The Gospel of Christ

The Apostle Paul states that the gospel is ‘the power of God for salvation’ in Romans 1:16. The word ‘gospel’ literally means ‘good news’ or ‘glad tidings’. The full message about sinners being reconciled to God through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross is what comprises the ‘gospel of Christ’.

The Bible gives extensive details about mankind’s fallen condition, our need to be rescued and how this rescue happens.

The Problem of Sin

In the Garden of Eden, sometime shortly after Adam and Eve were created, the serpent craftily deceived Eve. He convinced her that it was no big deal to disobey God by eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam, who was with her also ate from the tree, and their act of rebellion plunged all of humanity into a sinful state. In fact, all descendants of Adam and Eve were born with a sin nature. We inherited it from our parents and their parents and ancestors, all the way back to Adam and Eve. That makes us all sinners. The Bible is right when it says, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” in Romans 3:23.

The word ‘sin’ means ‘to miss the mark’. Imagine an archer shooting arrows at a target. The intent is to hit the bullseye every time. Each arrow that doesn’t hit the bullseye is literally missing the mark. We consistently miss God’s mark. His standard is perfection (Matthew 5:48), and we’ve come up way short.

While sinning is missing the mark, there is another serious element. Sin is willful defiancy toward God. We choose to sin rather than resist temptation. We often know what is right and then make a conscious decision to side with evil.

Sinning against a holy God is serious business. Habakkuk 1:13 tells us that God is so pure and so holy that He cannot even look upon sin. He is a just and righteous judge who is indignant at sin every day (Psalm 7:11). We have offended this pure and holy and righteous God with our sin – and there are sober consequences.

God must punish sin. God does not wink at sin or sweep it under the carpet. He would cease to be just if He didn’t punish people for their sins. If someone stood before a human judge after having committed a serious crime, it would be judicial malpractice of epic proportions if the judge simply dismissed the case. The judge would lose credibililty over such an outrageous reaction to such a crime. Infinitely moreso must God be swift and severe in His judgment against people who act against Him in their sin.

The Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because we’re sinners and because God is just, He must deal with our sin appropriately. And so the consequences brought about by our sin involve our condemnation. We have a certificate of debt written up against us consisting of decrees against us that were hostile to us (Colossians 2:14). As such, unless someone intervenes, we will be cast into a real place called Hell when we die, where we are separated from God forever in outer darkness. It is a place of torment and pain and suffering which goes on forever and ever without relief. It is sobering to think that people are already there and have no hope of escape.

The Good News

But God has provided a way for us to escape this eternal damnation. The Bible outlines exactly ONE way for every person to be restored back into a right relationship with their Creator (John 14:6). God sent His one and only Son Jesus to the earth, to live a perfectly obedient life, and then die publicly on a wooden cross to bear our sins. Jesus literally stood in our place and took our punishment. Anyone who calls on the name of Jesus by faith is united with Him, and will experience the deliverance from destruction that had previously belonged to them. Jesus Christ rescues people who surrender their lives to Him, moving them from a position of danger to a position of safety. Jesus died on the cross as our substitute (2 Corinthians 5:21). The wrath of God is appeased because Jesus is an acceptable substitute. He surely is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

This is called ‘justification’. It is a legal declaration that those who’ve trusted His Son as their Savior are now innocent. God laid our sin upon Jesus and punished Him for it, while at the same time crediting Jesus’s righteousness to our account. When God looks at believers in Jesus, He doesn’t see the wretched, disfigured sinner anymore. He sees them as pure and innocent as His own Son. It is an amazing transaction that takes place! Authors Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington call it ‘The Great Exchange’. My sin for His righteousness.

“Just as our sins were charged to Him so that He justly paid their penalty, Christ’s perfect obedience, which culminated in His obedience unto death on the cross, is credited to all who trust in Him… because of our legal union with Him. Christ didn’t just live and die for us. Rather we are so united to Him by faith that God sees His perfect life as our life and His death as our death”.

~ The Great Exchange, Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington

There is no better news than this!