and analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Miraculously, these two-thousand-year-old rolled-up parchments that had been placed in clay jars, which were wonderfully preserved in the ultra-dry Middle East conditions, stunningly match precisely with today’s copies of these same biblical books! NO OTHER LITERATURE IN HUMAN HISTORY COMES CLOSE TO THE BIBLE IN THIS REGARD! Down through the centuries in all other ancient writings, as they are copied and handed down, there is always a loss from the original text and meaning. But incredibly in the Bible, there are not even any grammatical errors, let alone changes in the meaning or text!

The great writings of Shakespeare rank a distant second for maintaining original content and contain 20 percent or more in either changed meaning or out and out error from the oldest discovered copies. And they are only five hundred years old!

The pinpoint accuracy of all Bible history. The Bible is the first and foremost book used by the most prominent and successful archeologists and historians. The overwhelming majority of these scholars confirm that the Old and New Testament records do truly provide extremely accurate and reliable geographic and social histories. And in the past times, when it appeared that the Bible was in conflict or error, future discoveries have consistently validated biblical accounts!

The nation of Israel. A people and a nation that can only explain their continued four-thousand-year existence to God’s supernatural power (see Part C below and chapter 6). How many other four millennial old peoples still exist today? Even in recent times, in just the last 150 years, there are no pure-blooded Chiricahua Apaches alive!

That Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The empirical evidences for the most colossal and monumental event in human history are simply without number! For anyone who sincerely desires to find the truth concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there exists a multitude of excellent forensic books that have been published concerning this biggest miracle of all! God Almighty alone has power over life and death. Wonderfully, He has promised to raise all who believe on Him to everlasting life too (John 11:25–26)*!

Changed lives of believers. When one responds to the Spirit of God, as He convicts our hearts of unbelief and wrongdoing, and then as He lovingly draws us to His amazing grace and mercy, God will open our eyes to His great salvation. And should we choose to humble ourselves under the mighty and loving hand of God and receive Christ’s one and only way to forgiveness, and His paid-in-full pardon for our sin—Christ’s finished work of the cross, our spirit will immediately, in the moment we believe, be reborn in Christ forevermore! After you have received new life in Christ, God promises He will begin to change us to be more like Christ. God vows to complete a good work in us (Phil. 1:6)*, and He promises both to will and to do for His good pleasure in us (Phil. 2:13)*. He says, Christ will increase in us, while we decrease and that He will conform us to His image. He will transform our minds and Let this mind/heart which is in Christ be in us! Just as Paul (Saul) was fighting hard against Christ and Christians, when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, God began at that moment to change him.

God does this same setting us apart in each of all truly born-again Christians too! How fast that transformation proceeds, along God’s shaping and molding path, depends upon believers yielding themselves to the wonderful plan God has for them. He is the potter and we are the clay! When we mess up, He lovingly picks us up, dusts us off, and gets us going again! God is a perfect loving Father!

I’ve seen many people have the overall direction of their lives changed by God’s grace—from being totally self-centered to having hearts that are growing in their love of God and other people!

To be sure, no one will have perfect hearts in this world, but by God’s power and grace, all true Christians ( not full of themselves pious religious people that believe they are God’s children because they are so good, and/or they are members of a particular religion [Matt. 7]*) will be carefully and faithfully schooled and disciplined by our loving Father in Heaven (Heb. 12:6–11)* to become more like Christ!

The Creation reveals the Creator. In the last half-century, scientific discoveries have revealed that the physical universe, along with the absolute laws that govern and control its existence and function, are amazingly and unbelievably complex.

In one small example to illustrate this fact, we now know that even the simplest of single cell living organisms are more complex than an ultramodern Boeing 787 Jetliner factory!

The coordination of assembly needed in today’s advanced and sophisticated aircraft requires a vast number of intricate parts to be installed at precisely the right place at the right time. ONLY computer automation can accomplish this task. The shot in the dark, Primordial Soup Theory, has long been discounted by true science.

Twenty-first-century science has come to understand that the biofunctions of even the most simple forms of life far surpass most of humankind’s greatest creative genius! Many scientists today subscribe to the absolute knowledge that our universe could only be created by intelligent design. Some believe and know this designer to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Others are still trying to discover the identity of this god-like creator. If only they would humbly believe that He has already communicated with us in great detail AND that He loves us too (Ps. 19:1; John 1:14; John 3:16)*!

