What is the Gospel?

‘Gospel’ means “Good News”. The question is, what’s the good news?

It doesn’t take long, if you look around, to discover that this world is a difficult place. Daily we experience problems. Perhaps its perpetual pain, whether physical or emotional. Perhaps its experience loss, the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of a relationship. Perhaps its just looking around at the disease, the suffering, the violence, and the hatred in the world around us.

The reality is that this world is broken, the people are broken, you are broken.

This brokenness is seen in every human, that has ever lived…ever. And the most frustrating part is that no matter how good intentioned, how talented, how passionate, or how motivated humans are, we can’t fix it.

The Good News.

The Good News is that, despite no human being able to fix it, there is a fix. God.

Everything that is painful or wrong with this world is the result of humans doing what humans do. We are not capable of perfection, at least not on our own.

But in our weakness, and in our brokenness, God sent a solution, His Son.

God saw the world, its awfulness, its brokenness, and its problems, and He was heartbroken. So He sent His Son. Jesus came to be different, to live different, and to accomplish something no human could.

Jesus came and lived among humanity for 33 years. In that time, He never sinned nor was part of the problem. He was setting the stage for the answer. You see, every time someone does something wrong, it puts separation between us and God. He created us to be with Him, close to Him, and live perfectly. But we keep failing, and each wrong decision puts us farther away. So Jesus came to take all of those wrong decision, all of that pain, all of that brokenness, and all of that sin, and take the punishment for us. He knew our brokenness has a consequence, and He knew we couldn’t bear it, so He came to take it in our place.

Jesus gave Himself as the perfect, complete, and final sacrifice.  He died as a result of sin....not His own, but ours.  Then, on the 3rd day of being in the grave, He rose from the dead.  When His followers went to the grave, it was empty, because even sin and death does not have power over Jesus.  He died, and rose again, giving us the hope of new life, full life, eternal life through Him.

Jesus came, died, and rose again, so that we can live….that’s the Good News, that’s the Gospel.

Our way back to God, and ultimately, our way to live in hope, peace, and love, is to let Jesus’ sacrifice be enough. God only requires that we acknowledge our failures, acknowledge that we can’t pay the price, and ask that He allow Christ’s sacrifice to cover our failures. 

From our response to what Jesus did, we have hope, we find life…new life…lasting life. Although this world will always have trouble (since there are still those apart from God), we have hope. We know that we can still experience peace, joy, love, and real Life in Him. Our joy comes from Him, not our circumstances. Our peace comes from being at peace with God, our love comes from His act of love in taking our punishment. Our life comes from His death and resurrection.   

We also have great hope…not that this world will just become better, but that in the end, Jesus will come back and get rid of all the brokenness, wickedness, and those who perpetrate it…and He will establish a new world, a new kingdom, an eternal place of perfection for Him and those who love Him.

Through Jesus, there will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more brokenness…that’s Good News. That’s the Gospel.

If you have never talked with God about this, or asked Him to take your mistakes and make you new through the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection, please do. It’s a life changing commitment that now only changes your past, but will radically change your future.

Click Here to contact a pastor who will help you understand the Good News for yourself, and will direct you back to the God that Created you, and traded the splendor of Heaven to bring you back.