A friend asked me a question this afternoon that has made me do some deep thinking. And, since I don't like to be the only one thinking deeply, I thought I'd make you all think too! Here's the question:What is the Gospel?
Don't laugh yet. Think about it. Think about it long and hard. It was amazing and sobering to me how many times the word "ummm" escaped my mouth as I hemmed and hawed for an answer to this surprisingly deep question.
So now I want to hear what you think! As this friend pointed out, if we as Christians couldn't even say what the Gospel is, than how can we possibly explain it to a non-believer?
A penny for your thoughts?
posted by Lydia
2 comments:
Gospel means "Good News".
To understand it, you need to know the bad news:
People are failures, sinners by nature. (Rom.3:23) How do we know? Because every person has a law written on their hearts (Rom. 1:19-2, 2:15). This is the law of God, and every person from birth has broken it, through their nature. Not one person can be excused from this standard that God has for the world, because God cannot abide with sin (I John 1:5). Because God is just (Job 8:3, 37:23, Psalm 89:14), sin must be punished. The greatest punishment is separation from God. It is what makes earth a destitute place to live, it is what makes men murder and steal, it is what makes women forsake their vows to their husbands and children dishonor their parents. God's punishment for sin is an eternal separation from Him in Hell (Gen 2:16-17, 3:23-24, Isaiah 5:24, Rev 21:8).
Here is the Gospel:
The Gospel is composed of God's love for humankind, and specifically for each person (John 3:16, Rom. 5:8, II Chron.6:14, Psalm 139). Even though we personally rejected Him over and over (Romans 1:18-32) He still chose to give His only Son, His Word, to die for us (Romans 3:20-31, 5:19, Mark 10:45, Titus 2:11). Through His death on the cross, Christ brought light into a dark world (Matthew 4:16, I Peter 2:9, Luke 1:78-80, John 8:12, 12:46, II Cor. 4:6, Daniel 2:22). Part of the Gospel is purposefully walking into the light of Christ, and surrendering your life to Him (Acts 26:18). This is not just an addition to life, like adding Jesus into the mix with the sin, but it is a complete transformation of life and spirit (II Cor 5:17).
There is so much more to it, but I am running out of time.
xoxo,
Hanna A.
Wow Hanna! Thanks for tackling that one. Very good description. Anyone else want to take a whack at it?
~Lydia
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