This much-debated subject offers many, many books and scientific journals to provide ample proof and evidence to show that GOD ALMIGHTY IS THE LIVING, ALL-POWERFUL, ALL-KNOWING, UNLIMITED, ALL-JUST, ALL-LOVING, SUPERNATURAL GOD WITH NO EQUAL, WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF LIFE AND CREATOR OF OUR UNIVERSE (John 1:1–3; Rom. 1:20)*!

Dear reader, God leaves it up to each and every person to believe the above seven itemized solid proofs for the complete veracity of His word. God gives us all a free will to believe God or to believe not God (John 3:15–21)*!

In conclusion, the Bible is not a collection of fairytales to be summarily dismissed and sloughed off. It is alive and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12)*! The Bible was given to us by an all-powerful God who loves us so much that He gave His life for us!

Christ said, Even though you cannot see the wind, you know it exists. We can’t see the spirit world either, but God gives us a hurricane (180 MPH winds in this case) of evidence to prove that an unseen supernatural world exists and is all around us (2 Kings 6:15–17)*!

Introduction: Part B

Part B: God’s Plan for Salvation

DO YOU GAIN OR LOSE SALVATION/HEAVEN THROUGH ANY OF THE FOLLOWING?

Belonging to ANYreligious group, faith, or church.

Claiming that even though you are not perfect, you always sincerelytry your best to live by the Golden Rule and consider yourself to be a pretty decent person, OR believing and hoping your good deeds will outweigh your bad deeds when you stand before God.

Attending church faithfully.

Giving to and helping the poor and needy.

Praying or meditating consistently OR achieving a perfect state of Zen, etc.

Being pro-life or pro-choice.

Pridefully deciding you are PERFECT and have NEVER SINNED—that you have not ever done anything wrong in your entire life not even once. You’ve never had an angry or lustful thought toward another person.

Not being a hypocrite

Denying God exists, or if He does, that you won’t have anything to do with Him.

Believing that God does exist.

Leaving it up to the Big Guy Upstairs.

Not addressing (like Miss Scarlet O’Hare) THE IMPORTANT DECISIONS OF LIFE, UNTIL TOMORROW—IN THIS CASE, THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH CHRIST WHO IS THE LORD?

Acknowledging that Christ did die on the cross for sin historically AND rose from the dead!

To pridefully and self-reliantly declare that you don’t care one way or the other.

Being a Jihad martyr.

Believing in the circle of life.

Believing that salvation is like a wheel with many spokes (religions/faiths) to reach God, Nirvana, or self at the center.

By relying on your own intelligence.

The Bible lays out clearly that NONE of the above will ever merit or gain heaven. God states in His Word that "all of man’s good works and deeds are as filthy rags" and fall short of gaining eternal life with Him. But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isa. 64:6)*. God’s word teaches that man’s own thinking ability and plans are futile and empty apart from Him (men) professing themselves to be wise, they become fools (Rom. 1:22)*.

Many individuals today, just like the people throughout history, make up their own truth and gods (or adopt someone else’s unsubstantiated philosophy/religion), and chose to believe a lie. They willfully believe not Jesus Christ (The Word of God), who is the beginning and the ending of all truth (John 1:17, 8:32, 14:6; 2 Thess. 2:10–12; Rev. 1:8)*. Or they twist God’s Word to their own destruction as also in all his (Paul’s) epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures (2 Pet. 3:16)*. God says, Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name (Christ) under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12 KJV)*. ONLY receiving, by faith, God’s loving GIFT (which is a paid in full pardon, for all your sins) will give you eternal life and a personal relationship with God forever! HE HAS PAID THE FULL PRICE OF REDEMPTION (Isa. 1:18; John 4:34, 19:30)*. And you, being dead in your trespasses…, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses (Col. 2:13–14)*! THIS IS THE AMAZING GRACE OF GOD (Eph. 2:8–9)*!

