The Gospel
The Gospel literally means “good news.” Its not just any good news though, its the greatest news in the universe! Its the good news that God has made a way through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to redeem and restore all of creation back to Himself!
Even though the Gospel is old, it doesn’t mean its old news. Jesus is alive today, and through the power of the gospel He is transforming lives, restoring real hope, and redeeming His creation.
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15)
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16)
In one sense, the gospel can be understood in a simple condensed form -
God is holy and created people to live in relationship with him, but we have all turned from God in our own way. Our sin has separated us from God, and the wages of our sin is death. Jesus came to save us by taking on all of our punishment for sin by dying on the cross in our place, so that whoever trusts in Him for the forgiveness of their sins, can have the free gift of eternal life with God, adopted into His family forever.
But the Gospel can also be understood in its more full form. The Gospel is all about Jesus, and its the Bible that tells His story.
The Bible is not just a list of rules to obey, stories to be inspired by, or morals by which to live your life. Really the whole of the Bible is telling the incredible true story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can think of this divine drama through 4 major acts: Creation, Rebellion, Redemption, Restoration.
Act 1: Creation
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11)
Genesis 1-2
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God, the main character of this story, is the personal, all-powerful being who made everything that exists. He is the true ruler of the universe — lovingly providing for all that is under His care.
Then God created people, saying, “Let us make man in our image.” The first humans were created and placed in a perfect garden where they could enjoy the good reign of this God. This was the incredible purpose God made people for - to have a real, special relationship with Him, one where He gets the glory, and we get the joy as we live for Him and in His ways.
This was not the end of God’s relationship with His creation, but rather it was only the beginning. Each day God would come down in the cool of the day and talk with Adam and Eve, showing them how to live under His good reign. Adam and Eve were able to enjoy both the goodness and greatness of their Creator and His creation. They worked faithfully in the garden, cultivating it and developing its potential to bring glory to God. They lived in perfect harmony in their relationships with God, His world, and each other. This truly was a good Kingdom!
SUMMARY
God is the ruler of the world.
He made the world.
He made us for a special relationship with Him, one where He gets the glory, and we get the joy as we live for Him and in His ways.
This is how God created things to be. But it’s fairly obvious that this is not our experience of the world now. What happened?
Act 2: Rebellion
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way…” (Isaiah 53:6a)
Genesis 3 - Malachi
When God created people, He gave them the freedom to trust Him and choose His ways, or not to. God made it clear to Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree in the garden, except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil, warning them that if they ate it, they would surely die.
One day Adam and Eve were lied to by Satan not to trust God at His word, and trust in themselves instead. Satan said, “You won’t die if you eat of that tree! God just knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will become just like Him. You will be able to determine what is right and wrong for yourselves.” They chose to believe the lie, instead of God, and they ate.
Everything that is wrong in our lives and in the world stems from the fateful choice humanity has made - rejecting Him as God by deciding to live our own way. We all do this in our lives.
Most of the time, we simply ignore God or keep him at a distance, and get on with living our own lives. We follow our own desires and priorities, and live by the values we decide are best (whether religious, secular, or a mix of both). The common Bible word for this rebellious stance towards God is “sin,” and we all do it—whether we follow a particular religion or not.
We find ourselves in a world full of little “gods,” each of us doing things our own way, each of us selfishly trying to bend the world and other people to our own will. It’s hardly surprising it doesn’t work. Our self-rule fails and we suffer the consequences, including the damage we do to ourselves, to the people around us, and to the world we live in.
And the worst consequence of all from our sin, is that we are separated from God. Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden and God’s special presence. Our special relationship with God is broken.
One day we will all stand before God and give account to him for our lives, for the damage we have done, and for our personal rejection of him as our ruler. No amount of good deeds can make up for our rebellion against Him.
The sentence God will pass on that day will be to give us what we have asked for—which is separation from him. He will cut us off from himself permanently. And since God is the source of life and all good things, being cut off from him means a separation from all that is good, forever.
This is a terrible thing, to fall under the sentence of God’s judgment. But God didn’t leave Adam and Eve, and He doesn’t leave us, without hope.
SUMMARY
We all reject God as our ruler by running our own lives our own way.
By rebelling against God’s way, we damage ourselves, each other, and the world.
God won’t let us rebel against him forever.
God’s punishment for rebellion is death and judgment.
