Gospel meaning

In church, we often use the word “Gospel“. The Bible has four “Gospels” of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The word “Gospel” simply means “Good News” and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were four people who followed Jesus and wrote down some of the things Jesus did so that all the generations after Jesus could know the Good News too!

The Good News is all about how much God loves each one of us and what God has done to bring us as people who turned away from God (sinners) back into a relationship with the living God. There are four basic truths to understand about who God is, who we are, who Christ is, and how we respond.

Who is God?

There is only one true God and He has revealed Himself to us through His written Word (the Bible). The Bible teaches us many things about who God is but these are the essentials:

• God is the creator of all things.
  • “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
• God created each one of us.
  • “your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16)
• God has a good plan for each one of us.
  • “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
• God is Holy. This means that He is perfect, sinless and without evil and that nothing impure can exist in His presence.
  • “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)
  • “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.” (Psalm 5:4)
• God is just. Justice comes from God’s holiness. Because God is Holy and Just, sin has a penalty.
  • “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” (Romans 2:5–8)
• God is worthy of worship.
  • ““You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”” (Revelation 4:11)
  • “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)

Who are we?

• We were created in the image of God.
  • “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”” (Genesis 1:26)
• We were created to have a relationship with God.
  • “How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 36:7)
  • “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” (Psalm 139:7–10)
• We turned away from God and chose to live apart from God (sin).
  • “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ ”” (Mark 7:21–23)
  • “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4)
• Because of sin, we are subject to the penalty of sin, eternal separation from God.
  • “For the wages of sin is death, ” (Romans 6:23)
  • “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12)

Who is Christ?

• Jesus did what we could not do. He alone is the way back to God.
  • “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
• Jesus is God and the Son of God.
  • “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, NIV84)
• Jesus paid the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross.
  • “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
  • “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
  • “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
• Jesus rose from the dead.
  • “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Acts 2:23–24, NIV84)
• Jesus invites us to respond to him.
  • “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20, NIV84)

How do we respond?

• God calls us to repent of our sins and to trust in Jesus in order to be saved.
  • “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:21)
  • “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
• This is the time it gets personal. Each one of us needs Jesus. Each one of us needs a new beginning. Each one of us needs forgiveness. Each one of us needs to believe. To repent is simply to turn away from from our sin and turn with faith to God and follow Jesus. To believe is to trust that Jesus is who the Bible says He is and that He has done what the Bible says He has done. To believe in Jesus is to trust in His love and His mercy for you and receive His love and His mercy. It is to receive Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord, to love Jesus and to serve Jesus.
  • ““For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
  • “for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” (Romans 10:13)
  • “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Romans 5:1)
• Do you want to receive Jesus? You can pray a simple prayer.
  • Father, I know that I have sinned and I have been separated from you. I am truly sorry and I want to turn away from doing what is wrong and turn to doing what is right in your eyes. Please forgive me and help me to stop sinning. I believe that your son Jesus died for my sins and I ask that Jesus becomes my Savior and my Lord to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit to help me live for you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

We would like to pray with you and for you. We would like to encourage you in your next steps. We would like to help you and serve you in anyway we can as you walk with and follow Christ.

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““Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke 8:39)

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