What is the Gospel?

Many have heard this word used in reference to a style of music or within some kind of church event, but often people have a hard time understanding what the Gospel is and how it relates to our lives. The Gospel simply means good news, and the message of the Gospel is so good that it should be shared with all people. Its not good news like you get to leave work early today or good news like you get to grade your own homework. The message of the Gospel is lifealtering good news that speaks to issues of life and death, to heaven and hell, and ultimately to our relationship with the God who created all things. The foundation of this message is the Bible. The Bible is Gods word to mankind, and it reveals the truth about who we are, who God is, and why we have been created.

7 Key truths to understandinG the Gospel 1. God is eternal. he created heaven and earth and everythinG in them, includinG everythinG seen and unseen. 2. God has revealed to us Who he is. 3. all of humanity has sinned before a holy God. 4. everyone Will stand before God. 5. there is nothinG We can do to be made riGht With God. 6. God sent Jesus to maKe a Way for us to be made riGht With him. 7. salvation is available for you!

Key truth #1 God is eternal. he created heaven and earth and everythinG in them, includinG everythinG seen and unseen.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. acts 14:15b We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.

What does this mean?

God, our Creator, has always existed. He has no beginning and no end. God is alive. He isnt just an idea, but He simply spoke and created the world and the universe we live in. Because God has created all things, He also owns all things and, ultimately, He is the one who will judge the world.

7 Key truths to understandinG the Gospel 1. God is eternal. he created heaven and earth and everythinG in them, includinG everythinG seen and unseen. 2. God has revealed to us Who he is. 3. all of humanity has sinned before a holy God. 4. everyone Will stand before God. 5. there is nothinG We can do to be made riGht With God. 6. God sent Jesus to maKe a Way for us to be made riGht With him. 7. salvation is available for you!

Key truth #2 God has revealed to us Who he is.

1 peter 1:15-16 But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy. psalm 11:7 For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face. psalm 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; lovingkindness and truth go before You. 1 John 4:8b For God is love.

What does this mean?

These are just a few of Gods attributes. God has revealed Himself in a certain way so that we can know who He is. For example: God is unchanging. God is timeless and does not change. This means we cannot just make up who we want Him to be, like an imaginary creature. If someone said that the four-time NBA world champion Shaquille ONeal was actually a four-foot-tall woman who likes to knit, someone could say that, but it wouldnt be true. In the same way, God is who He is apart from what we believe about Himjust like Shaquille ONeal is who he is apart from what we believe about him. Malachi 3:6b For I, the LORD, do not change. God is love. That means everything God does is loving. God is righteous. Everything God does is right. Unlike us, God never gives in to sin. God is holy. This means that God is set apart from evil. God is pure. He cannot tolerate sin. Habakkuk 1:13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil. God is the judge of the world. Most of us have heard someone say, You shouldnt judge others, and that is correct. The reason we should not go around passing judgment on others is because God is the ultimate judgethe one all of us must stand before to give an account of how we lived our lives.

7 Key truths to understandinG the Gospel 1. God is eternal. he created heaven and earth and everythinG in them, includinG everythinG seen and unseen. 2. God has revealed to us Who he is. 3. all of humanity has sinned before a holy God. 4. everyone Will stand before God. 5. there is nothinG We can do to be made riGht With God. 6. God sent Jesus to maKe a Way for us to be made riGht With him. 7. salvation is available for you!

Key truth #3 all of humanity has sinned before a holy God.

romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. isaiah 53:6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left Gods paths to follow our own.

What does this mean?

If the Gospel means good news then there must be bad news. Well, here is the bad news: People are created in the image of God, but because of sin, we have been separated from God. Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death Adam and Eve rejected God and sinned against Him. All of Adam and Eves descendants have followed in their footsteps and have chosen to reject God by knowing what is right and choosing to do what is wrong.

Questions to consider
Have you ever lied or been dishonest? Have you ever taken something that wasnt yours? Even something small? Have you ever had lustful thoughts? Have you ever hated anyone? Have you ever been sexually involved with someone who wasnt your spouse?

reality

All of us have, at times, known what is right and done what is sinful. This sin produces separation from God. Heres a picture of this separation: Imagine God is a huge forest fire and we are a tiny ice cube. Distance is put between God and humanity because of our sin. This means we cannot be in the presence of God. In the same way, a tiny ice cube cannot be close to a forest fire and survive.

7 Key truths to understandinG the Gospel 1. God is eternal. he created heaven and earth and everythinG in them, includinG everythinG seen and unseen. 2. God has revealed to us Who he is. 3. all of humanity has sinned before a holy God. 4. everyone Will stand before God. 5. there is nothinG We can do to be made riGht With God. 6. God sent Jesus to maKe a Way for us to be made riGht With him. 7. salvation is available for you!

Key truth #4 everyone Will stand before God. What happens When We die?
There are many ideas about what happens when we die. Some people think we simply wont exist, some people think we will sit on clouds playing harps, some people think we turn into animals or other people. The Bible is very clear about what happens when we die.

revelation 20:12 I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before Gods throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. hebrews 4:13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

What does this mean?

Death is a reality that everyone must deal with. Its easy to acknowledge the reality of death, but its also easy to subconsciously think that death is for someone else. As a result, we spend the majority of our time, money, and energy setting up our life just the way we want it to be without giving significant thought to what happens when we die. Psalm 39:4 Show me, LORD, my lifes end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. When we understand our end, it gives us perspective on this life.

We Will stand before God

There is coming a day when you will stand before God, the God who made heaven and earth, and you will give an account for everything you have ever done. Every thought, every deed, every word, every secret thing, every hidden thing, and every motivation will be exposed in the presence of a holy God. These things will be judged by Gods law. Those who are right with God will spend eternity in heaven. Those who die in their sin will spend eternity in a place called hell.