This is hard to hear. Its the bad news in God’s divine story. But its not where the story ends!
Act 3: Redemption
He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (Isa. 53:5)
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
Now, what you have to understand is that the story doesn’t end with the rebellion in the garden. Like any good story, there is hope. God loves the world he created, and he loves us.
He didn’t leave us to suffer the consequences of our rebellion. From Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to David and the prophets, God promised over and over again that one day He would send someone to fix all that was broken.
Because of the great love with which God loved the world, God sent His son Jesus as the promised saviour to fix the world.
Jesus began teaching people what life was like under the rule of this true King in His forever Kingdom. He not only taught people how to live in this Kingdom, but He gave them a foretaste of what the Kingdom is like:
In His Kingdom, there is no blindness. He gave sight to the blind.
In His Kingdom, there is no sickness. He healed the sick.
In His Kingdom, there is no sin. He forgave sin.
In His Kingdom, there are no marginalised. He befriended sinners.
In His Kingdom, nature is at peace. He calmed the storm.
In His Kingdom, there are no evil powers. He cast out demons.
In His Kingdom, there is no death. He raised the dead.
But Jesus came not just to teach us about God and His Kingdom, He came to save us so that we could be with God in His Kingdom. Unlike us, Jesus didn’t rebel against God. He always lived under God’s rule, giving honour and thanks to him, and obeying him in everything. He didn’t deserve God’s judgment in any way. He didn’t deserve to die.
Yet Jesus did die. Although he had the power of God to heal the sick and even raise the dead, Jesus allowed himself to be executed on a Roman cross. Why?
The extraordinary news is that Jesus died as a substitute for rebels like us. He took upon himself the judgment and punishment that we deserved, by dying on the cross in our place. Death is the punishment for rebellion, and he died our death.
All this is completely undeserved by us. We rejected God, but because of his great love, God sent his Son to die for us!
But that’s not all. God accepted Jesus’ death as payment in full for our sins, and raised him from the dead! Jesus defeated death, and rose up to be the living, ruling, saviour and King.
Because of his death in our place, Jesus now offers to forgive all our sins. They’ve already been paid for. This salvation is a free gift, but its a gift that needs to be accepted.
For anyone that chooses to trust Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins, God now counts them 100% forgiven, righteous, loved. We can now make a fresh start with God, no longer as rebels but as loyal friends, giving all thanks and honour to him.
SUMMARY
Because of his love, God sent his Son into the world: the man Jesus Christ.
Jesus always lived under God’s rule.
But Jesus took our punishment by dying in our place.
God raised Jesus to life again as the ruler and judge of the world.
Jesus has conquered death, now brings forgiveness and new life, and will return in glory.
But the news get’s even better!
Act 4: Restoration
“He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5)
Acts - Revelation
The gospel isn’t about just avoiding judgement, its God’s plan to renew things as they were meant to be. In this new life that Jesus offers,
God himself comes to live within us by his Spirit. We can experience the joy of a new relationship with God, just like we were designed to.
God’s Spirit teaches us about who God is, by giving all of us understanding of the Bible, not just certain people.
God gives us freedom from the bondage of sin and the power to say yes to God’s ways instead.
God adopts us into His family as sons and daughters.
God loves us with the same love as Jesus.
God invites us into His plan to redeem the world with the gospel.
God gives us a spiritual family to belong to in the church.
God gives us the guaranteed future hope of a forever life with Him.
This is so much more than “religion”. This is restored life, joy, peace, hope and purpose found in Christ alone. But still, the good news isn’t done yet.
The time we live in now we call the already and not yet. We can “already” have a restored relationship with Jesus, but we are “not yet” in a fully restored world. We still sin, and are sinned against. We still lose the people we love. But one day, that will come to an end too.
One day Jesus will return — not just as the sacrificial Lamb that was slain, but as the conquering Lion. Jesus will return for one final battle where He will finally and fully defeat Satan and the powers of darkness.
Then Jesus will judge every person. Those who decided to choose death, who rebelled against God’s rule and never repented, will be cast away, forever missing out on God’s renewed creation that is to come. Those who were a part of the redeemed community, who the blood of Jesus had redeemed, will spend forever with Him in what is to come.
And God tells us about it in the last book of the Bible. He let one of twelve disciples, John, see the new heavens and new earth. John saw a picture of creation restored! He saw everything bad come undone:
He saw all the effects of the curse, reversed.
