The Gospel in Five Minutes
Today, is a very wonderful day. If you are reading this, God has smiled on you. God has chosen today, for you to receive the greatest news you will ever receive, the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But to understand this news properly, we have to start at the beginning.
God: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” Genesis 1:1 tells us. God created everything, not just the world, not just the stars, but He created you and I as well. God created everything. And as the creator of everything, God is the owner of everything. Psalm 24:1 says this plainly “the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it.” God not only created the world, but He created everything that dwells in the world, that includes you and me.
As creator and owner, God is also the one who determines how we, His creation, are to live in His world. And God has told us that we are to be like Him. Now, God is Holy, meaning He is perfect in goodness and righteousness, separate from sin, and so we are to be Holy. 1 Peter 1:16 instructs us, “you are to be Holy, for I am Holy.” Matthew 5:48 says, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” And in order for us to know how to live a Holy and perfect life God gave us a law.
Now, perfection and holiness are the standard that God has called us to, and even one infraction, one violation of His law causes us to fall short of the standard God has called us to. James 2:10, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” You are either perfect, or you are imperfect and even one violation of the law God gave us, makes us imperfect. We are no longer living as God told us to live.
Man: And the truth of the matter is that no one lives up to the standard that God called us to. Romans 3:10, 23 makes this clear. “There is none righteous, no not one...for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Breaking God’s law is sin, and the Bible makes it clear that we have all sinned, we have all broken God’s law.
And as God is the creator and owner, the one who sets the rules, He has determined that the penalty for sinning, for breaking His law is death. Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death.” Not just death in our physical bodies, but eternal death in Hell.
Christ: Now, as God is perfect in His goodness, he didn’t leave us in our desperate state. He also provided us a way out, a way to be forgiven for our sins. And the way in which God chose to forgive us is through His Son, Jesus Christ.
God the Father, sent God the Son, to the earth to live the life that we could never live and pay the penalty for the sins that we committed. Jesus Christ, being truly God and truly man, was able to not only live a life of sinless perfection, but because He is Himself God, Colossians 2:9 says, “for in Him, all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” Since Jesus is God, He is also able to grant us His righteousness, His perfection.
Jesus lived a sinless life, but out of His great love for us, He willing bore God’s righteous wrath for our sins, dying on the cross to pay our debt. Romans 5:8 says “God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And it’s by His death, in our place that we can stand before God as righteous, perfect. 2 Cor 5:21 declares, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Christ paid the debt so that we could reap the reward.
Sinners: However, we aren’t just insignificant bystanders, we have a part to play. Jesus died so that we might live, but we must forsake sinful living and turn to Jesus in faith. Isaiah 55:7 compels us, “let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
We must turn from our wicked ways if we are to receive the free gift of pardon for our sins and salvation. Luke 9:23 Jesus speaks of the part we are to play saying, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Jesus paid our penalty to set us free, but not so that we could live any way we choose. He set us free to follow after Him and we must choose to follow after Him. And that is the choice put before all who here this Gospel, this Good News of Jesus Christ.
God has chosen to save men through the sacrifice of His Son. We don’t need to sacrifice ourselves, only accept the sacrifice made on our behalf. Romans 10:9, we are instructed on how to accept this free gift, it says, “If you confess with your mouth Christ as Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.
That is the good news. Jesus Christ stands ready to take away your sinfulness and grant you His righteousness, if you will just repent for your sins, call out to Him in a prayer of faithful submission. You can do this now, wherever you are. And you should do this now. None of us know what tomorrow holds, but we know that we have this moment to save our souls and become children of God. I hope you will pray that prayer of repentance and faith today.