In this post I will explain to you what is the Christian Gospel. In a nutshell, it is a very simple message; the Gospel reveals the problem and the Gospel presents the solution.
The problem is sin, which is missing the mark that God established, and the solution is Christ, the Saviour that God provided. The Bible presents a very compelling story of disastrous decisions, catastrophic consequences and a remarkable remedy.
All was very good
The Creator spent six days creating everything with man as His center piece, made in His own image. When you begin to look at creation, you realize that the Creator made everything so that man would look to Him and get to know Him and trust Him. After God finished it all, He declared that everything was good, very good indeed. And God rested on the seventh day.
A turn for the worse
It did not take long for things to take a turn for the worse. In Genesis 3 you can read the story of the tempter or deceiver. Satan is the enemy who planted a seed of doubt in the mind of Eve with regard to the authority of the Creator by saying “Did God actually say…?” Paul states clearly the catastrophic result of the bad decision to trust Satan’s words when in Romans 5:12 he states “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”. By the disobedience of one, many were made sinners. A sad truth about the condition of mankind that remains true in our day, all have sinned.
The second generation did not fair any better as Cain murdered his own brother; solid evidence of the hereditary sin that had entered into the world. As history moved along, God would look down to see that the wickedness of man was great and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5), and even in Heaven the evil had come up before him (Jonah 1:2). People were saying, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice” and, “I do not know the Lord” (Exodus 5:4), and “There is no God” (Psalm 53:1).
What a sad turn of events for humanity. Once upon a time, the Creator would go in the cool of the day to converse with Adam. Now mankind has replaced the relationship with His Creator to a relationship with everything but. As Paul states in Romans 1:25 “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” Chaos has entered into the affairs of men.
Who will hear
The Creator has spoken to His creation on more than one occasion and in many ways. Creation itself is a witness of the Creator’s genius. The firmament, the sun, the moon, the stars and even our own bodies overflow with evidence that a Creator exists.
God has also sent messengers to speak to mankind. He sent angels, judges and prophets. In Hebrews 1:1 – 2 we read “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world”.
The message may not have been obvious in ages past, but since the coming of Jesus Christ the message resonates loud and clear. He who has ears to hear… let him hear. God commands all men, everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel.
The pivot point of eternity
The turning point of all history is the cross. Everything that came before it in the Scriptures, pointed forward to the cross. Everything that comes after it in Scripture, points backward to the cross.
When the history timeline turns from B.C. to A.D. it marks the coming of Jesus Christ into this world. The Scriptures describe the birth of Jesus in quite some detail, but the event that shakes eternity is the death of Jesus Christ.
The good news of the Christian Gospel is summed up in three words: death, burial and resurrection. Paul states in first Corinthians 15:3 – 4 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”
When Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, people expressed denial, confusion, unbelief, sadness and fear. It was hard to understand what had happened. It was not what the disciples had anticipated, even though Jesus had told them several times what would happen to Him. Nor was it what the religious leaders wanted to deal with, they would rather Jesus had stayed dead than to believe in His resurrection. Sadly, to this day, the same reactions abound.
Witnesses
The disciples lives were changed after they saw the risen Lord. He told them that they were witnesses of His death and resurrection and that they were to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Once they received the Holy Spirit, there was no stopping them from telling the story. When Peter was told by the religious leaders to stop talking about it, he responded firmly in Acts 4:20: “for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard”.
The disciples boldly preached the gospel, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Even under threat of death and imprisonment, the believers continued to preach the Gospel and it spread and was believed by many. To this day the message of the Gospel continues to spread and those that believe, receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Jesus himself said in John 3:16 ”
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Action Point: Summarize the Gospel
- If you are not a believer, I encourage you to seriously think about the Gospel message and all it entails. Your eternity depends on whether you believe what God has said. I will pray for you and hope that you make the right decision in regard to your soul. The Scriptures are full of examples of people who believed and people who refused to believe. Consider what the Lord Jesus Christ said in John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
- Watch the short video here: What is the Christian Gospel
- If you are a believer, I encourage you to share the Gospel with others. Share your testimony by choosing someone you know to tell them how the Lord saved you. It is the most exciting and important event in your life and in your eternity. Your experience may compel someone else to consider the Gospel.
- Click here to read My Testimony
- Whether or not you are a believer I encourage you take a few minutes to review this Printable Bible Study Lesson. By filling in the chart with the information learned, you will reinforce the learning process. Feel free to read through the post and re-watch
the video as often as you need to in order to properly fill in the
chart.- Download the PDF worksheet here (link coming soon)
We read of our ancestors tragic begging and see to it that we will continue to support it until our time has come. One of creations has begun to move in a unnoticeable pace, one can change the course of our lives and seek out in life itself. Some of his creation doesn’t believe in his creator. All because of a single deity put a whisper in Adam ears and all man become corrupted.
Thanks for your thoughts. Mankind’s history truly is a tragic tale of corruption. Your comment made me think of these verses:
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” Romans 5:12
Thankfully the Creator has given us hope:
“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17