A Beautiful Gospel

God and Sin

When we think about the Gospel, getting the content correct is the most critical part: more than being persuasive, more than being inviting, and more than looking knowledgeable. If we get the Gospel wrong, our good efforts are in vain.

The Gospel gets its name from the Greek word, which means "Good News." The term "good news" is often linked to the idea of bad news looming in the background. On TV shows, a common trope has a character saying, "Listen, I have good news and bad news." The two are linked so that if we receive bad news, we pray that good news follows in its wake soon after.

When I went on my cruise this summer, we had a blast—hanging out on the ship and having fun made the vacation worth every penny we spent. After the week of the cruise, it was time to begin unloading, and we remembered that we were in E7. It wasn't too big of a problem because we decided to carry our luggage out so we wouldn't have to wait for customs. So, we got to our wait spot, and after 30 minutes or so, the intercom turned on, and the lady said, "Group A2 can begin unboarding." Then, after another 30 minutes, it was A2, then A3, and then it was another long wait before they called A4. We began waiting to unboard at 8:30 in the morning, and they hadn't even called group B until around 10:00am.

While waiting, we figured we would disembark well after noon and wouldn't make it home until 3 in the morning. Then, one of my friends went to get some coffee and noticed on his way back that a large group in front of the elevators was gone. He remembered seeing a worker ushering people into the elevators, so we moved over that way and found out that a worker was allowing people to leave early regardless of their group. To say that we were relieved would be an understatement. The bad news that we would be trapped on the ship for hours was eclipsed by the good news that we could escape our dilemma.

If Good News arrives because of a bad situation, then calling the Gospel "Good News" must mean that there's also bad news. The first crucial part of the Gospel is that without redemption, we are helpless enemies of God who have rebelled against His holy nature. Verse 6: "For while we were still helpless...". Verse 8: "...while we were still sinners...". Verse 10: "...while we were enemies of God...".

The Bad News is that we have a nature that strives to make us enemies with God, no matter the cost. We give into sin, turn from God's ways, and oppose everything about Him to our last breath. Romans 3:10-18 describes the sinner perfectly:

Romans 3:10–18 CSB

10 as it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one. 11 There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one. 13 Their throat is an open grave; they deceive with their tongues. Vipers’ venom is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths, 17 and the path of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

The first step to understanding the Gospel is understanding how much we need a Savior. The description of sinners that Paul gives is a description of someone who is under the wrath of God, guilty before the Holy Creator without any excuse for their behavior. If someone accepts Christ but doesn't understand what they are saved from, then they don't understand the Gospel. When the crowd in Acts 2 reacted to Peter's sermon about Jesus, it says, "When they heard this, they came under deep conviction and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: 'Brothers, what must we do?'"

We were meant to live with God for eternity. The Bad News is that everything was good, but we sinned and separated ourselves from the presence of God. The Gospel tastes sweet when we finally know the bitterness of sin.

God and His Creation

But where does this sweetness start? Scripture says that no one seeks after God. No one desires to kill their flesh and take on a life of holiness. If the Gospel were waiting on us to make the first move, it would be as worthless as letting a kid in elementary decide on their own time when they should take the trash out: it would never happen. Left on our own, we would ignore the Gospel until it's too late. Given 5 trillion years, we wouldn't ever turn from our sin alone.

As the Scripture says, we were still helpless...but at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. Proving His own love to us while we were still sinners and enemies of God, Christ died on our behalf so that we would have a path back to Him. God took it upon Himself to make the first move to reconcile us through a death that paid for our sins. He saved us from His wrath solely because He loved us too much to let us perish. From the moment we sinned, Christ was standing ready for the perfect time to descend into our corrupt world to get the job done without help.

The Gospel shows us how much God loves us. The most recognizable Bible verse ever is John 3:16: "For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." The Bad News is that the wrath of God rests above sinners like a bow and arrow notched and ready to pierce the heart in judgment. The Good News is that the love of God holds the arrow back just long enough to give us a chance to respond to His grace and mercy through the Gospel.

But the Good News isn't forced. The goodness of the Gospel is that through Jesus’ sacrifice, the Father draws us to Himself through His Spirit. The Gospel calls us to repent, and it’s through God opening our eyes that we see how amazing it truly is.

God and Eternity

The amazing thing about the Good News is that for the believer, it doesn't stop at salvation. For us, salvation is only the start of an even more joyful eternity with Christ. Every day, we grow to know Jesus more and more.

The Scripture says that if we are reconciled by Christ’s death while we were still enemies, then how much more will we live through His resurrection!

The Gospel wraps everything together with the glorious truth that if we accept Jesus and place our faith in Him, then we will receive eternal salvation for free. Christ paid all our debt, taking our sin and shame with Him, and now He offers everyone a chance to trust and repent.

The Gospel is complete when we see the depths of our sins, the love of our Creator, and the finished work of Christ. All someone needs to do to receive eternal life is to trust that Jesus did everything needed to redeem them.

1 John 1:9 CSB

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Faith in Christ leads to repentance. The question you need to ask yourself is have you repented? Have you truly understood that your sin separates you from God, and have you agreed with Him on needing to change? Faith in Christ without repentance is a dead faith.

If you have trusted in Him, then have you told others about Him? Do you share the Good News in its entirety?

“The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself or less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.” - Tim Keller