What is the gospel?

I think that it would be natural to go to a text like

1 Corinthians 15:1–5 KJV 1900

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

This is often referred to the Gospel in a nutshell

That Christ died

Was buried

Rose again the third day

This is often what we have in mind when we discuss the Gospel

And I think this is accurate

But could there be a bit more to it than this?

I guess what I mean is that this answers the what…the works of Chirst

The why…verse 3 that he dies for our sins

Is there a deeper motivation?

Did Christ die solely for the purpose of removing our sin?

I believe there is a bit more to it than that

I am not going to go heretical here…but follow me on this

There is an OT account and two NT texts (there are others but tonight we will look at three) that give us what I think needs to be the bigger picture

Genesis 3:7–8 KJV 1900

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice 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 amongst the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:7-

A couple things to note

-The prepared themselves with the expectancy that God would be coming

-The wanted to be covered for when He came to be with them

Verse 8…when they heard his voice in the cool of the day

This gives me the sense of Him appearing just as He had each day previously

There is no definitive proof but I believe that it was God’s pattern to spend time with Adam and Eve

The next clue we get to the bigger picture of the gospel is in the next verses

Genesis 3:9–12 KJV 1900

And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Genesis 3:9-

Now, don’t get me wrong, the eating of the fruit was a moral action

But what I feel we often miss is the next layer

That moral decision had a relational impact

Was God present outside the Garden of Eden?

Absolutely…but where was it that God met with Adam and Eve?

In the Garden

Once they are outside the Garden what has changed relationally?

They can no longer be in the presence of God because of sin

I guess to be honest, for me sin and the need for it’s removal is as much a sign to something deeper as the bread and water are in John chapter 6

The need for the removal of sin was necessary for the deeper purpose of reconciliation…restoring the relationship with God that was lost in the fall.

This reality came to me as I was witnessing to someone years back and in my immaturity I presented him with this question...”Do you want to spend all of eternity in heaven or hell?”

He then asked some questions about hell and heaven

I asked him again if he wanted to go to heaven or hell

His response was “Well, duh, who would choose hell over heaven?”

I had explained sin and the need for forgiveness

I had explained that Jesus died on the cross

But I feel I missed the bigger picture

To put it bluntly, salvation is a benefit of reconciliation

Our deepest yearning, whether we know it or not is not to have our sins forgiven

Our deepest desire is to be reconciled to the Creator

That is how He created us

With a desire to have a relationship with Him

Turn with me to our NT text

2 Corinthians 5:17-

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 KJV 1900

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

What is Paul telling us in this passage

That at salvation we become a new creature…that which is old (the partition that separates us relationally from God) is passed away and all things are become new (we now are able to enjoy the relationship with God that He had originally intended)

Then Paul goes on to give us the focus of our ministry

The word ministry is what we use for deacon

The word deacon means “servant” nothing more and nothing less

Therefore our service to God is to do what?

Be reconciling the world to the Father

We get caught up in heaven or hell....Getting people lost in order to see their need to have their sins forgiven

This is how I accepted Christ, and probably many of you

Is there not the reality that as the world progresses we become more and more self-reliant?

I have become convinced that if we present the unsaved with this reality that deep within them is a yearning for God and that He is the only one that can fill that emptiness we can present to them a situation that they cannot effect in their own wisdom, strength, or resources.

That then naturally then leads into the need to have the stain of sin removed by the blood Christ shed on the cross

I would challenge us that as we present the gospel

-It is not first and foremost about going to heaven or hell

-It is not even essentially about the forgiveness of sins

These are highly beneficial fruits of the Gospel

But the fruit that we offer is not heaven vs hell, sinfulness vs sinlessness

But the opportunity to have a reconciled relationship with the Creator

Can someone get saved if I present them the 10 commandments and show them their sin and offer them the savior? Absolutely

But what is humanity really looking for?

God

So instead of offering them the blood of Christ and forgiveness

I propose we offer them God and tell them they are able to have Him because of the blood of Christ and the forgiveness of sins

The book of talks about a “new and living way”

Hebrews 10:20 KJV 1900

By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

A new and better way to what?!?! A new and living way to have that personal relationship with God the Creator

As we look at culture we see that when we have a need we provide it

Jesus is the living way but to what? Having our sins forgiven…but for the ultimate purpose of what?

Heaven or hell

No…reconciliation

As we look at culture we see that when we have a need we provide it

Society has been taught that man is good and that he just needs to change his environment

What they cannot argue with is that deep yearning within their soul that aches for God

Let’s bring to them God

The Creator and redeemer god

This is what is missed when a church places the gospel over the glorification of God

God’s purpose is to be reconcile His creation to Himself

He uses the truths of the Gospel to do so

Lets keep a proper focus

It is all about God

So lets take Him to our families, our friends, coworker, neighbors

Let’s offer them not only salvation but what can satisfy the deepest longings of their soul.

298 Satisfied