All the twisting of God’s original intention, untwisted.
All the tears, wiped away.
Death, no more.
No mourning, no crying, no pain.
All the false idols, false gods, and false saviours, given up to forever worship the true Saviour.
He saw a picture of eternity. There were no clouds, no harps, no vague other-worldliness.
There was a King.
There was a renewed creation.
There were people from every tribe, tongue, and nation bowing down and living their lives in worship to King Jesus.
This is the incredible news of the gospel. God has made a way through Jesus, to restore all of creation back to Himself!
SUMMARY
Because of the risen Jesus, we can have new restored life.
We can have a restored relationship with God.
We are brought near God again by His Spirit living in us.
Jesus will come again, defeat satan and judge the world.
For God’s redeemed community, we will spend forever with God in His recreated world.
Response
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. (John 3:36)
The gospel is incredible news, but its also an invitation. Its an invitation God extends not for the best of mankind, or the most religious. Its an invitation for anyone who sees their need for Jesus and cries out for Him. Its an invitation that requires a response. There are two ways we can choose to respond to God’s invitation. We can choose to continue living life our way, or we can choose God’s new way.
Our way
reject God as ruler
live our own way
damaged by our rebellion
facing death and judgment
God’s new way
submit to Jesus as our ruler
rely on Jesus’ death and resurrection
forgiven by God
receive a new life that lasts forever
Maybe you’re hearing this good news, and you’re not ready to say yes to God’s invitation. If so, please think carefully and do some further investigation before moving on. The stakes are too high to reject this message without being sure. Perhaps you could read about Jesus for yourself in one of the four biographies of his life contained in the New Testament—the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Even better, we would love to do this with you! Please reach out to us and we will gladly find a way to meet with you to open up God’s Word together. (If you don’t have a Bible go to biblica.com/bible)
However, if you are hearing this good news and you want to say yes to God’s invitation, responding is simple.
1. Talk to God
The first thing to do is simply to talk to God. Admit to him that you have rebelled against him and deserve punishment, and ask him for forgiveness on the basis of Jesus’ death in your place. Ask God to help you change from being a rebel to being someone who lives with Jesus as their ruler. You could pray something like this:
Dear God,
I know that I am not worthy to be accepted by you. I don’t deserve your gift of eternal life. I am guilty of rebelling against you and ignoring you. I’m sorry, and I need your forgiveness.
Thank you for sending your Son to die for me so that I may be forgiven. Thank you that he rose from the dead to give me new life.
Please forgive me and change me, so that I may live with Jesus as my ruler. Amen.
2. Submit to Jesus
The second step follows naturally on from the first. Having prayed the sort of prayer above, you will want to start putting it into practice—that is, actually living with Jesus as your ruler.
There will be all kinds of areas in your life that need to change. There will be old rebellious habits to get rid of (like greed, anger, selfishness, and so on), and some new God-honoring ones to take on (like generosity, kindness, love, and patience).
This second step will go on for the rest of your life, but God will be with you all the way. He’ll keep speaking to you through your reading of his word, the Bible; he’ll keep listening to you and helping you as you pray to him; he’ll empower you by his Spirit, who lives within you, to change and to live his way.
But you aren’t made to do this alone! God saves us into a new family. The Christian life needs to be lived out with God’s people - the church. Learning to submit to Jesus in all of life requires being a part of a community of God’s people.
3. Trust Jesus
The third step is also ongoing. You need to keep putting your trust in the right place.
It’s only because of Jesus (and his death and resurrection) that you can be forgiven and put right with God. You’ll need to keep coming back to this again and again, because as you start to live God’s new way, you will still fail and do the wrong thing. We all do. We all need to keep looking to the death of Jesus on the cross as the only grounds for our forgiveness.
We must never stop relying on him—and him alone—as the means by which we are forgiven and given eternal life.
This again is what God’s family is for. God’s design is for the church to be the people you walk out your faith with. We are disciples of Jesus, who help disciple one another to become more like Jesus. If you live in or around Oranmore, we would love to connect with you and see you experience God’s community here.
Partial content credited to saturatetheworld.com and twowaystolive.com
Please contact us if you’re interested in hearing more about the gospel, reading the Bible, or connecting with our church.
church@oranmorecommunitychurch.ie