The Gospel of C.H.R.I.S.T. (Devotion)

The Report of the Gospel

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NKJV

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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,

We have here a the Biblical breakdown of what the Gospel is: The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the Gospel in a nutshell.

To start with, the term Gospel simply means “The Good News”. That’s it. That Gospel of Jesus Christ, is the Good News of Jesus Christ. What is the good news? He came, died, was buried, and rose again. That is the good news. Ok. That’s great.....but why? Why did he have to come? Why did have to die? Why all of this for me?

Those are some great questions, but to fully understand the answers, we are going to have to go deeper.

The Revelation of the Gospel

Creation

Man was created in the Image of God

Genesis 1:27 NKJV

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Man was created Perfect

Genesis 2:25 NKJV

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Adam Represented All of Mankind

Romans 5:12 NKJV

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

1 Corinthians 15:21–22 NKJV

21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

Hesitation

Man Disobeys God

Genesis 2:16–17 NKJV

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:6 NKJV

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Sin Causes Separation From God

Genesis 3:8 NKJV

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Isaiah 59:1–2 NKJV

1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

Reconciliation

God’s Standard is Perfection

James 2:10 NKJV

10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

Ephesians 5:25–27 NKJV

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

There is always a price of reconciliation. This is known as the atonement.

1 Peter 1:18–19 NKJV

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Ephesians 1:6–7 NKJV

6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace

Imputation

The word “impute” means to lay to the account of someone else.

Romans 4:7–8 NKJV

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

Our sin is imputed to Christ while His righteousness is imputed to us.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV

21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

1 Peter 2:24 NKJV

24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

Salvation

Salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 NKJV

9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 10:9–10 NKJV

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The Result of the Gospel

Transformation

We are sanctified through an ever growing relationship with God.

John 17:17 NKJV

17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Commitment