Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15: 1Now I would remind you, brothers,a of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
The Gospel. Gospel means good news, glad tidings. It comes from Old English Godspell.
So what is the Gospel, and why is it good news? Paul tells us a bit more.
3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
So….Christ died for our sins (in accordance with the Scriptures), He was buried, and He was resurrected (in accordance with the Scriptures).
Okay, it seems Christ fulfilled some prophecy here. But what is the actual good news?
He DIED FOR OUR SINS! Um…why is that special? Because we all deserve death. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23. The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23. So all of us are sinful. Everyone. Even little babies deserve death. Because this world we are born into is sinful. So we are doomed before we’ve even done anything.
So it IS special. Jesus DIED FOR OUR SINS! He took the death WE deserved, and gave us His righteousness! And our sins are forgiven! Hebrews 9:22. But, why? (In the words of my then two year old son….) Why would He do that? Because He loved us! Jesus loved us. God loved us. God IS love. Jesus IS God. Jesus IS love.
So Jesus died for our sins. He paid the price for us. 2 Cor 5:21 He paid our ransom. Because He loved us. Wow. That IS good news! That is Grace! Then He was resurrected. Um…how?
Well this is something I don’t really understand. I don’t suppose I have to really. It was a miracle! Jesus was dead, and then He wasn’t. And now He lives forever. So…..He has defeated death. So we really DO have eternal life!
Well okay! This IS good news! So now what? What do we do now? Can we buy this? No. It is a gift, freely given. Eph 2:8.9. We cannot work for this, it is God’s gift. We need simply to believe in Him, as in the words of John 3:16 “For hGod so loved ithe world,9 jthat he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not kperish but have eternal life.”
As we turn to Him, believing that He IS the Son of God and that He has redeemed us, we will be struck by a sense of our unworthiness; how depraved and sinful we are. We will fall at His feet, broken hearted because of what we have realised and what we have done. We will beg forgiveness. He will not leave us there. He lifts us up. He has justified us and sanctified us, and our journey with Him has begun. He changes us gradually (some not so gradually!) into the person we need to be to fulfil His plans for us. This journey lasts a life time, and is filled with joy and peace and hope. We have spiritual rest in Him EVERY DAY, all day! Things may go badly in our physical lives, but He is with us always, carrying us when necessary, but ALWAYS there, whether we feel His presence or not. He has promised never to leave us. Matt 28:20.
This is the time He gives us a new heart, and makes us a new creation. Ezek 36:26; 2 Cor 5:17.
The Gospel, the gift, when it is believed, leads to Christian conversion.
So really it is good news. It is the BEST news!
Light of Christ 