The Good News of the Gospel

Introduction/Background

Today, it is my aim to preach the most basic and central message of the Bible—what is commonly known as “the Gospel.” While I would love to assume that everyone here shares a basic knowledge of the gospel, my experience and my obligation as a minister demands otherwise. In fact, many preachers in many more churches than I’d like to admit have assumed a knowledge of such matters, and I am convinced that such an assumption has been the direct cause of a widespread ignorance of the gospel. A great number of people in our churches—many of whom would identify themselves as “Christians”—have no idea what the gospel is, and a great many more who think they know what the gospel is could not articulate it in enough detail or clarity for an unbeliever to hear, understand, and believe it. Worse yet, there has been such a famine of biblical teaching on the gospel in our churches recently that some more liberal churches have even proposed completely different definitions of the most basic terms of the gospel. My goal today is to combat some of this ignorance and misunderstanding about the most basic teachings of the Bible. For believers, I hope you will find this message refreshing as you reflect upon what exactly Christ has done for you. For unbelievers, I hope that you will listen carefully today, because what you do with the message you will hear today will determine where you spend eternity.

1. The gospel is NOT:

A. You’re already saved!

B. All religions are basically the same.

C. Just work hard enough and you’ll get to heaven.

2. God’s status as Creator gives him rightful ownership of your life.

A. God is the Creator and sovereign ruler of all that is.

i. Gen 1:1—“…GOD created the heavens and the earth.”

ii. I Corinthians 6:19-20—“…you are not your own, you are bought with a price…therefore glorify God with your body”

iii. Romans 9:20—“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”

B. Because God is Creator, he created us with a purpose in mind.

i. God created us in his image, to govern and rule over his creation, for his glory and honor; we were created for the sole purpose of bringing glory to God.

1. Genesis 1:26—“Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

2. Isa 43:7—“everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

3. The “image of God” means, in part, that mankind is supposed to reflect what God is like in the manner in which he rules over God’s creation. In creating mankind in his image and commanding them to fill the earth, God’s objective is for his glory to be spread throughout his creation.

a. God’s desire for his own glory is not ego-maniacal, as many think.

b. God is the perfect embodiment of goodness—what else would you glorify? At best, it would be something imperfect.

c. God’s commands—including his command to glorify him—are all given for our own good.

d. Deut 10:12—"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?

3. Sin separates us from God and condemns us to eternity in Hell.

A. While God’s creation was perfect in the beginning, humans rebelled and broke God’s law.

i. Sin, in effect, is a refusal to glorify God and an attempt at self-glorification. It occurs when man tries to make himself god of his own little world, deciding right from wrong.

1. Gen 3:4—“But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise…”

2. The temptation in the Garden of Eden was not just some tasty looking fruit.

3. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil seemed to offer Adam and Eve the chance to decide right from wrong for themselves. They wanted the right that only God has.

4. Every one of us has sinned in this manner. Rom 3:10-23

5. Romans 14:23—“…whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

6. Matthew 22:37-40—‘And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."’

B. The consequences of our sin is death.

We tend to think of our sins against God in terms of breaking impersonal rules. So, on that basis, we can assure ourselves that we're, overall, "a pretty good person." But sin, to God, is much less like breaking the speed limit, and much more like betraying your country and committing high treason. It's less like cheating on your taxes and more like cheating on your wife. It's deeply personal. Sin is rejecting the One who created you and loves you. That's why the punishment is death, eternal spiritual death--because sin, all sin, is much more serious than we'd like to think. What’s the punishment for treason? Death.

i. Gen 2:17—“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."

ii. Rom 6:23—“For the wages of sin is death...”

iii. Romans 14:11-12—“’As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”

1. Every one of us has a court date.

2. No room for excuses here; “Guilty or not guilty”

C. But there is an eternal punishment for sin as well—Hell.

i. Isa 59:2—“but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

ii. Matt 10:28—“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

iii. II Pet 2:4—“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.”

D. The doctrine of Hell makes many people uncomfortable. Common objections:

i. How God could justly condemn good people to Hell?

1. There is no such thing as “good people”

2. We like to use our own arbitrary standards to judge ourselves.

3. Does a just judge let you determine what you think the speed limit ought to be and judge you by that? There has to be an objective standard by which we are judged.

4. Hitler thought he was doing right in the Holocaust! He even used his own twisted version of the Bible to justify his actions.

5. God has set that standard when he created us in his image and for his glory—he is the standard.

6. Is heaven a perfect place? (yes) Are you a perfect person? (no) So what would happen to heaven’s perfection should God let you in?

ii. How can God be loving if he condemns people to Hell?

1. This is the wrong question—the right question is, “How can God be just if he allows any sinners to escape Hell?”

2. God is love, but he is also just. It is neither loving nor just to allow a criminal to walk free.

3. If all have sinned, then all ought to be punished!

4. But, the answer to this question lies in the cross.

E. The Bad News? If you are unsaved, your very eternity hangs in the balance at this very moment. Jonathan Edwards said it like this in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”:

i. (Read excerpt from Edwards’ sermon)

ii. How can God be loving if he condemns people to Hell? Because he alone is the reason you are not in Hell as we speak. He alone holds you up and gives you time and opportunity to repent before it’s too late.

iii. If you have never repented and trusted Christ, then this is the condition which you are in.

4. Jesus Christ is the “Good News” of the Gospel

A. The cross was the perfect display of God’s wrath towards sin.

i. On the cross, God demonstrated his wrath towards sin

ii. Rom 3:21-26 tells us that in order for God to be just in his pardoning of our sins, the penalty for our sins must be paid.

iii. God, through Christ’s death on the cross, is both Just and the Justifier of those who have faith in Christ.

B. The cross was the perfect display of God’s love for sinners.

i. Romans 5:6-11

ii. John 3:16

iii. II Peter 3:9—“[God] is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

iv. Ezekiel 33:10-11—“'Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?' Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die…?”

v. Your “sin” credit card was maxed out, and Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection paid the balance. Paid in Full.

vi. You were an enemy of God, under his holy wrath, and God sacrificed his own Son to save you.

C. The cross demands repentance, faith, and complete surrender

i. Acts 2:37—“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38 And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

ii. Romans 10:9-13

iii. The word “Lord” in the NT usually means “Master.” The implication is that when one comes to Christ for salvation, Christ becomes “Master” and they become “slave.” (Rom. 1:1)

iv. You may choose to be either a slave of sin, which leads to death and judgment, or a slave of Christ, which leads to eternal life. (Rom. 6:16-23)

D. You are not only saved, you are adopted

i. Galatians 4:6—“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

Conclusion

God’s offer of salvation extends to any who are willing to call upon his name, repent of their sins, and place their life and their trust in his Son, Jesus Christ. Will you accept the offer of salvation today?