Galloway Christian Centre
What is the Gospel ?
The word gospel simply means good news. Good news comes in many forms, and we are generally pleased to hear it. A baby being born, an unexpected free gift, the canceling of an over due debt, the list could be endless. The reaction we have to these changes in circumstances is pretty much universal; relief, gratitude, joy. One piece of good news can make our day, change our outlook, and enable us to carry on through the grind with a smile on our faces.
The good news about Jesus Christ is similar, only much, much better. To understand why we need this gospel, or good news, we have to be realistic about who and what we are.
Sadly, the human cause is a lost one. It sounds very harsh, and we may disagree with that statement, but only when we are in our most optimistic moods.
Yes we have a lot of potential, but any mess that we find our selves in, whether it’s spiritual, physical or emotional is usually our doing.
The problem arises out of selfishness, a blight that affects every person on the planet. It causes lies to be told, things to be stolen and even wars to be fought.
We are also fundamentally incapable of doing the right thing without prompting and wholly capable of doing the wrong thing without the slightest encouragement.
You may say that it all sounds rather depressing or even damning. Well, sadly yes. The bible says that” the wages of sin is death….” That means that the aging process catches up with us and then, because of the choices we have made during mortality, we are unable to be with almighty God for eternity. Sin separates us from God!
No one else’s sin, but our sin, the selfishness that emanates from our own hearts, the self centeredness that is expressed through our own lives.
Wonderfully, this is where the good news, the gospel, comes in.
Our creator, God himself came to earth to save us. Not from an enemy, or from some terrible galactic threat, but from ourselves. We are our own worst enemies, and Jesus Christ came with a rescue plan.
He knew, and knows that we couldn’t and can’t make any sacrifice, or pay any price to redeem our lives from the mess that we have put ourselves in. So, before the foundation of the world was laid, he made a choice to pay the price of our sin. Not with gold or silver, or even hard cash, but with a currency that would flow out of his own veins - his blood.
Jesus’ crucifixion has been well documented, but it’s meaning is often lost. The images we see of Jesus induce us to feel sorry for him. But it was he that felt sorry for us. Each drop of blood that ran down that cross flowed in payment for our sin. It was the single biggest debt repayment the world has ever seen, and the one who paid it was not the one in trouble!
The reality is that we don’t deserve it, and we can’t pay Jesus back, it was and it is an unexpected free gift, an act of gracious redemption.
Yes the bible states that “the wages of sin is death…” but it goes on to say that
“..the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
As with any gift that is freely given, all we have to do is to accept it, accept that God the Father will forgive every sin that we have ever committed because God the son died in our place.
Forgiveness however, is only the starting point. The bible talks about the gift of life. And eternal life starts when we accept that Jesus Christ is our Lord and savior; savior because he has saved us from ourselves and Lord because we choose to follow him. Whichever way he leads us, we will go. What ever he asks us to do we do it out of our devotion as opposed to duty.
The big question that comes out of the gospel story is not whether it’s true or not, but whether we accept it or not. To accept Gods free gift to us we first have to realistically acknowledge that our eternity hangs in the balance by the threads of our own poor choices. Heaven is not guaranteed by having been baptized as a baby or by going to Church. Eternity with our Heavenly Father is only assured if we are forgiven, not by being religious.
It is only through Jesus and his blood that our sin can be removed, allowing us to come before a Holy God.
If we accept this good news, we accept our need to change. We accept our need for forgiveness for all the wrong we have done. Accepting the good news means accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, obeying his command to both believe and to be baptized. Accepting the good news means receiving the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to live a life in Christ.
So, the question remains, what will it take for you to accept the gospel?