We often refer to “the Gospel” or “the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” yet we want to make sure that there is no mistaking what we mean. In short, it is the most amazing, revolutionary, incredible news that has ever been told. The word “gospel” literally means “good news,” and without this wonderful news all of our efforts to serve God would be utterly futile.
The gospel starts with the world we live in. The Bible teaches that God created the universe, and He created it good. That in itself is good news, since human beings were brought into existence, deliberately, by a God who gave us the capacity to relate to Him personally. But this world, and everyone in it, has been infected by sin…evil has infiltrated every human heart, putting us all under the curse of separation from God, and ultimately, death.
Yet God, in His sovereign love, had a plan to demonstrate His incredible love through sending Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to be born as a human being. Jesus was a real human being, fully human, yet without the infection of a sinful heart like the rest of us have. He lived a sinless life, and at the appointed time He laid down His life through His execution at the cross. As God the Father accepted the perfect sacrifice of God the Son, finally true forgiveness and reconciliation between perfect God and sinful human beings was accomplished. His death replaced ours, to rescue us and bring us back to Him.
Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, demonstrating God’s ultimate victory over humankind’s ultimate problem: death. Now, Jesus lives in heaven and awaits His time to return and establish His final victory over all the evil in the world once and for all, when He actually rules over heaven and earth for eternity.
In the meantime, those who try to be “right with God” by being good enough will always find that they fall short of His perfection. But those who accept the free gift of Jesus’ death and resurrection in their place are brought into a completely forgiven, clean, reconciled relationship with God, once and for all. What’s more, they are promised an eternal place in God’s paradise, not because they deserve it, but because God loved us enough to send His Son to stand in our place, accepting our punishment for us, giving us everlasting life instead. Now THAT’S good news!!
Please feel free to contact one of our pastors if you would like to discuss more what the Gospel is all about.