We know the word gospel is from the Bible, but what does it actually mean? Why does the gospel matter and why should we care about it?
What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ who is the only way to salvation. Over 2,000 years ago, He died on the cross and after three days rose from the grave to save you from the power of sin and its penalty, which is death. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for all people because all have sinned against God and deserve His judgment. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, He took the wrath humans deserved upon Himself so people could know and love Him for all of eternity.
To understand the Gospel, we must look at sin and how it affects humans.
What Is The Gospel?
To understand why the gospel is good news you must first understand the bad news.
The bad news is no one is without sin. No one is good, holy, or perfect because all have sinned. Everyone is deserving of God’s wrath and judgment. Only God is perfect, holy, and good, and none can compare with Him.
Sin entered the world at the time of the fall. After Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree that God forbid them to eat, the world was thrown into chaos. All of creation has been living under the power of darkness ever since.
Because all have sinned, all deserve the punishment for sin, which is death. Sin requires a perfect sacrifice to be free from its penalty. But no matter what you do to try to earn favor with God—whether by doing good works or trying to be good—nothing works. You cannot attain His perfect holiness.
God cannot abide in the presence of sin. This is why you require saving. Unless someone who is perfect and holy steps in and takes the wrath upon themselves that you deserve, you are destined for an eternity in hell.
Here comes the good news. Over 2,000 years ago, the one and only true living God sent His Son, Jesus, to live a sinless life so that He could take the blame for you. Because God cannot sin, and Jesus was fully God while also fully man, He was without sin. He was perfect.
Being found blameless in the eyes of God, Jesus was able to take upon Himself all of the wrath and punishment that was yours on the cross. He died for you so that you could be forgiven of your debt.
Because of His death on the cross, you are forgiven of your sins if you repent and believe in Him as the Son of God. This is the free gift of salvation for you.
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14 NKJV
This is good news! This means that nothing you could have done would have resulted in the saving of your soul. Only Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, can save you from your sins.
But the story does not end. Jesus did not stay dead. After spending three days in the grave, God rose Him from the dead! Because He was put to death with your sin and raised from the dead, He put to death the sin that had control over your life.
You no longer have to pay the punishment for the sins you committed. Instead, you are free and alive because Christ lives forevermore.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 3:16-17 NKJV
Why The Gospel Matters
God communicated this story before it even happened.
4,000+ years before the first coming of Jesus Christ, after the fall of humanity, God promised that He would not let the curse of sin stand forever.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
Genesis 3:15 NKJV
This was the first foreshadowing of Jesus Christ in the Bible. It foretells His death and victory over sin and death.
Without the gospel of Jesus Christ, you are lost, empty, and without hope.
Jesus came so that you may have life and have it abundantly. No longer do you have to live under the penalty of sin and death. When you come to Him and place your whole trust in Him, He fills you up and satisfies you with Himself.
Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, He freed you from fear of death and sin dictating your life forever.
Why does the gospel matter? Because all those who put their trust and believe in Him will be saved from eternal destruction. Those who live for Him and let their lives be shaped by the gospel will spend all of eternity with Him.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9 ESV
The gospel should shape and impact how you live. If you understand how much God loves you that He gave His only Son to die for you so you could be free from sin, death, and darkness, then everything you do will flow out of this understanding of God’s love.
If you can also grasp how Jesus willingly came down to earth to live and die for you, leaving His Father and wonderful home behind just so you could be with Him forever, then your love for Him will be contagious and you will not be able to keep it to yourself. You will want to tell others about what He has done for you.
What The Gospel Means For You
The gospel means many things for you.
It means that you can live and walk in God’s grace daily without having to earn His love or acceptance.
It means that you were adopted into the family of God as a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Now you belong forever to Him.
The gospel also means that you are no longer separated from God.
When Jesus died, the curtain in the Jerusalem temple was torn symbolizing that anyone who repented and believed in Jesus had access to God forever. The communion that was broken with God at the fall has been restored.
This means that you can live without guilt and shame. It means you are forgiven of your sins. It means that you are set free from the penalty of sin, which is death.
You have also been set free from the fear of death because when you do die, you know that you will be with Jesus for the rest of eternity.
Because of the gospel, you no longer need to sin. If you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ you have been set free from the bondage of sin. This does not mean that you will never sin again because you still live on earth in your flesh, but it means that you no longer have to give in to sin and let it rule your life.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:2 ESV
If you are a believer and a follower of Jesus, then you have been liberated and set free from sin and death. If you live and walk in the truth of the gospel daily, your life will be transformed.
It is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who lived a perfect sinless life on earth, died the death you deserved and rose again after spending three days in the grave that should be at the center of your very being.
By believing in Jesus, you are set free from the power of sin and death over your life. Now you can truly live for God in freedom!