What is the Gospel?

Thus far this year we have been looking at the topic of the Kingdom of God

There is a lot more I want to say on that topic, but for today I really feel the need to take a small rabbit trail

Our topic today kind of goes along with the Kingdom of God so it’s not much of a rabbit trail

However it is something that I think is very important for us to look at

Today I want to take a look at the question What is the Gospel?

This is a topic that I spoke on last year – in fact, this message will be quite similar to the one I gave last year

However, I think it is vitally important that we understand what the Gospel is so I really feel the need to revisit this topic

Understanding the definition of the Gospel is a central aspect to our faith

However it is one of those things that can bring a lot of confusion

If you ask 10 different people what the Gospel is you may get 10 different answers

You also may get a few blank stares!

So, what is the Gospel?

First let’s take a look at the word Gospel – what exactly does this word mean?

Literally translated from the Greek “gospel” means “good news”

Any message of good news could technically be considered “gospel”

If someone came up to me and said there is free pizza in the lobby, that would be gospel!

If, however, someone told me that there was free pizza in the lobby but that it’s all gone now, that would most certainly not be gospel!

This is not how we use the word however

When we use the word “gospel” we are typically talking about one of 3 things

Generally we are talking about the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected 3 days later

This is most certainly gospel – good news!

Gospel can also mean the message that Jesus preached while He was here on the Earth

There are a few times in Scripture where we read about Jesus preaching “the Gospel” or “the Gospel of the Kingdom of God” – these are the same thing

Since Jesus had not yet been crucified and resurrected this could not have been the same “gospel” that we refer to

The gospel that Jesus preached – the gospel of the Kingdom of God – was that the long awaited Kingdom of God was at hand

This is a really deep topic and is what we have been talking about most of this year

The final thing we tend to refer to when we use the word “Gospel” are the first 4 books of the New Testament – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

These books, or “Gospels” tell the story of Jesus’ ministry while He was here on Earth

In our look at the definition of the Gospel I want to focus on the first aspect – the fact that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected 3 days later

This sounds like a fairly simple message, and in some aspects I guess that it is

However there has been a lot of confusion and misinformation regarding this message

My goal today is to clear up some of this confusion and misinformation

With that being said I want to give a disclaimer before I begin

My disclaimer is this – I will be teaching what I believe to be the truth about the Gospel

However, I will readily admit that I might be wrong

Obviously I do not believe that I am wrong, but the fact remains that I could be wrong

We cannot fully understand every aspect of God nor can we fully understand the depth of everything that happened on the cross

Anyone who claims that they do is not a person I would trust

My understanding of the Gospel has grown and changed over the years and will most likely continue to do so

If I had preached this message 14 years ago when I first came to Harvest Family Fellowship it would be very different than the message I am preaching today

I’ve no doubt that if I preach this message 14 years from now it will again be different than it is today

So today I will be discussing what I believe the Gospel to be as I currently understand it

If you have a different understanding I would love to chat with you about it later and perhaps we can help each other grow

With all of that being said let’s jump into what the message of the Gospel is

To understand the message of the Gospel we need to go all the way back to the beginning in Genesis

The Bible tells us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth

That when He had created everything He looked down and said it was good

At that moment everything was perfect

There is a Hebrew word that describes the way the world was at that time

Shalom

This is a word we are all familiar with and typically it is translated as Peace

However the meaning of Shalom goes deeper, it also means Completeness, Prosperity, and Welfare

Shalom can refer to peace between two people, peace between man and God, and even peace between two countries

Shalom can refer to the well-being, welfare, or safety of an individual or a group of individuals

So in the beginning, in Genesis 1 and 2, there was perfect shalom

Shalom existed between man and God, between man and nature, and between Adam and Eve themselves

Can you imagine a world with perfect Shalom?

Then in Genesis 3 we see the entrance of sin, which destroyed that perfect shalom

Shalom has not really existed since Genesis 3

Mankind has been striving for shalom ever since, and failing miserably!

Think about it – what do most people desire in life?

What do most people spend their time, effort, and energy trying to obtain?

