The Gospel of Jesus Christ

By Dane Gardow

The word gospel means good news, but you'll never understand why it's good news until you first realize there's exceedingly bad news that you'll to have to come to grips with. If you are unwilling to consider and confess as true the bad news, then you are unworthy of hearing the good news.

What You Must Know About Yourself

You have fallen into sin and broken God's law. God's word says you are abominable and filthy in His eyes, drinking iniquity (sin) like water. You've broken every commandment and never done anything except sin against Him. Even your righteous deeds have been wicked in His eyes, and your prayers have been an abomination to Him. God's word declares that by nature you have been a child of wrath and that God's wrath, not His love, abides on you.

Romans 3:23; Job 15:16; Isaiah 64:6; Proverbs 28:9; Ephesians 2:3; John 3:36

What You Must Know About God

God, who created all things, is a holy God of justice and is of purer eyes than to look upon evil. He is separate and pure from sin and lawlessness, and has established His law and demands justice to be served on those who break it. He loves all that is right and good, but intensely hates and is offended at every sin. The Bible says God even hates all evildoers and is angry with them every day. Now, God does not hate out of an evil heart like we do; unlike us, He remains perfect in expressing holy hatred toward those who reject Him.

Psalm 5:5-6; Psalm 7:11-12 (NKJV)

What You Must Know About God's Justice

The justice of God demands sin to be punished. The consequence for sin is death. The death we know of where the heart stops beating and the body rots in the grave is merely the physical result of death. Death is everlasting destruction in Hell, which is where God punishes those who have sinned against Him forever. It is everlasting because the price of sin is so great that we can never pay it; a sin against an eternal God results in an eternal consequence. All who are found guilty of just one sin will be cast into Hell. All it takes is one sin, and yet we are guilty of an endless amount of sin each and every day. The measure of our sins is filling up and the wrath of Almighty God is awaiting us.

Romans 6:23; Ezekiel 18:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:14; 21:8; James 2:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:16

There is Hope for You Only in Jesus Christ

Here is the blessed good news of the gospel—God is a God of justice but He is also full of love and mercy; and instead of punishing all mankind for their sins in Hell like we deserve, at great cost to Himself He decided to reach out to us in mercy and offer us hope of salvation in His Son. Out of His great love and pity for mankind, God came to this corrupt world through the womb of a virgin as the man Jesus Christ, and He lived a perfectly sinless life. He was cursed, beaten, and nailed to a cross. While He hung on that cross, after all His people's sins were placed on Him, the wrath of God—His holy hatred and justice—consumed Him in fury in order to punish the sins of His people in Him. The Son of God had to be slaughtered by His own Father in order to save His people. Christ's death shows that God didn't just let sin go unpunished, but that He takes it very seriously.

Jesus Christ rose from the dead three days later, conquering death, sin, and Hell. His resurrection proved that He was indeed perfectly sinless and that God accepted His sacrifice for sins. He ascended to Heaven and sat down at the right hand of His Father and has been given authority over all heaven and earth. God has appointed Him as the King of glory and has appointed a day on which He will judge the world for its sins and bring an end to unrighteousness.

1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:10; Matthew 27:46; Acts 10:42; 17:31

What You Must Do

God commands all men everywhere to repent of their sins, turn to God, and believe in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Come to Him and flee from the wrath to come! To repent is to turn away from everything in your life that goes against God's will, including your works, words, and thoughts. Stop fighting against God! Fall down before Him and stop trying to justify yourself and think you're good enough. Admit your wickedness before a holy God, your helplessness to do anything to please Him, and trust in nothing except what Christ has done. If you come to Christ, repenting of your sins and believing in Him, you will be saved. It doesn't matter what you've done, and you don't have to clean up your life first, just come to Him now and He will change you. All your sins will be washed away. And not only will He take away all your sins, He will also give you His own righteousness through the work and merit of Jesus Christ His Son! Come to Him, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and He will give you rest for your souls.

Mark 1:15; Acts 17:30; Luke 13:3; Matthew 11:28-29

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