The Gospel Message Explained

What is “The Gospel”

One person defined it as “good, merry, glad and joyful tidings, that makes a man's heart glad and makes him sing, dance and leap for joy.”

Must of us can relate to this definition. At least we may have had news come to us that filled us with gladness, made us laugh and perhaps even jump for you. But, “The Gospel is more specific than just any good news that makes us happy.

Another person defines The Gospel as “the joyous proclamation of God's redemptive activity in Christ Jesus on behalf of humans enslaved by sin.”

This is a little more specific. It talks about God's redemptive activity, about Jesus performing that activity and about humans and sin. There is a reason The Gospel is considered “Good News.” It addresses a huge problem in a perfectly effective way.

Isa 60:1-2 – While they were captives in Babylon, God told the Jews,

Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness will cover the earth
And deep darkness the peoples
But the Lord will rise upon you
And His glory will appear upon you.

The “Good News” addressed a difficult, consuming problem. The people were in darkness, banging and stumbling in the night and they were told that the glory of the Lord, a great and brilliant light was coming over them and bringing light into their lives.

We have all had dark nights in our lives. Periods of great disappointment, sorrow, shame, regret, dispair, hopelessness, consuming depression and God says, “Arise, shine: for your light has come.”

But “The Gospel” is even more specific than just turning our darkness into light and sorrow into rejoicing. The darkness is only symbolic of a real problem that feeds the darkness and gives it its power over you.

Luke 4:18-19 – Jesus said,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
Because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind
To set free those who are oppressed
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

That sounds like good news, but how does it apply to you and me? Am I poor, captive, blind, and oppressed? The answer to that question is “Yes” on all counts.

These words describe more clearly our darkness. Our problem is that we cannot escape our darkness for our darkness is a result of our own nature and action. Our darkness is caused by our sin.

Our Problem

Isaiah 53:6 - “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way....”

Rom 3:10-12

as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”

Eph 4:18 – says all people are “darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.”

We have turned away from God, we do not seek God, we do not do good, and our heart's are hardened. Therefore we are excluded from the life of God. I can think of no poorer man than the man who is excluded from the life of God.

1 Cor 2:14 - “But a natural man does not accept the things of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritual appraised.”

It is not just that we won't accept God, the Bible tells us that because of our sin nature, our natural inclination to reject God, we cannot accept God.

The result of this is that we are held captive by our sin; it enslaves us; we can't get away from it or overcome it. Therefore we are held captive by death for the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). God is a just God and must deal with sin justly.

I truly am poor for I do not have the life of God, I am captive because sin and death enslave me, I am blind because I cannot my own captivity or the God that I have rejected, and I am oppressed by a devil who hates me and wants to keep me in my darkness.

But there is hope!

God's Solution

“The Gospel” applies to me in that I need it, but how is it possible, how can I be released, given sight and relieved from oppression?

Isa 53:6 – “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity (the sin) of us all to fall on him (Jesus).”

That sin that enslaves and makes my death and separation from God for all eternity a necessity: God puts it on Christ and Christ pays the debt for it. That is what it means to be redeemed – to be bought back – in this case Christ, by dying for us, he buys us back from or out of our enslavement to sin and death.

Rom 3:24 says that God in Christ justifies us – makes us right before God – the result of this is that we are no longer separated from the life of God, instead, we are included in God's life, and therefore, we are no longer in darkness, for our light (Christ Jesus) has come.

How does this work of God get applied to me?

Rom 3:24 – it is a gift given to us by God's grace

Rom 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Rom 3:28 – We are not justified by our works – we are justified by our faith in the work of Christ, i.e. His death, burial and resurrection – his redemption of me from my enslavement to sin and death, his payment of my debt to God, his acceptance of my just penalty for my sin.

Acts 2:37-39 – When confronted with the exact same message by Peter, the people in Jerusalem

were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

What should you do?

This is simple – Jesus said, and I will say it.

Matt 1:15 - The time is fulfilled – now is the time – the Kingdom of God is at hand – Christ is coming soon – Repent – turn away from your sin – and believe in the gospel – trust in the work of God in Christ to redeem you from your captivity and to give you new sight and new hope.

Posted via email from Taking Heaven by Storm