Dave here – Jake and I both are taking part in a class geared around diving deeper into theology and the statement of faith of our church. Part of that is focused around writing short papers on different questions related to that statement while we are studying the subjects in James Montgomery Boice’s Foundations of the Christian Faith. Jake has been encouraging me to take the ones I’ve put together and publish them, so that’s what this is going to be. The goal will be to sort of set out in an accessible and readable form what it is that we believe, to provide context that will go into the subjects we discuss. So without further ado, I’m going to begin with the first subject we addressed – defining the gospel, in a way that doesn’t require a lot of preexisting understanding of the language of church.
The gospel is good news, not just because that’s literally what the word means, but because it is a beacon of hope in a world that doesn’t exactly shine with hope. All you have to do is open your phone and look at your news app, or even scroll Facebook for ten seconds. You don’t have to look very hard to see how full of evil, despair, and loss our world is. How many times have you looked at a news story of someone doing something especially wicked, or just seen people acting out, and just shaken your head at that?
But the gospel isn’t something that starts its work simply “out there.” It begins “in here,” in each of us. Because the fact is, I don’t think you have to work very hard to see what evil comes out of you without having to work very hard. Have you taken things that weren’t yours? Said things that hurt someone deeply, and now you regret that moment and carry it like a weight? Even the thoughts that come across your mind – you don’t have to tell me what they are. Because I know, because…I’ve had them too. Everyone has. “I want, I want, I want…” even though having it will harm you, or someone else, or more. The list is endless.
But this is why the gospel is so incredibly important, and it’s why the Bible is so big. Start at the beginning, you see how humans tried to be their own gods, tried to take the concept of right and wrong into their hands, and instead found only death. And we still do it, over and over today. But the gospel came in right at the beginning – right in the shadow of sin’s curse taking effect, in Genesis 3, God promised the first humans that He would undo all of it, renew everything, through someone who was to come in the future.
That someone is Jesus. He was born in a time and place, and yet He has always been. The Son of God laid aside His divine glory to take on the life of a lowly human, because in taking on that life He was able to live perfectly. Then, He challenged that curse of sin, and its consequence – death. He died, and it was a horrible death, on a Roman cross – a death that was intended to mock and degrade its victim. But Jesus went to it with no shame.
But He didn’t just die and now we mourn Him. He defeated those curses – sin, He has overcome completely, because He stood in the place of all who believe in Him and died the death we all deserve, receiving that punishment as the perfect replacement. If you look at the Old Testament law you see over and over how animals were sacrificed because they took the place of their sinful owners, taking the death their sins deserved. Jesus did that for all who believe in Him, and His work is finished. But there’s another piece that’s critical – He isn’t dead. He rose again, defeating and destroying death. To believe in Jesus is to trust that He has paid for the sins you’re guilty of, and to hope in His work that will undo death. But, it’s also to participate in His great work on earth now, to undo those curses of sin and death through the love and service we give one another, and our neighbors.
The gospel is good news for you, and for me, and for everyone who hears it and believes it, because it means we can let go of the weight we carry when we believe we can control our lives and our world, because we can’t. But we have a good God who does, and who calls us to Himself, in Jesus. His work is not heavy and exhausting, but gives joy and nourishes life.
Let us know what you think – how would you try to explain the gospel to someone? Leave a comment below!
Coronation Radio 