The Gospel
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
The Gospel is the good news that God saves us, through Jesus, for all eternity.
God created us to be with Him. In the beginning, God created all things good. We were made in the image of God with dignity, value, and worth. We were also made to live in a harmonious relationship with God, each other, and with the world around us. This is the way the world is supposed to be. (Genesis 1-2)
Our sins separate us from God. Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve's decision to turn away from God in disobedience, giving into the temptation to walk their own path and trust in themselves instead of in Him. Since then all of humanity has inherited the same nature. All sin arises from choosing to abandon trust in God to turn to something else for the sake of our comfort, safety, fulfillment, or sense of relationship. (Genesis 3)
Sin cannot be removed by good deeds. From the beginning humanity has attempted to remove the stain of sin through good deeds. But no amount of sacrifice, charity, or hard work can remove the debt that we owe to God for what we have done. We continually sin by word, thought, and deed. This sinful nature harms both us, and the people around us. It sets us up as enemies of God Himself. As the story of the Old Testament shows us, there is no answer for the problem of sin other than Salvation in Jesus Christ alone!
Acts 4:11-12 states: This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Paying the price for sins, Jesus died and rose again. In the person of Jesus Christ, God became a man. He lived the perfect and sinless life that we should have lived, and died the shameful death on the cross -in our place, for our sins!- that we all deserved to die, so that we could be made right with God. He has fully done what no man could do and has canceled the record of debt against us, saving us through his sacrificial death on the cross. Then he rose from death after three days and later ascended into heaven, where he has prepared a place for those who trust in Him. (Matthew-Luke)
Everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ alone will have eternal life. God freely offers the gift of forgiveness and relationship to all those who place their trust in Jesus, and who in so doing, reverse the sin of Adam and Eve to trust in themselves rather than in God. By this trust, and faith, we surrender to Jesus as the center of our lives, and trust in his way over our own, we believe in Him above all other things. When we do this, God welcomes into a living relationship with Him which extends into a new life after death. (John)
Life with Jesus starts now. The life that God provides to all who trust in Him, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is radical and transforming. By sending the Holy Spirit to renew us from within, He changes us in areas that we wouldn't have the power to change in and of ourselves. (John 3:16)
Through His Living Word, the Bible, God gives us perfect instructions for life as we move forward. By giving us faith and hope, we receive new joy and a more godly perspective. At the same time, He gives us true purpose in this life and unmitigated hope for the next. (Acts-Revelation)