What Is the Gospel? What exactly do Christians mean when they talk
about the "gospel of Jesus Christ"? Since the word "gospel" means
"good news," when Christians talk about the gospel, they're simply
telling the good news about Jesus! But it's not just any good news;
it demands a response! It's a message from God saying, "Good news!
Here is how you can be saved from my judgment!" That's an
announcement you can't afford to ignore. So, what is the good news
about Jesus Christ? Since the earliest Christians announced the
good news about Jesus, it has been organized around these questions
. . . 1. Who made us, and to whom are we accountable? 2. What is
our problem? 3. What is God's solution to our problem? 4. How can I
be included in his solution? Christians through the centuries since
Christ have answered those questions with the same truth from the
Bible. 1. We are accountable to God. 2. Our problem is our sin
against him. 3. God's solution is salvation through Jesus Christ.
4. We come to be included in that salvation by faith and
repentance. Let's summarize those points like this: God, Mankind,
Jesus Christ, and Our Response. God The first thing to know about
the good news of Jesus is that "in the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Everything starts from that
point, so if you get that point wrong then everything else that
follows will be wrong. Because God created everything--including
us--he has the right to tell us how to live. You have to understand
that in order to understand the good news about Jesus. How would
you describe God's character? Loving and good? Compassionate and
forgiving? All true. God describes himself as "merciful and
gracious, slowto anger, and abounding in love and faithfulness . .
. forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." Then God adds,
"but who will by no means clear the guilty" (Exodus 34:6-7). That
explodes about 90 percent of what people today think they know
about God. This loving God does not leave the guilty unpunished. To
understand just how glorious and life-giving the gospel of Jesus
Christ is, we have to understand that God is also holy and
righteous. He is determined never to ignore or tolerate sin.
Including ours! Mankind When God created the first human
beings--Adam and Eve, he intended for them to live under his
righteous rule in perfect joy--obeying him and living in fellowship
with him. When Adam disobeyed God, and ate the one fruit that God
had told him not to eat, that fellowship with God was broken.
Moreover, Adam and Eve had declared rebellion against God. They
were denying his authority over their lives. It's not just Adam and
Eve who are guilty of sin.The Bible says "all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God . . . none is righteous, no, not one"
(Romans 3:23,10). Yet, we often think of our sins as not much more
than violations of some heavenly traffic law. So we wonder why God
gets so upset about them. But sin is much more than that. It's the
rejection of God himself and his right to exercise authority over
those to whom he gives life. Once you understand sin in that light,
you begin to understand why "the wages of sin is death" (Romans
6:23). That's not just physical death, but spiritual death, a
forceful separating of our sinful, rebellious selves from the
presence of God forever. The Bible teaches that the final destiny
for unbelieving sinners is eternal, active judgment in a place
called "hell." This is the Bible's sobering verdict: "It is
appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment"
(Hebrews 9:27). Every one of us will be held accountable to God.
The Bible warns that "whoever does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of
God" (John 3:18). But . . . Jesus Christ The word "Christ" means
"anointed one," referring to anointing a king with oil when he is
crowned. So, when we say "Jesus Christ," we're saying that Jesus is
a King! When Jesus began his public ministry, he told the people,
"The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news!"
Centuries before, God had promised that he would come as a great
King to rescue his people from their sins. And here was Jesus
saying, "The kingdom of God is here . . . now! I am that great
King!" Eventually Jesus's followers realized that his mission was
to bring sinful people into that kingdom. Jesus came to die in
their place, to take the punishment they deserved for their
rebellion against God. As Jesus died on a cross, the awful weight
of all our sins fell on his shoulders. The sentence of death God
had pronounced against rebellious sinners struck. And Jesus died.
For you and me! But the story doesn't end there. Jesus the
Crucified is no longer dead. The Bible tells us that he rose from
the grave. He is not just King Jesus the Crucified, but King Jesus
the Crucified and Resurrected! Jesus's rising from the grave was
God's way of saying, "What Jesus claimed about who he is and what
he came to do is true!" Our Response What does God expect us to do
with the information that Jesus died in our place so we can be
saved from God's righteous wrath against our sins? He expects us to
respond with repentance and faith. To repent of our sins means to
turn away from our rebellion against God. Repentance doesn't mean
we'll bring an immediate end to our sinning. It does mean, though,
that we'll never again live at peace with our sins. Not only that,
but we also turn to God in faith. Faith is reliance. It's a
promise-founded trust in the risen Jesus to save you from your
sins. "God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned . . . He himself bore our
sins in his body on the tree . . . the righteous for the
unrighteous, that he might bring us to God" (John 3:17-18; 1 Peter
2:24; 3:18). If God is ever to count us righteous, he'll have to do
it on the basis of someone else's record, someone who's qualified
to stand in as our substitute. And that's what happens when a
person is saved by Jesus: All our sins are credited to Jesus who
took the punishment for them, and the perfect righteousness of
Jesus is then credited to us when we place our trust in what he has
done for us! That's what faith means--to rely on Jesus, to trust in
him alone to stand in our place and win a righteous verdict from
God! Do you believe that you have rebelled against God and deserve
his wrath? That Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died the death
that you deserve for your sins? That he rose from the grave and
lives to stand in your place as your Substitute and Savior? If that
is your heartfelt conviction, you can tell him in words like these
. . . Jesus, I know I can't save myself, and I know you have
promised to save those who repent and put their faith in you alone.
I trust you to forgive my sins and give me eternal life. Thank you
for dying in my place to make my salvation possible! If you've done
that, then a whole life of getting to know Jesus lies ahead,
beginning right now! There's much more to learn from the Spirit of
God who comes to live in all those who put their trust in King
Jesus!
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