What is the GOSPEL?
Posted on 24. Mar, 2010 by Roger Servin in Theology
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” – 1 Cor. 15:3,4
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is summed up in these two verses of scripture. That Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised back to life three days later, thus conquering death which gives us the hope that we too if we are found in Christ when we die will be raised to be with Him forever. While these two verses are a summation of the truth of the Gospel, and are of first importance, it doesn’t tell the whole story…
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” – John 1:1-3
These verses are so rich in themselves and there is so much that we can talk about just in these scriptures but I want to focus the fact that in the beginning God made everything. Specifically, all things were made through Jesus (the Word) and without Jesus nothing was made that was made. Everything was made by Christ. the heavens, the earth, everything in the earth including the seas, the trees, all creeping things, as well as man and woman. He created the garden of Eden for Adam and Eve, and God gave them charge over everything in the garden as well as the whole earth. – Gen. 1:28-30.
God gave them one command. ”And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 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.” – Gen. 2:16-17. They could freely eat of any tree within the garden, but there was ONE tree that was forbidden to them. Just like us today, we always want what we can’t have. We can never be content with what we have. Not only did they have no doubt hundreds of trees they could eat off of… but they had the privilege of being in the presence of Almighty God Himself, living in perfect harmony with the Creator of the universe!
We then read that the Serpent came by and persuaded Eve to eat of the forbidden tree. Then she went to her husband and lured him into the deception of eating the fruit also. - Gen. 3:1-7.
This is no small thing. This tragic event has HUGE implications… I think too many times we tend to minimize what actually happened here in the garden of Eden that day. It is not the fact that they ate the fruit from a certain tree that is in view here. What IS in view is that Adam and Eve, our first parents, sinned against an infinitely holy God, transgressed the commandment of the God who had made them and gave them everything they had. They decided that their way of doing things was so much better than God’s way. Essentially, they were the ultimate authority… not the God who had created them.
Then we read on… To the woman He said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” – Gen. 3:16-19.
and also we read… ‘Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.’ – Gen. 3:22-24.
Not only were they punished in the sense that woman would have pain in childbearing, and man would have to work the ground and earn his living by the sweat of his face… but God said that they would die physically. It doesn’t end there though. Notice that God drove them out of the garden, from His presence, and placed cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life. This is a picture of the SPIRITUAL death that they will now experience. Notice that they would never be able to earn their way back to God by making up for the wrong they had done. They couldn’t go back and regain a good standing with God by undoing what they had done by eating of the tree of life on their own. That way was now blocked. God would have to provide another way… IF He chose to do so. I say IF because God did not have to. He could have left them in their condition. He could have left us all in our sinful state. He is under NO obligation to rescue anyone. He would be perfectly just in condemning us all to hell eternally. Why is the punishment so severe? You might ask. Well because of the nature of the Person whom they and we have offended. God is infinitely HOLY, and thus the punishment for breaking His commands should be of an infinite nature. God is righteous and just, we are unrighteous and full of wickedness. “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” – Jeremiah 17:9.
From the time of Adam on, man would continue to try and find his own way to get back to God. Man, sinful in nature because of the fall would never again be right with God. God’s Word says that our nature since the fall has become enslaved to sin. Romans 6:6, John 8:34, Romans 6:17, Romans 6:20. This means that we can do nothing but sin. Nothing. You might find this hard to believe since there are many “good” things that humans do all over the world. There are hospitals, orphanages, shelters for the homeless, young men who help the elderly across the street… (well, there used to be anyway.) Sure people do good things, I recognize that. Remember that God doesn’t look on the outward, but on the inward. He looks at the heart, its motivations and intentions. The scripture says that, “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” – Romans 14:23b. Also, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” – Rom. 8:8. And, “without faith it is impossible to please him…” – Heb. 11:6a. What we can take from these scriptures is that nobody can please God apart from faith, and that everything that is not done by faith in Christ is SIN. So naturally this has to mean that if a person does not have faith in the Son of God everything they do is from a heart that is sinful by nature… enslaved to sin. This has disastrous implications when it comes to humans trying to work their way to God or do things for God for merit on their own. This is why there is absolutely NOTHING that we sinful, wicked humans can do to merit salvation. Apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ, we are left without hope. We are on our way to hell. God would be totally just in sentencing us to such a punishment for our open rebellion toward Him everyday. Reflect upon God’s Word: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” – Rom. 3:10-18.
We deserve Hell…
“BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Even when we dead in our trespasses… enslaved to sin… at enmity with God… without saving faith toward God, God rich in mercy because He loved us made us alive by His grace and raised us up with Him to show forth the riches of His grace in kindness toward us. He saved us. It is not our own doing, it is His gift to us so that no one may boast. And He planned for us to walk in good works (from faith) before everything began!
But how were we saved? On what basis?
In accordance with God’s plan of redemption set forth from before the foundation of the world (Acts 4:27,28), God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world in human form, the form of a lowly servant, born of a virgin. He fulfilled all of the Law for us, keeping all of God’s commandments, living a totally sinless life. He was betrayed by the Judas Iscariot, given into the hands of the Jewish religious leaders of the day and ultimately given up to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to be nailed to a cross for a crime that He did not commit. He suffered and died a horrible, shameful death on the cross for our crimes… all of our sin, our open rebellion, our hatred for God, all of it was laid on Jesus and He took it willingly as a substitutionary atonement for our sins. He died for us, so that we who repent and trust (believe) in Him might live with Him! You see, God was able to render us justified because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. He died a death that we should have died. Our sins were transferred or imputed to Him, and His righteousness (or sinless perfection) was transferred or imputed to us so that when we stand before God after we die we will be welcomed into the presence of God on the basis of the work of His Son Jesus Christ. After He died He was buried in a tomb and on the third day He rose from the grave and eventually ascended to heaven to the right hand of God thus triumphing over the power of death for us so that we who are found in Jesus can hope to triumph over death and live eternally with Him! What a great God!! All those who believe this… who believe in Christ’s atoning work on their behalf and repent of their sins will be saved. We do not work to merit favor with God any longer… but we rest in the Son, trusting that what He has done is sufficient for us! THIS IS THE GOSPEL.
In summary, God made us, and instead of finding our joy and satisfaction in Him we broke His commands and decided that our way was better. We try and try to get back to God by trying to earn favor with Him using our own methods. We deserve hell and God would be perfectly just in letting us go there but instead God was pleased to send Jesus to be a ransom for His people. He was sinless and yet suffered, died, and was buried. He rose again three days later and conquered death for us. Through repentance from sin and faith toward God we are saved on the basis of Christ’s substitutionary work.
Repent of all your wickedness and place your faith in Christ for salvation today!
