BlueSkyIntroduction – What exactly is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and why should it matter to me?
The Gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom of God and the incredible sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made to save us. The Gospel is the incredible work of the triune Godhead (The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit) to bring salvation to fallen humanity. It was a Divine effort to rescue our world from eternal destruction.
The Gospel reveals that God – the Father is both Just and Merciful. He is Just because He punished Jesus (the representative of humanity) for our sins. He is Merciful because He forgives anyone who believes in the sacrifice of Christ.
At the same time, it demonstrates God’s immeasurable Love for you and me because God – the Father, chose to punish the Lord Jesus instead of us.
The Gospel is the good news that Jesus offered Himself to save us from being lost forever. It is also God’s invitation to live in the Kingdom of Christ.
What makes the Gospel message good news is that eternal life and citizenship in God’s Kingdom is God’s gift to every human without us having to do anything to earn it!
The Gospel displays God’s power to bring hope where only misery existed, joy when only gloom prevailed, light where only darkness persisted, and everlasting life when only death dominated.
Romans 1:16
The Bible clearly states that we have no part in our redemption. There isn’t anything we could have done to save ourselves from eternal death. Neither could we offer something in exchange for a way out of our predicament.
Humanity was enslaved by sin, born to die, awaiting punishment for unrighteousness. And what made our plight even more woeful was that most of humankind neither knows nor understands the depravity of the human condition.
If no amount of good work or exemplary display of character could save us, then how could it ever be possible for us to be saved? Who could lead us out of the valley of death and into the way of life? The answer is that only One Being in the entire universe could do it: the Lord Jesus Christ.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 7:24-25
John 14:6
Secrets Unlocked Fact:
- Did you know that Jesus spent most of His time spreading the Gospel?
Matthew 4:23 - Did you know that the first sermon Jesus preached in a synagogue was about the Gospel?
Luke 4:18 - Did you know that the last words of Jesus to His disciples before he departed to Heaven was to preach the Gospel to every person?
Mark 16:15– Did you know that Jesus prophecied that the last message preached to our world would be about the Gospel?
Matthew 24:14
Money and temporal pleasure cannot satisfy the emptiness of the soul. The world has become a place of immense greed, selfishness, and hatred. Satan has ensured that most people face economic hardship, so they are preoccupied with working hard to get the basic necessities of life.
He has gotten society to be addicted to social media and entertainment. In pursuit of temporal pleasure and fame, the devil has successfully distracted humanity from its true purpose.
The human soul longs to be in harmony with God. Your eternal life is at stake, and satan is doing everything in his power to keep you away from the Gospel. Wordly fame, riches, recognition, and achievement will not help save you from death.
You must accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ if you care about your soul and want to live a peaceful, eternal life in God’s coming Kingdom.
Why is the coming Kingdom of Jesus an integral part of the Gospel?
The Bible refers to the Gospel as the Gospel of the Kingdom. The whole reason for the Gospel is to invite us into the Kingdom of God. Jesus died on the Cross so undeserving humans could live eternally in God’s coming Kingdom. If there were no Kingdom, there would be no point in the Gospel, as there would be no good news to share with humanity!
Matthew 4:23, Matthew 9:35, and Mark 1:14 explicitly mention that Jesus went about Israel’s villages and cities preaching the Gospel during His three-and-a-half-year ministry.
Jesus linked the Gospel to the coming Kingdom, showing that the good news is that Heavenly Jerusalem will be set up here. Jesus calls everyone to be citizens of this truly global and inclusive country.
When God created humankind, He established a divine rule on Earth under the leadership of Adam, the first human. Our planet was supposed to be a place of happiness, joy, and everlasting life. But sin corrupted human minds and caused our world to degrade into a miserable hell.
Satan stole Earth and became its unrighteous ruler, making it an epicenter of grief, pain, selfishness, and satanic wickedness. Thus, satan created an inhumane empire on Earth, and wicked men have worked in union with demons to create a kingdom of darkness.
