The Gospel of Jesus Christ

The Gospel of Jesus Christ What I hear: I will occasionally come across folks at the park or on street corners offering gospel tracts, or sometimes I will visit a church and talk to folks in the congregation and pastoral staff, or sometimes just regular folks I come into contact with and to each I will ask, What is the gospel? The responses I get are astounding but the three I hear most frequently are: John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. A beautiful passage and appropriate for the audience but it is not the gospel. Why? No death, burial and resurrection of Christ. No forgiveness of sins, no grace, no adoption to sonship and no inheritance. We, the gentile church, would have no part in this gospel. Jesus Christ – Yes, folks have actually said that Jesus himself is the gospel. I guess in a way they are right. But what about Jesus Christ? That he lived? That he taught? That he was a prophet? I have heard all these and more but that’s not the gospel either. The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) – Thank you ladies from the Jehovah’s Witnesses at the park for this one, they were the closest to right. The four books that testify about Jesus do have the death, burial and resurrection. They also have the life and ministry of Jesus and they are full stories. When you get done reading them there is no way to glean from them that it is the death burial and resurrection part that was so important or why. So what is the gospel of Jesus Christ then? The Apostle Paul gives it to us in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. What does it mean? The word Gospel means Good News That Christ died for our sins means that our sin debt was paid by Jesus on the cross. That Christ was buried and rose on the third day means that proof is given that because he did, we will. It also means that Jesus is alive today and his Holy Spirit is active on this earth, inside you and me. “According to the scriptures is mentioned twice for emphasis and means that God told us beforehand through prophesy that all this would come to pass; Died for our sins – Isaiah 53 Buried, rose on the third day – Matt 12:39-40; Luke 11:29-30; Romans 1:4 (why); Psalms 16:10; Jonah Why is the gospel such great news? Jesus paid the price for our sins, so God is not mad at us for the bad things we have done, do, or will do We can be reconciled to God, we are at peace with God Isn’t that great news? More than that… We have access to God’s throne through Christ when we pray We are saved by grace through faith For our faith we are adopted into God’s family Isn’t that great news? Still want more? Since Christ was raised from the dead so are we The Holy Spirit is given to us as a deposit of our inheritance Our eternal life starts once the Spirit takes up residence in us, not when we die And there is more, so much more. I can only encourage you to read your bible to see how much more. All of this should be a cause to celebrate, to sing, to dance, to be joyful and thankful for what Jesus has done. And not just for his work on the cross 2000 years ago but for what he continues to do today. This is what we should be shouting from the rooftops. Our king is a king worth following because he is risen, he is alive, he is active, he is working today right here, right now, through us. We are his evidence.