The word Gospel means good news. Simply told, Jesus took our sins to the cross when He died. By believing in His accomplishment, our sins are forgiven, we receive a new life on this earth and we go to heaven when we die.

Here is a more complete account. God created the first couple, Adam and Eve, to have fellowship with Him and to populate and steward the earth. They served Him and walked and talked with Him in their beautiful garden. They were to live forever with Him in that paradise world. When they sinned, that intimate relationship was lost. They were thrown out of the garden and received a curse. (See Genesis 3)

God said that Adam and Eve would die if they sinned. That death wasn’t physical but spiritual. By sinning they could no longer relate to a righteous God. Thus we, as their descendents, are born with a sin nature and our physical bodies will eventually die.

Relationship Restored

God, out of His mercy and great love for us, made a way to restore our relationship with Him. He chose Mary, a virgin, to be impregnated by His Spirit and bear a son named Jesus. Until that time, the Jews had sacrificed bulls and goats for the forgiveness of sins. This forgiveness was temporary; the sacrifices had to be repeated by the people each year. God destined his sinless son Jesus to be the final and everlasting sacrifice.

Jesus died on the cross, taking our sins and our sicknesses with Him to the grave. But as the scriptures foretold, after three days, He was resurrected to life!

By believing in what He did on the cross and committing our lives to Him, our relationship with God is restored. When we are born again and ask Him to forgive our sins, He removes them as far as the East is from the West. (Psalm 103:12)  In exchange, we receive His Holy Spirit to guide us and eternal life in heaven when we die. We also inherit His many promises; God’s Word says we become His sons and daughters. After we are born again, He doesn’t see us and our shortcomings, He sees His son Jesus, who is in us!

Through the wisdom and leading of His Holy Spirit, it is possible for us to live overcoming lives; God’s Holy Spirit becomes our Advocate, Comforter and Guide, getting us through the difficult times. (John 14:16) The gospel is definitely GOOD NEWS!

DLH – April, 2015