In Luke 4:5-6, satan confirms that he is the power that works behind the scenes to shape our world. He chooses leaders and appoints them to do his bidding on Earth. In return, satan gives fame, power, and riches to those who worship him. Former empires that ruled the world and even the present countries are under satan’s control.
Satan has set up an elaborate system and controls the direction of our planet like an unseen hand that pulls the cords of a puppet. All the world leaders, dictators, power brokers, the rich and famous ultimately derive their authority from satan. He has successfully set up an anti-Christ empire on Earth in the hope of eternalizing sin and evil.
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.Luke 4:5-6
But God will not allow satan to continue his nefarious agenda. Jesus will reclaim the Earth and set up a righteous and sinless world in harmony with the law of God. The Bible mentions this over and over throughout its pages.
As we have discussed before, there is a Great Controversy between Christ and satan, which has been taking place for thousands and thousands of years. The Gospel is the story of how Jesus defeated satan and spiritually took back control of our world. As the representative of humanity, Jesus will physically take possession when He comes back the second time.
Take, for instance, the below prophecy from Daniel 2:44, given almost 600 years before Jesus. Here, God promises to destroy the evil and corrupt kingdoms of the Earth and establish His everlasting Kingdom of righteousness.
God’s promise to establish his sinless city right here on Earth where there will be no human suffering and death is good news, making it the essence of the Gospel message.
What did Jesus have to do to bring the Gospel to us?
The Gospel was only possible because Jesus became the representative of humanity and died for our sins. He lived a selfless and sinless life and offered a perfect sacrifice like the Passover lambs offered by the Jews in exchange for the forgiveness of sins.
God became a man and suffered great humiliation and pain at the hands of His creation. Jesus willingly undertook the dangerous mission because this was the only way we could be saved from destruction.
In John 6:51, Jesus said that He had to give His life so that eternal life could be obtained for the human race.
Christ died for our sins, taking our punishment upon Himself and giving us a way out of our deadly condition. His sacrifice had paved the way for our deliverance. Without His death, the Gospel would not have been possible.
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:1 Corinthians 15:1,3,4
And this is why Jesus is the central figure of the Bible and also of the Gospel. The Bible tells us that the Gospel is the good news about Jesus and is also the good news of Jesus, i.e., the Gospel belongs to Jesus.
The Gospel message teaches us about God’s love for us. The Gospel shows us that we are critical to God. He loves each of us so much that He was willing to shed His blood. Friend, you are precious to God, and it cost God unimaginable pain to save you!
Why is the Gospel good news for us?
The word Gospel is translated from the Greek word εὐαγγέλιον (Evangelion), which means the proclamation of Good News. The Gospel is the good news that Jesus has gained victory over sin and death and, through His selfless sacrifice on the Cross, has provided us the means to get saved and live an eternal life in God’s coming Kingdom!
In His infinite wisdom, God determined the Gospel was the means through which He would save us. It is incredibly reassuring to know that God had purposed in His mind to rescue us at all costs, even though it would involve giving up His life as a penalty for our sins. God’s steadfast determination is incomprehensible to the feeble human mind.
Imagine this: God created humanity even though He knew (because He is All-Knowing) that they would rebel against Him and that very few would accept His great offer. The triune Godhead knew humanity would be disobedient and sinful.
God would have been declared righteous and just if He had destroyed Earth when Adam sinned. But look at His wondrous love, He wanted us to experience life and fellowship with Him, so He forgave man, showing His good will towards us. Instead, he decided to take our sins upon Himself and die so His justice and love could prevail!
The Gospel was not an afterthought. It was always a plan in God’s mind throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.
This is excellent news because it means God values your life more than His own!
9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel:2 Timothy 1:9,10
After signing the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, famously quoted:
“…In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
Benjamin was right about the taxes part. Taxes will be with us till the end of this world. Even Jesus couldn’t avoid paying taxes. He even did an odd miracle to produce a coin in a fish’s mouth ( Matthew 17:24–27) to pay the taxes to shut the greedy mouths of the tax collectors!
