The Gospel
The Gospel is the most important thing anyone will ever hear, and yet so often, it goes untold, because we Christians are too scared to say it. We’re human. We fear rejection, or worse. In some countries, we may face death if we dare to mention the name of Jesus. But we tell it anyway, because if Christ was willing to die for us, shouldn’t we be willing to live for Him? So, with God’s direction, let me try and answer some FAQs about Christianity. I pray with my whole heart that they make sense and that God is glorified!
What’s the big deal with Jesus? Wasn’t He just a good man?
Let me ask you this: regarding this world’s standards, can “just a good man” be perfectly, totally sinless? No. These days, we’re lucky if a “good man” means he doesn’t cheat on his spouse or his income tax. There is not a single person in this world who hasn’t done something wrong at some point in their life—except for one, and that one was Jesus. He never, ever thought an evil thought or did an evil deed. He never lusted, He never lied, and He never stole a paperclip from work. (Yes, that counts as stealing.) He was completely pure and holy, because He was God.
Wait a second, what do you mean He was God? You just said He was a person!
Yes, He was God, and He was a person. He came to earth in the form of a baby that was born to a virgin named Mary. The Scriptures say that He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” He took on the form of a man. He now had a physical body, where before, it’s implied that He was a Spirit without a body.
Why did He do that?
When God created the world, everything was perfect. He created light, He created water and air and planets and stars, He created plants, He created animals, and He created two people named Adam and Eve. But then, along came Satan, determined to destroy it all.
Who’s Satan and where did he come from?
Satan was an angel that God created. His name used to be Lucifer, and he was an archangel (sort of a “head angel,” so to speak). But then, he became proud and presumptuous and said, “I will be like the Most High [God].” He gathered some other angels and convinced them that they should follow him, not the Lord. So God had to throw them out of heaven, because they were now wicked.
Where did wickedness come from?
Wickedness is always doing what you want to do instead of doing what God wants you to do. But God didn’t want His created beings to be robots, only serving Him because they had no other option. That would be slavery. So He gave them the choice to follow Him, or to follow their own devices. Lucifer chose to follow his own devices, and he dragged down a bunch of angels with him. God kicked them out of heaven and sent them to earth. Lucifer became Satan.
So what did Satan do to destroy the perfection of creation?
As mentioned before, God didn’t want robotic slaves. He wanted the people He created to love and serve Him because they wanted to. So after He created them and placed them in the Garden of Eden, He told them that they had dominion over every creature and plant, except one: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They couldn’t eat from that tree, or they would die. Satan used this as an opportunity to try and get revenge on God. He took on the form of a serpent, and lied to Eve. He told her that if she ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, she wouldn’t die, she would become like God. Basically, he was implying that God was holding out on her and Adam. Eve believed him, and ate the fruit. Adam, who was not deceived, ate the fruit also. Their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were unclothed. They also realized what they had done. They had disobeyed God, and now they were separated from Him. Did they die? They didn’t die physically right then, but spiritually, they were cut off from God. They were now dead. And eventually they did die physically, whereas if they had not disobeyed, they would have lived forever. After they realized all of this, they ran and hid like children. But of course God knew where they were, and He knew what they had done. He asked them what had happened, and, filled with shame, they had to admit what they had done. God cursed the serpent, and told Adam and Eve that life was now going to be hard, painful, and sorrowful as a result of their sin. This sin nature was passed onto us. But He also promised a Savior that would crush Satan.
And this Savior is Jesus?
Yes. Jesus is the theme of the entire Bible, even if He’s not named in all the books.Every individual book in the Bible is filled with pictures of what He did to save mankind.
What did He do?
The reason He came to earth was to save men, women, and children. The Jews were disappointed, because they thought that the Messiah was coming to give them political freedom. But God had so much more in mind than that. While we on earth were concerned with temporal things, God was concerned with eternal things. We wanted to be saved from the bondage of men. Christ wanted to save us from the bondage of sin and Satan. The consequence of sin is death and eternal punishment. Eternal punishment is hell, literally. It is eternal separation from God. After Adam and Eve sinned, that’s where every last one of us was headed. But because God loves us and has no desire to see the wicked perish, He provided a way for us to be with Him eternally, if we chose it. Like I said, the payment for sin is death. God is a loving God, but He is also a just God, and He is a perfect, righteous God, so He cannot dwell with sin. So God Himself (Jesus Christ) came down to earth in order to pay that price for sin. The religious rulers hated Him, and though He had done nothing wrong, He got the death penalty. He didn’t “fight for His rights,” though He was innocent, because this was what He, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit had been planning for all eternity. He was nailed to a cross in order to pay for your sins, my sins, and the whole world’s from the beginning of time to the end. And though we don’t want to minimize the physical suffering He endured, that wasn’t what saved us. What saved us is the eternal punishment He had to bear spiritually while on the cross. Somehow, in the space of three hours, He took every sin that ever was committed, from the tiniest white lie to the the vilest monstrosity, and bore the punishment for us. He, God’s own Son, had to feel the wrath of His Father. We can’t even begin to imagine it. Jesus had never sinned in His life, and all of a sudden He’s drenched in it from head to toe. And you know what I find horrifying? My sins are what He was drenched in. Your sins are what He was drenched in. Hitler’s sins are what He was drenched in. He bore the punishment for us all, because He loves us that much. After the three hours were over and He had paid the penalty, He gave the triumphant cry, “It is finished!” and He died. His followers buried Him in a tomb. Tombs in those days were carved into a stone wall with enormous boulders rolled over the door. Those stones were impossible to move out of the way. But three days later, the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty! That gave everyone quite a start! They started to panic, because they thought someone had come and stolen His body. I guess they had forgotten that He had promised them that He would rise again from the dead. And that is exactly what He did! He rose from the dead, because death itself cannot conquer God! He appeared to over 500 witnesses, and then He ascended into heaven at His Father’s right hand.
So how does this story help me?
You probably are acknowledging by now that you are a sinner. Or, maybe you’re not. You might be thinking, “I’m a pretty good person. I think that I can make it to heaven just fine. I go to church on Christmas and Easter, and occasionally even go in between those two holidays. I’m set!” Well, let’s think about that for a minute. As we said earlier, sin is anything done apart from God. It goes beyond drinking and sex and drugs. One may think they’re doing a lot of good things. They may think that every time they give to a charity or help an old lady across the street, they win uber brownie points for heaven. You know what God sees when they’re doing all this good stuff? He sees a sinner who is uncovered by Christ’s blood and who’s on their merry way to hell. That is what He sees. God is unimpressed with all our good works. He says our righteousness is as filthy rags. Anything done apart from Him is wickedness. It doesn’t matter how much you try to earn your way to heaven. You can’t.
So what can I do in order to get to heaven?
We must repent of our sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
God loves you. So much so that He sent His own Son to die for you. So much so that He died for you. So much so that He rose again for you! Can we really turn down such love as this? It doesn’t matter where you are today. You don’t have to get cleaned up in order to come to Christ, because you can’t. You are powerless to do anything about your sin nature. God wants you to come to Him exactly as you are, so that He may cleanse you of your sin, and wash it away in His blood. Christ loves you, and He promises to give you eternal life if you will turn to Him. “Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved.” Come to Jesus and live!
“Just as I am - without one plea,/But that Thy blood was shed for me,/And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,/-O Lamb of God, I come!”