Questions to consider:

If God were to judge you according to what you have done, would you be innocent or guilty? If you are guilty before a just God, should you go to heaven or hell?

bad news continued...

7 Key truths to understandinG the Gospel 1. God is eternal. he created heaven and earth and everythinG in them, includinG everythinG seen and unseen. 2. God has revealed to us Who he is. 3. all of humanity has sinned before a holy God. 4. everyone Will stand before God. 5. there is nothinG We can do to be made riGht With God. 6. God sent Jesus to maKe a Way for us to be made riGht With him. 7. salvation is available for you!

Key truth #5 there is nothinG We can do to be made riGht With God.

isaiah 64:6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

What does this mean?

There are many myths about how to be made right with God: I just need to be a good person. I am a good person; I just need to be a little better. I need to stop drinking or sleeping around. I need to start going to church. I need to believe in God, feel sorry for my sins, and read my Bible. These are all myths. They will never make us right with God.

picture this

Imagine you are a police officer who pulls someone over for clearly running a red light. Imagine the driver does these four things: 1. Admits his guilt. 2. Feels really sorry for running the red light. 3. Explains that at the previous 10 red lights, he did what was right and stopped. 4. Claims that on the basis of doing the right thing and stopping at the previous 10 red lights, he should not get a ticket. What would you do if you were a police officer who wanted to uphold the law? You would tell him that stopping at the previous 10 red lights does not mean he is innocent of committing a crime. He would still deserve a ticket. In the same way, God cannot overlook our sin. In other words, our crime (sin) is against God and doing good doesnt mean were innocent. Since God is holy, righteous, and just, He cannot tolerate sin. Sin must be punished in order for God to be just. If a judge always lets criminals go free without paying any penalty, the judge would be removed because the he or she would not be executing justice. Likewise, if God didnt deal with our sin, if He just swept our sin under the rug, then He would cease to be just.

but the Good news starts here...

7 Key truths to understandinG the Gospel 1. God is eternal. he created heaven and earth and everythinG in them, includinG everythinG seen and unseen. 2. God has revealed to us Who he is. 3. all of humanity has sinned before a holy God. 4. everyone Will stand before God. 5. there is nothinG We can do to be made riGht With God. 6. God sent Jesus to maKe a Way for us to be made riGht With him. 7. salvation is available for you!

Key truth #6 God sent Jesus to maKe a Way for us to be made riGht With him.
John 14:6 Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. 1 John 3:5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

What does this mean?

This is the Good News! God sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins. John 3:16-17 God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Motivated by love, God sent Jesus, who was fully God and became fully man, to the world. Jesus lived a perfect life and never sinned; all He did was righteous and good. Then Jesus voluntarily took on the sin of the world. Took on the sin of the world? Heres the idea: God says that whenever there is sin, it must be punished by death. In the Old Testament, God set up a substitutionary system where the innocent could pay for the guilty. They would take an innocent lamb and kill the lamb as if the lamb had committed the sin. The lamb would die, and the person would go free. The innocent would die for the guilty. It may seem brutal to kill an innocent creature, but sin is very serious in the eyes of a holy God. God sees all the pain and devastation that comes from the sin in the world. All the evil in the worldbroken homes, adultery, lying, stealing, pornography, human trafficking, greed, jealously, and selfishnessis the result of sin. God sees all the sin in the world and says, Justice must be done. The justice of God is a wonderful thing. As humans, we love justice. When we are wronged, we demand justice to be served. Imagine you have been wrongfully overcharged $200 on your cell phone bill. You would want the $200 taken off your bill. But when the tables are turned and we wrong others, we want mercy. Gods justice is impartial, meaning he doesnt play favorites. He gives us exactly what we deserve. Romans 2:11 For God does not show favoritism.

7 Key truths to understandinG the Gospel 1. God is eternal. he created heaven and earth and everythinG in them, includinG everythinG seen and unseen. 2. God has revealed to us Who he is. 3. all of humanity has sinned before a holy God. 4. everyone Will stand before God. 5. there is nothinG We can do to be made riGht With God. 6. God sent Jesus to maKe a Way for us to be made riGht With him. 7. salvation is available for you!

Key truth #7 salvation is available for you!

2 corinthians 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

What does this mean?

Gods desire is that we would enter into a relationship with Him. In order to enter into a relationship with God, our sin must be dealt with. Jesus dealt with our sin at the cross. God put the sin of the world on Jesus. What that means is that God the Father treated Jesus, His Son, as if Jesus had committed YOUR sin. He lived, he died, and he rose again. Jesus was the innocent man who was punished so we could go free! Because Jesus dealt with our sin, salvation is now available for you.

What must i do to be saved?

1. Repent of your sin Repent? Repentance is a change of mind leading to a change of heart. It is acknowledging that my sin is separating me from God and turning from my sinful ways. 2. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ Believe? Trust that Jesus finished work on the cross is sufficient to pay for your sinsand that, in Christ, you are innocent and righteous.

Mark 1:15 The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. Romans 10:9-10 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. John 3:15-16 Everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

What happens When i believe?

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Your sins are forgiven. Colossians 2:14-15 You become a child of God. John 1:12-13 You are at peace with God. Romans 5:1 You have received the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14 You have passed from death to life. John 5:24 You have the hope of heaven. Colossians 1:4-5 You are declared righteous before God. Romans 3:24

What next?

1. Tell the best Christian you know that youve repented of your sin and put your faith in Christ. 2. Read the Bible. Start in John. 3. Get involved with a local church that teaches the Bible.

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