In Christianity, the Gospel is considered to be the good news of Jesus Christ who is the Messiah and Son of God (Mark 1:1). The word “gospel” is literally translated to mean “good news” or “good story”. This gospel message is therefore centered on the person of Jesus Christ who becomes for us the good news that we desperately need. Below is a sample of how we can understand this message.

Bad News of Sin:

In order to receive the good news, we should understand why it is so good. In the beginning, God created the whole world including humanity (Genesis 1-2). Jesus Christ who is Himself God, was there at the beginning of creation as well and was the divine creator (John 1:1-2; Colossians 1:15-16). Adam and Eve were the first two humans created by God and they possessed perfect fellowship with the triune Godhead. In this time of perfection, there was complete holiness between God and mankind. This was God’s original plan and requirement for His creation, and it was good. (Genesis 1:31). However, in Genesis 3 we read that both Adam and Eve sinned against God by eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This was the tree that God commanded Adam not to eat from.

It was at that moment that the curse of sin plagued all of humanity to come after. This defines the bad news of a sinful and rebellious creation who are now in constant separation from God. Now, every human being by default inherits this sin curse and can no longer be seen as righteous or holy in God’s eyes (Romans 3:10-12).

Despite this curse, God never stopped desiring to live in perfect fellowship with His creation. In order to righteously deal with sin in the heart of humanity, God created a standard. This standard is known as the Law or 10 Commandments which defines what actions are sinful behaviours (Exodus 20:2-17; Romans 7:12). He has also instituted a penalty or judgment for whenever sin occurs. If our sin is not recognized and dealt with according to God’s standards, we will be punished by both spiritual and physical death (Romans 6:23).

The Good News of Christ:

In light of this dark reality, God initiates a redemption plan from eternity’s past. In His sovereignty, God provides a savior from this punishment in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible states that God loved the world so much that He gave to us His only Son, Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Jesus Christ the son of God, comes to the world as a sinless man to die as a sin payment to God. In this sense, God treated Christ as though he possessed the sin curse and allowed Him to be crucified in place of humanity (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Not only did Christ die once and for all for the sins of the world, he also overcame the curse of death by resurrecting back to life. In defeating sin and death at the cross, Christ reconciles a world of lost sinners back to God the father. His righteous act simultaneously satisfies God’s wrath and saves humanity.

Salvation in Jesus Christ is offered as a free gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8-10). This is the good news of the gospel. There is now no more striving to attain salvation to enter heaven. Every sinner has the opportunity to repent of their sin and receive this gift of eternal life. Each person must however confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead in order to be saved (Romans 10:9).

Through the power of Christ, now each newly regenerated Christian can learn to live a life that is pleasing and glorifying to God because of the good news of the Gospel.

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