The Gospel of Jesus Christ

3/13 Defining the Gospel Series Message 4 “The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Announcements:

Next week Jon L is sharing

Two weeks from now we’re doing the easter egg filling night.

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(Q) Recap Last week?

In the last few weeks we have covered MAN’S NEED for a SAVIOR and natural sinfulness, the PERSON of Jesus CHRIST (God in the flesh) and the WORK of Jesus CHRIST, his SINLESS LIFE, substitutionary DEATH, and RESURRECTION…This week we’re going to put it ALL TOGETHER and explain how and why this is GOOD NEWS.

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(H) You ever hear the saying “It’s the thought that counts?” I think about BUYING my wife FLOWERS more often than I do, and it DOESN’T really COUNT!

But what is amazing…when someone GETS YOU A GIFT or something they WERE THINKING of YOU. Really that is one of the NICEST PARTS of a random gift.

With GOD, it WASN’T JUST the THOUGHT that COUNTED…Jesus went to the cross for us. He didn’t just think about it. HE WENT THROUGH IT. And he was thinking of us... We could have never saved ourselves, but he has saved us.

The Gospel is the good news of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ. It is his virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection from the dead that reveal the love of God for sinful mankind.

Ephesians 2:1-10 NLT Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

A lot of people like to SUGARCOAT this idea…but the BIBLE is very CLEAR that when we are OUTSIDE of CHRIST we are DEAD in SIN, we are in DESPERATE NEED for a SAVIOR. As we mentioned in the first sermon of this series, we are EITHER in ADAM or in CHRIST.

There’s NO FENCE we can be on!

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

GOD is MERCIFUL and GRACIOUS. He is HOLY, but he is FORGIVING when we sin. BECAUSE of what JESUS did for us we NO LONGER have to WORRY about our standing before God.

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

It is THROUGH our FAITH that we are MADE RIGHT with GOD.

When WE BELIEVE WE RECEIVE Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf and his RIGHTEOUSNESS before God the Father.

NO ONE can ever be SAVED by GOOD WORKS…a lot of people think that because someone was a good person they will go to heaven but that is not at all what the gospel is.

NONE of us are GOOD ENOUGH to QUALIFY ourselves for heaven. It is ONLY THROUGH what JESUS did for us that we can be SAVED.

AFTER we are SAVED GOD has a PURPOSE and plan for us. He has WORKS PLANNED OUT for us to do to GLORIFY HIM!

This is GOOD NEWS. It is a FREE GIFT. We don’t deserve it.

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Jesus did this for us when we needed it most!

Romans 5:6-11 NLT When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

No matter how good or bad we felt we were, Jesus saved us just the same. NO ONE has to CLEAN THEMSELVES UP to COME to CHRIST. He DIED for US on our WORST DAY while we were sinners.

9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Through Jesus’ work on the CROSS we are MADE NEW and can have FELLOWSHIP with GOD!

The SIN that SEPARATED us from God can NO LONGER SEPARATE us ETERNALLY from God if we are in Christ.

We still have to CONFESS SIN and ASK for FORGIVENESS. SIN can still SEPARATE us from God and make us WANT to HIDE and RUN, but if we BRING our SIN into the LIGHT and CONFESS it he will FORGIVE us and we never have to stay far from God.

If you have never confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior and accepted this gift, don’t leave tonight without doing so!

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You have the good news. So when people ask WHY YOU’RE DIFFERENT, or why you HAVE HOPE when the world is nuts you can SHARE with them WHAT JESUS DID for you.

The WORST THING that can HAPPEN to us in life is DEATH but we DON’T HAVE TO FEAR death because we have ETERNAL LIFE in Jesus CHRIST!

So we should be able to have HOPE IN LIFE no matter what is going on.

God has us here for such a time as this to share the good news with those we know.

There are people in your circle that might not hear it from anyone else, and you might be the only Bible that some of them read.

Acts 1:8 NLT But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So God has entrusted the message of the gospel to Christians today just as he did with the original disciples, and we want to be ready to share with anyone who asks us the good news of what Jesus has done for us.