The Gospel

“I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (The Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 2:2).

The word “gospel” means “good news.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the communication of God’s goodwill toward us in the person of his Son. Jesus spoke the good news. Jesus displayed the good news in all he did. Jesus lived, died, took up his life again, went bodily into heaven, and sends forth his Spirit to accomplish the good news. Jesus is the good news, and the whole Bible is about him.

The Gospel does not come to us in a vacuum; it presupposes the existence of bad news: bad news about our desires and actions and relationships, bad news about our destinies, bad news about the human condition apart from the grace of God. