What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

The Gospel as God’s Story of Redemption

The gospel is about the glory of God. It's a story of God's redemption and saving sinful, unworthy people. It's a story that begins before the world did. It's a story of us. God creates us, man, in the garden, in perfect fellowship with him, unstained by rebellion, brokenness, sin.

And the fall enters into God's creation, and God does something that is unexpected. Rather than doing what God should do, could do, because he's holy, God promises to save. He doesn't come in and simply bring the curse, but he promises first the Messiah, the woman seed who will come in and through this work, the woman seed will crush the head of the serpent and be bruised on his heel.

There's a story of God's grace flowing through history. It's a story that God tells in vivid detail and high definition about the Messiah. Long before Jesus ever walked on the earth in his earthly ministry, God told us every detail necessary to know Jesus as Savior and as Lord.

The Messiah Foretold in Isaiah, Daniel, and the Psalms

The story is God's coming to save, Isaiah 9, verses 6 through 7. A son is coming, a child is coming, and he will be called wonderful counselor, El Gibor, which is an exclusive name of God, the mighty God, the father of eternity.

The Bible says of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. The Bible tells us when he's coming, Daniel chapter 9, that he'd be cut off before the destruction of the second temple.

The Bible tells us about his life and ministry, that he would, Isaiah 53, be wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace would be upon him and by his wounds we'd be healed.

He'd be pierced through for our transgressions, that he would be numbered among the transgressors, that he would be the one that would justify the many as he would bear our iniquities. He'd be counted among the rebels, the Bible tells us, but that's not all, that's not all.

The Bible tells us that this Messiah who's coming is coming to bring salvation and forgiveness, that he would redeem us from our sins, but there's more. He would actually be coming to bring a kingdom, his rule in history.

Daniel 7 verses 13 through 14, Daniel sees this vision and he says, Behold, coming on the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man, and that he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him, and to him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom that all the people's nations and men of every language might serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. This Messiah was coming to bring a kingdom that would bring the knowledge of God throughout the earth like the waters cover the sea, and the most popular verse in the New Testament drawn from the old is Psalm 110 .1, that this Messiah must reign until all of God's enemies are placed under his feet as a footstool for his feet, that he would have victory, that this Messiah would bring forgiveness and salvation through his death and resurrection, and that his rule would extend to the ends of the earth bringing the nations to God, and that's where we're at now.

Sin, the Cross, and the Call to Repentance

The good news of forgiveness and salvation, eternal life only in Christ and what he has accomplished. We are wretches, we are miserable sinners. We are so rebellious against God that if possible, we would spit at the very clouds.

That's our condition. And God loves sinners so much that he took upon himself flesh, lived a sinless life that we have not died. The death that we should die was buried and rose again. He is ascended and seated and he calls men everywhere to repent, to turn from darkness to light to God, to trust in this Messiah for forgiveness and salvation.

That's the call of the gospel. But listen, this gospel is not just about my salvation only, it's the gospel of the kingdom, about God rescuing sinners, redeeming the sinful, and bringing his rule to the ends of the earth, reversing what happened in the garden, finding the curse as far as it's found, and destroying it.

And then Jesus returns in final victory after all God's enemies are put under his feet. God the victor, Jesus the Messiah conquering death, God taking what man did in the world and reversing it to his glory.

Turning from Sin and Trusting Christ Alone

That's the story of this Messiah and you can know him, you can know him by turning from sin and trusting in Christ and in his work alone, abandoning sin, abandoning self-righteousness and coming to this Messiah for redemption and the gift of eternal life.

But you've got to come, the Bible says, to turn and to believe. That's the call of the gospel. It's good news for sinners. It's good news for the unworthy. It's good news for me. It's the good news of his kingdom.

That's the call. Come to Christ. Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my voice and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but is passed out of death into life.