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What is the Gospel
of Jesus Christ?
Christians often talk
about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the
primary message of God for our generation. The
essence of God's message is good news (or "glad
tidings") about God's kindness toward all human
beings.
The essence of this message is
found in the
words of many classic Christmas carols and hymns. When I say
"classic," I mean the older ones that really talked
about the real meaning of Christmas celebration: the
Birth of Jesus Christ. I believe that, musically speaking, the most
complete source of the Gospel in English is found in
Handel's Messiah.
Of course, the place to find the core of God's
message is in the Bible itself. The Gospel is
literally sprinkled throughout the entire Bible,
parts of which were written centuries before Christ
was born. Both figuratively and literally, the
promises of God about forgiveness of sin and the
coming of a mighty Savior (for Israel and for all
people) can be clearly seen in many of the Old
Testament (OT) books of the Holy Bible.
Bible prophets, such as Moses, Samuel, King David, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Jonah, speak of the One who would come to
take away our sins, giving us light in the darkness
and a new relationship with God. For example, Isaiah
says:
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And
His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the
increase of His government and peace
There will be
no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His
kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment
and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
(Isaiah 9:6,7 NKJV)
This is just one of many hundreds of OT passages
that give a glimpse of what God was going to do for
the people of this world through His only Son, Jesus
Christ.
The New Testament (NT) begins by
relating a few of the
significant circumstances of Jesus' arrival into
this world, and of His adult teaching and ministry.
The life and work of Jesus Christ show Him to be the
very Son of God that was promised and glimpsed by
the OT prophets. Jesus proved Himself to be the
Messiah (Anointed One) of God, the Savior of Israel
— and of the whole world.
What is the good news, exactly, and how is Jesus the
"Savior" of the world? The good news is given in
response to the bad news which is evident, not only
in Scripture but in every human life, in every human
family, in all human societies and cultures, and in
all of human history.
That bad news is our slavery to sin. The Bible says,
for example, that all of us have sinned, and that
the wages (or end results) of that sin is death. Not
only do we all die physically as a direct result of
human sin (which began way back in Adam and Eve), we
also experience spiritual death: separation from
God. Even when we are little children, we are dead
to God through the sin which is inherited from our
parents. This spiritual death began in Adam and Eve,
when they sinned in the Garden of Eden.
We are all born dead, spiritually. Because of this
spiritual darkness and death, we lack the "inner
witness" of God's own Holy Spirit. We are lost,
unable to recognize God's voice for what it is, and
actually in rebellion against God by our very
nature. Jesus goes so far as to call us "children of
the devil," meaning that because we are disconnected
from God, we are following the wrong spiritual
influences in life.
No one needs to look very far to see the evidences
for sin, spiritual death, and the terrible
consequences. We see the proof all around us, and
even in our own thoughts, desires and choices. We
even sing about them. Remember this popular Country
song a few years back: "If loving you is wrong, I
don't want to be right?"
Even when we know right from wrong, we still often
choose to do wrong. Every child knows this struggle,
and every human being knows what it feels like to go
our own way, to "do our own thing." Even basically
good children (which is most children, after all)
will disobey and experiment with rebellion in
various ways. And even when we obey, we are still
very often "standing up on the inside." Our sin is
always with us.
With sin comes guilt and shame and self destruction.
Psychologists and psychiatrists work overtime to try
and help people work through the pain and confusion
and hopelessness that can fill hearts and minds
because of sin. Even though we may still be alive
and walking around on planet earth, many of us have
entered hell because of our sins, and because of the
sins of others who have touched our lives with evil.
The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ
came to this world to save us from our sins and from
the curse of sin and death.
The Lord Jesus did not simply come here to talk to
us about the problem of sin, even though He does
have much to say. He did not simply come down here
to work a few miracles and so try and convince us of
God's love. He did work many miracles, and He did
teach us God loves us all. He did far more than
these things. He died for us.
John the Baptist was in many ways the final OT
prophet. He announced, as a voice crying in the
wilderness, the arrival of God's Ultimate Savior.
And when Jesus arrived, John saw the sign of God and
said of Christ, "Behold, the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world!" (Gospel of John 1:29)
The Bible teaches us (in such places as Isaiah 53,
and 2 Corinthians 5:17-21), that Jesus Himself took
our sins — the sins of the whole world — on Himself,
bearing all the guilt and shame and even death
itself for all who trust in Him. He is the Savior
for all the human race, from Adam and Eve all the
way through to the very end of time. (For a few more
details on this, see Colossians 1:19-21, Colossians
2:9-15, Hebrews 10:1-18.)
Jesus died on the cross for the sins of all people.
That means that He died for people like me, and for
people like you. More specifically, He literally
died for me — and for you. The Bible makes it clear
(as in Isaiah 53:11) that Jesus knew exactly who He
was dying for. He looked right down through all
human history and saw you, and He saw me, and He saw
all our friends, our neighbors, coworkers, children
— everyone, and was satisfied only when He knew the
price had been paid for all people everywhere.
Your sin and mine were nailed to the cross with
Jesus. In the Apostle Paul's letter to the first
century church at Corinth , he wrote this:
"...we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled
to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin
for us, that we might become the righteousness of
God in Him." (1 Corinthians 5:20, 21, NKJV)
This great truth is the heart of the good news in
God's message to all people. Jesus came to the earth
to bring us eternal life. This life is in Jesus
Himself who actually died for us all. God has given
us His own Son, the Lord Jesus, so that any and all
who believe in Him can now have eternal life. In
fact, the Bible says this very thing:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life. For God did
not send His Son into the world to condemn the
world, but that the world through Him might be
saved." (Gospel of John 3:16, 17 NKJV)
To learn more about the Gospel and how to apply it
to your own life, visit the
New Life with God web page.
Jim
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