What is the gospel?
The loving Creator
God is the one true and living ruler of all things. He is the Lord and
King of everything that exists. He made the world and he made us in his
image. We are all valuable in his sight and we belong to Him. He gave us
a unique place in his good world. He made us to be in a loving
relationships with him and given us the privilege to care for his
perfect and beautiful world.
But what happened?
We rebelled against God
From the beginning, humanity chose to reject God, the loving Creator.
In fact, all of us do not want God to be our ruler. We rejected him as
God by deciding to live our own way. We ignore or reject God and do
not give him thanks for all the good things he has given us. We create
other little gods by living for wealth, pleasure, glory and happiness.
We treat others badly because we lie, cheat, steal, lust, and hate.
The Bible calls this sin. But we fail to rule ourselves and the world.
So what will God do about our rebellion?
God will judge the world
God cares enough to take sin seriously. He must. This is right and good.
And this is because He is perfectly just. This means He will judge
humanity. We experience God’s judgement when we die. If you are cut off
from God, that means you face death and Hell. Rejecting God brings His
anger and wrath. We have brought God’s wrath on ourselves. This leaves
us in a state of fear, shame and guilt before an offended God.
But it’s not the end of the story.
God sent Jesus to die for us
God loves the world he created, and he loves us. He did not leave us to
suffer the consequences of our rebellion. He sent his divine Son into
the world to save us: the man Jesus Christ. Unlike us, Jesus did not
sin. Jesus always lived under God’s rule. Jesus always honoured and gave
thanks to God. Ultimately, Jesus paid the price of broken relationship.
Although He could heal the sick and raise the dead, Jesus allowed
himself to die on a Roman cross. Why? He took responsibility for us
before God. He died in our place. Death is the punishment for rebellion,
and he died our death. All this we completely do not deserve. And we
can’t earn. We rejected God, but because of his great love, God sent
Jesus to die for us.
But that’s not all.
God rose again to rule forever
Death was not the end for Jesus. Jesus said he would rise again. And he
did. God raised him to life again once and for never to die again. Jesus
is the world’s King and Saviour. One day Jesus will come to judge this
world and create a perfect world. He will rule as King. Those who reject
Jesus will remain cut off from God for eternity. But those who trust in
Him will enjoy love, joy, peace for all eternity with him in his kingdom
that does not end. This is most important decision you will ever have to
make in your life.
Will you trust in Jesus as your King?
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