But Benjamin surely didn’t know the Gospel because the Gospel teaches that those who believe and follow Jesus will never die!
The death spoken of is eternal death, which the wicked will suffer in the lake of fire. But for the followers of Jesus who obey the Gospel will never see that death because Jesus has abolished it. We should rejoice and thank God that He has saved us from everlasting destruction.
Isn’t it good news that we can escape all the pain, misery, suffering, disease, and death we are well acquainted with? Instead, we can spend an eternity living peaceful, righteous, and holy lives in the presence of our Creator!
Is the Gospel the last message to be preached to a dying world?
Our world is rapidly descending into a living nightmare. We can see the effects of sin weighing heavily on our planet. Jesus prophecied in great detail (Matthew 24) about our planet’s final moments.
He said it would be a time of social turmoil with intolerance and widespread hatred. Selfishness and war between nations will be the order of the day. There would be signs even in nature with natural disasters, famines, and diseases striking our world at a furious pace, creating fear in people’s hearts!
I think this is a pretty accurate description of the times that we live in.
People will expect governments and politicians to fix the issues so they can continue to lead sinful lives without worry or care. But things will get progressively worse, with calamity upon calamity wreaking havoc.
These are warning signs to let us know that the probation of this world is to close soon. We must make amends to our lives and get right with our Maker.
Great pain and suffering will come upon the Earth as satan desperately tries to cling to his power. He will launch a final attempt to establish a sinful order, his evil antichrist kingdom.
He will seek to create an evil dystopia and force people to worship him. This strongly contrasts with Jesus’s righteous and peaceful Kingdom, which He will establish once evil has been destroyed.
Messengers of God, depicted as three angels in Revelation 14, will carry forward the message of the Gospel as a final warning to call people to worship the true God. Servants of God will explain the Gospel and show how Jesus, our Saviour, sacrificed His life so that we can live in His coming Kingdom.
Jesus will return to Earth after every person has made a fully informed decision to worship God or satan.
Thus, Matthew 24:14 and Revelation 14:6-7 prophecy a last message of love and mercy which will go out to a dying world.
6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and Earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.Revelation 14:6-7
The Kingdom of God is God’s heavenly city of peace, New Jerusalem, which will descend on Earth after God destroys evil. The triune Godhead will be the rulers of this new heavenly realm, which will be established here on Earth.
Will everyone believe the Gospel?
The unfortunate answer is no. Even though God moved Heaven and Earth to bring salvation to humanity, most people will reject God’s offer of eternal life.
Human souls will be lost because they prioritize temporal pleasures rather than value the gift of eternal joy. They would rather be friends with the world and become the enemy of God.
People are eager to get appreciation from the world rather than cherish the blessings of God Almighty. They would instead be blinded by satan – the God of this evil world rather than see the light of Jesus.
Rejection of the Gospel Truth will be the greatest tragedy to befall humanity. It would have been better for a person not to be born than to lose out on this free offer!
3 But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.2 Corinthians 4:3,4
What will happen to those who do not obey the Gospel?
God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into our world to be our saving Messiah.
He did not send Jesus to curse people but to free them from sin and give the gift of eternal life to whosoever asks for it.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:16-18If you don’t choose Jesus, you have chosen sin and satan. And the consequence of this choice is eternal death.
If you still reject Jesus in spite of hearing about God’s amazing love and sacrifice, you will pay the penalty for your sins. God will punish all the unbelievers in the lake of fire, which will be set up to destroy evil and sinners.
2 Thessalonians 1:8
Conclusion
The Gospel is a message of hope, love, sacrifice, and warning. If a loving God can die for humanity, He is also fully justified in punishing the sinner for his unrepentant iniquity.
Jesus has done everything possible to allow you to live in His coming Kingdom. All you need to do is believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins. Repent and ask Jesus to forgive you. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour because He is the only One in this universe who can give you eternal life!
The Gospel was purchased with a great price, for God Himself had to die to give you access to His Kingdom. So please don’t let God down because He is eagerly waiting to see you in His coming Kingdom!
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