Our all-loving, and yet perfectly just, God laments that many, many people pridefully and stubbornly believe that they will go to heaven because they belong to some religion, or they have faith. Many people today interchange the words, faith and religion as one in the same. Others believe that they are "good enough," especially compared to the rest of mankind. Additionally, many, many people pridefully mock God and His Word, proclaiming that they are intellectually superior and smarter than all those fools who believe in myths of gods and supernatural beings, or the concept of evil or sin, and they put God, or any notion of God, in the trash can of foolish superstitions.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1:18)*

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor. 2:14)*

The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good. (Ps. 14:1)*

Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. (Prov. 16:18)*

Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? (Prov. 20:9*; Isa. 5:20–21)*

They will not have this man/God to rule over them! Yet many of these same super intellectual folks believe space aliens brought life to earth or some similar conjecture.

But God says that He has no pleasure that the wicked should die (Ezek. 18:23; James 2:10)*. In God’s infinite love, God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16)*, He died in your place and pleads with you to come unto Him all you that are under a heavy load (of conviction from their sin with empty hearts), And He says, I will give you rest (Matt. 11:28–30)*.

Self-Test

In a simple, yet telling way, to possibly identify what you personally base your hope for heaven and eternal life upon; please carefully consider your response to the question asked in the following hypothetical scenario:

If you were standing at the gates of heaven, and God were to ask you, WHY SHOULD I LET YOU COME IN? What would your response be? Please sincerely and honestly answer this question in your heart—and then read on.

If your answer contains any merit on your own part, such as you are not perfect, but you sincerely try hard to be good (at least pretty good), or you go to church, belong to a religious denomination, have been baptized or confirmed, or have gone on a mission trip, or you live by the golden rule, that you for sure believe in God, etc., or you said, I could not care less, that is not what I believe** then PLEASE BE CONCERNED FOR YOUR ETERNAL DESTINY. God says, Not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us (Titus 3:5)*. To gain everlasting life in Christ one must believe AND receive by faith His offered GIFT of a paid-in-full pardon for your sins! NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS. If you ADD ANYTHING to God’s perfect way to salvation, you will miss it. OR if you SUBTRACT ANYTHING from God’s perfect way to salvation, again you will miss it.

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult [Christ has already taken care of all the difficulties] is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matt. 7:13–14)*.

There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Prov. 14:12; Isa. 55:8–9)*. Jesus Christ states absolutely, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6)*. The Lord Jesus Christ paid the FULL PRICE of salvation.

It is finished. (John 19:30)*

Abraham [by faith] believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. (Rom. 4:3–5; Gen. 15:6)*

Again, to God all of your righteousnesses [good works] are as filthy rags. (Isa. 64:6)*

God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. These are not just words off a bumper sticker, THEY ARE TRUE! (John 3:16)*.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jer. 29:11–13)*

The first step of that plan is to be certain your dead spirit has been raised to a new life in Christ (John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17)*. God offers you forgiveness of your sin and a new life in Christ, as a GIFT by His amazing and great grace, but like Abraham, it is up to you to BELIEVE GOD’S promises AND to receive His offered salvation by FAITH, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:4–9)*!

If you are not SURE of your salvation, please BELIEVE GOD (verses believe in God) and BY FAITH humbly ask Him right now to pardon your sins, and to give you a new life in Christ. Simply and sincerely ask God and He will immediately answer you.

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. (Jer. 33:3)*

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12*; John 3:3–7, 11:25–26)

To open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me. (Acts 26:18)*

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)*

He will forgive all your sins (past, present, and future) and will cause your spirit to be reborn in Christ. And in the same exact moment, God will adopt you as His child forevermore! He will then begin the life long process of changing you to be more like Jesus each day being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6, 2:13)*, which may not be a bowl of cherries all the time, but it will absolutely give you JOY UNSPEAKABLE!

GOD IS ABLE TO KEEP THAT WHICH YOU HAVE COMMITTED UNTO HIM (2 Tim 1:12b)* BECAUSE NOT ONLY IS GOD ALL LOVING, HE IS ALL POWERFUL TOO (Luke 1:37)*! You and I do not have the strength and understanding to defeat sin and death (1 Cor. 1:21–29)*, BUT THANKFULLY, THE GREAT GOD OF HEAVEN CAN AND DOES! REMEMBER, TO BELIEVE AND TRUST GOD IS UP TO YOU ALONE TO DECIDE! TRUE AND PURE LOVE CAN NEVER BE FORCED ON ANYONE! Please just know God has loved you with an everlasting love AND in His unconditional love, He offers to all who will Believe on Him a paid-in-full pardon for their sins and eternal life!