What Is The Gospel?
The gospel is the true story about Jesus Christ, His life, death and resurrection. Recorded by four different men (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the gospel message is simply this: God (Jesus Christ) came into the world, was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life and died on the cross for our sins and rose from death, to offer us salvation. All we have to do to receive eternal life is repent from our sins and place our faith in Jesus. The word "gospel" literally means good news, and that is exactly what it is! Let’s look a little closer...
- Jesus lived a perfect life. This does not mean that everything was perfect for Him or that He was very wealthy or something like that. It means that while Jesus was here, He did not sin. He, himself, was perfect by nature, unlike anyone else.
- Jesus was born of a virgin. This is a very important event for us to understand as it is another one of the facts that sets Jesus apart from any other person. The importance of the virgin birth is twofold. First, it was prophesied. The prophet Isaiah said that the Savior would be born of a virgin about 600 B.C. (Isaiah 7:14). The prophet Daniel also told us the exact time He would be born (Daniel 9:24-27). The prophet Micah tells us that He would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). The Old Testament, which gives us these prophecies, was written way before Jesus was born to let us know who the Savior would be. Second, the importance of Jesus being born of a virgin is to understand the curse on the offspring of man: that we are all born with a sin nature. In Genesis 3, we have the record of the first man created, Adam, committing the first sin by disobeying God. As a consequence of Adam’s rebellion or original sin, death entered the world. All of his descendents are now corrupted by sin, except Jesus! As stated in our first point above, Jesus - God in the flesh - was completely without sin even in the manner of his very conception, being born of a virgin! He was the Son of God, not the seed of Adam.
- Jesus was crucified, and rose from the dead. You might ask, “If He was God, why didn’t He save himself? Didn’t He have the power?” He is God and He most certainly could have escaped from His death on the cross! Even so, it was not simply the will of men that put Jesus on the cross, but His love for them. Unlike any person in history, He rose again to display His divine power.
You see, the Bible teaches that the only payment for sin is death; not just death here on earth, but an eternity in hell. God does not want us to die and go to hell, He wants us to spend an eternity with Him in Paradise. The problem is that because of our sin nature, we are separated from God. Without a payment for our sins we would all be cast into hell. However, because Jesus came and conquered death by dyeing for us and rising again on the third day, all we have to do to escape the punishment that is rightfully ours is repent for our sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we will be saved. Romans 5:8 tells us that God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us! God came down and went through all of life’s trials, and temptations, even death itself, just because of His love for us. He desires to spend eternity with you. There is nothing we can do to earn this salvation. God has made it a free gift to anyone who believes. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life…” Won’t you accept God’s priceless and precious offer of salvation? All you have to do is confess your sins to God, ask for forgiveness and let the blood of Jesus Christ cover your sins.
If you just asked God to forgive your sins and placed your faith in Jesus, please send us an email using the link below. We would love to pray for you and answer any questions you might have about your new relationship with Him. God Bless! salvation@embracegodstruth.com