WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
The gospel is the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile sinners to God.
Here is a breakdown:
"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.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 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'" (Genesis 1:26-26, English Standard Version).
- The one and only God, who is holy, made us in His image to know Him and worship Him.
2. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23, ESV).
- Yet we committed cosmic treason against God and cut ourselves off from Him (Genesis 3).
3. "He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him" (Isaiah 59:16, ESV).
- In His great love, God sent his Son Jesus to come as king and rescue His people from their enemies—most significantly their own sin (Psalm 2; Luke 1:67-79).
4. "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45, ESV).
- Jesus established His kingdom by acting as both a mediating priest and a priestly sacrifice—He lived a perfect life and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law Himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of many (John 1:14; Heb. 7:26; Rom. 3:21-26, 5:12-21); then He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted his sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us had been exhausted (Acts 2:24, Rom. 4:25).
5. "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30, ESV).