Understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You might have heard about Jesus Christ, heaven, and hell. You might even have heard that you need to ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and be saved, but I would like to share the full gospel with you. By ‘full gospel’, I mean the whole story the Bible tells that shows the need for salvation.
I say the full gospel because the word gospel means good news! However, many people do not understand the context of what Jesus was proclaiming when He preached the gospel. That is not a mystery or something hidden; it is in plain sight once you understand the Biblical story.
The foundation of the gospel.
This all starts in Genesis, and understanding what our world is all about. The first three chapters of Genesis give us a worldview, a story that explains all the big questions.
- Why is there a universe?
- What is the purpose of humanity?
- Where does the awareness of right and wrong come from?
- What happens when we die?
There are two important points.
Genesis chapter one isn’t about how long it took God to create the world; it tells us that God created everything. Two things you should understand from Genesis chapter one. One is that God created light on the first day. This light represents goodness. In other words, it describes what is good in our world—our moral laws. Light is a metaphor for order, truth, and goodness, while darkness is a metaphor for chaos, lies, and evil.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
John 1:1–4
We were created to rule the earth.
The other thing is: why did God create us? He created us to rule the earth as image bearers. The earth is our home; God made us from it and for it. At the end of the Bible, we read where this comes to pass.
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 22:1–5
In Genesis chapter two, we learn that God establishes His kingdom on the earth with the Garden of Eden, from which the whole earth is to become a paradise, also known as the Kingdom of God. Here is a question you should think about. Can our world be a beautiful place? Do you wish for peace? What would it be like if love ruled and we needed no law enforcement? If those things resonate with you, then you desire what God desires for our planet.
Why isn’t the world a paradise?
To rule well, we need wisdom in handling problems, and that wisdom needs to come from the Creator. Adam was told not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because by doing so, he would expose himself to sin. The idea behind the couple being naked was to express their innocence. Think of a child, maybe yourself, who saw something you or they were not capable of dealing with. It filled your mind with fear or evil thoughts, and you can relate to what God was telling Adam.
To learn wisdom, one must learn to obey, because obedience creates trust, and when you trust someone, you can learn wisdom from them. That was God’s plan for humanity. However, the couple did not obey and were forced to live in a world of evil without having the wisdom to deal with it properly. That is our world today!
The answer to our problem—the Good News.
After a long history recorded in the Old Testament of human failure and the inability of humans, even with God helping, to rule well, Jesus comes on the scene and says, “repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). That is the Good News, that the paradise, the Kingdom of God was going to finally come and we can be part of it. Jesus’ message was new; it was the call to restore what God intended from the beginning.
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Matthew 4:23
Jesus did not come to condemn us but to save us.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:17
What should you do with the Good News?
So if we put all this together, we can start to understand what is happening. God meant our world to be a beautiful, perfect place, and He created us to make it happen. However, we had to do it with God as the Lord, the one who makes the rules. We were to rule using His wisdom, but that did not happen. So we have learned the hard way through suffering. In suffering, we “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” The “meek will inherit the earth.”
Anyone who feels that way realizes they cannot be part of a perfect world without messing it up, as we are doing now. If we are not part of the coming Kingdom of God, then we will become outcasts, children of Hell. So the answer is Jesus.
Jesus came to pay the debt of sin that humanity has caused and brought upon this world! We need to reconcile with our Father. Not only that, we need a change; we need Jesus to remake us in His image so that we can live in a perfect world, the Kingdom of Heaven. Only a resurrection can bring about that change, and Jesus was the first to lead the way.
All that is left.
If you want to be part of Jesus’ coming Kingdom and start being part of it now, all you have to do is repent and ask Jesus to be your Lord. Repent and stop thinking you know what is best for our world, and realize you lack the wisdom to rule well. Accepting Jesus as Lord means you realize He is in charge. It starts with Jesus ruling and making you His Kingdom. You then join with others to form bodies, churches, where the Kingdom is lived out. It takes an honest prayer of confession to Jesus to become a Christian.
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