Shalom

We fail because it is impossible for us to obtain Shalom on our own

This is why Jesus came

At the heart of the Gospel message is the restoration of Shalom

Primarily shalom between us and God, but also between us and each other and us and nature as well

Sin disrupts Shalom

It is at this point that many people get confused

I’ve heard many people say that our sin separates us from God

I will agree that this is a true statement but it needs further explanation

Some have said that God is Holy and just and cannot be in the presence of sin, therefore our sin causes God to distance Himself from us

I have even preached this very thing myself in the past

Sometimes we hear it said that when Jesus cried out on the cross “my God, my God why have You forsaken Me?” that it was at that moment that God laid the sins of the world on Jesus and because God cannot look upon sin He had to turn His face away from Jesus

Again, this is something that I have preached in the past

However I no longer believe this

Yes, I believe that God is holy and just, but I cannot believe that our sin causes God to distance Himself from us, nor do I believe that God ever turned His face from Jesus because of sin

Think about it logically for a moment

The Spirit of God came down to Abraham when God established the covenant – Abraham was a sinner when this happened

Jacob physically wrestled with God while he was still very much a sinner

We are told in Scripture that God met with Moses face to face

Moses was in the very presence of God, and Moses was a sinner like you and me

We are also told that the Spirit of God was in the center of the Israelite camp in the form of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night

You cannot read the Exodus story without encountering the repeated sin of Israel

The biggest proof that God does not distance Himself from the presence of sin is found in the book of Job

Job 1:6 very clearly tells us that Satan – the very author of sin – came into the presence of God

If God can allow the creator of sin in His presence I do not think my sin will keep God away

The problem is not that my sin causes God to withdraw from me

The problem with my sin is that it causes me to withdraw from God

God desires Shalom with us

The lack of Shalom between mankind and God is not God’s issue, it’s mankind’s issue

            Joke about old man and old woman riding down the road “I’m not the one who moved”

I want to look at this from one more angle just to further cement my position

We all would agree that Jesus is God come in the flesh

In fact, Jesus very plainly said that if we wanted to know what God was like, look at Him

That He, Jesus, was the very embodiment of God

So how did Jesus react in the presence of sinners?

He loved them

Jesus didn’t separate Himself from sinners at all

In fact one of the accusations that the religious leaders brought against Jesus was that He was a friend of sinners

Jesus was always getting called out for hanging with the wrong kind of people

No, I do not believe for one minute that our sin causes God to separate Himself from us

I am fully convinced, however, that my sin causes me to separate from God

It’s not God that moves, it’s me

My sin causes my eyes to be taken off from God and put on myself

My sin makes me selfish, and I cannot have perfect shalom and be selfish

Why am I spending so much time talking about this?

Because this issue affects how we look at God

If my sin causes God to withdraw from me then it is very easy for me to see God as someone who is totally disgusted with me

That He can’t stand to look at me because of all the bad things I’ve done

To add to that I had no choice over being a sinner

Scripture tells us that all of us have sinned

David said he was a sinner from the moment he was conceived

What kind of God would detest me for something that I had no control over?

What kind of God would pour out His wrath on someone for simply being born?

Jesus did not die on the cross to save me from the wrath of God, Jesus died on the cross to restore Shalom between me and God

God has not separated Himself from us because of our sin

Our sin has caused us to be separated from God

This brings me to a question

How is perfect shalom restored?

How do we get shalom between us and God, us and each other, and us and nature?

This is where the Gospel message comes in!

The best explanation of the Gospel that I can find in Scripture is in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15:1-8  Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ²  By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. ³  For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵  and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. ⁶  After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸  and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

 Here it is folks, the Gospel message

Jesus died for our sins, the thing that interrupts perfect shalom

Jesus was buried and three days later overcame death and was resurrected

What does it mean that Jesus died for our sins?

Romans 6:6-7 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- ⁷  because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

According to this passage Jesus died so that we would no longer be slaves to sin

This implies that before we accept the Gospel message that we are slaves

We do not belong to God, we belong to sin, to the devil

We are following after our own wants and desires rather than God – we are slaves to sin

Jesus’ death paid our ransom, His blood was the price necessary to buy our freedom!

Ephesians 1:3-8 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵  he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- ⁶  to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ⁸  that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

 Not only did Jesus’ blood pay the ransom to set us free from sin, His blood is the method that we are forgiven of sin

Not only that, the blood of Jesus is the price that was paid for our adoption!

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Now that we are set free, forgiven and adopted by God we are no longer sinners, but children of God!

Check out what 1 Peter says

1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Oh I love the sound of that!

I am not a despicable sinner, I am chosen, I am royal, I am a priest, I belong to God!

Not because of anything that I have done, but because of everything that Jesus did!

This is the Gospel message!

 So What?

As I mentioned before the heart of the Gospel message is Shalom between us and God, between each other, and between us and the world

We need to look at our lives and ask ourselves how we are affecting shalom

Are we creating shalom, or are we destroying shalom?

Jesus told us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength

This brings shalom between us and God

Jesus also told us to love our neighbor as ourself

This brings shalom with everyone else

What a way to live!

BUT – you must act on that shalom

I have to receive it if I want it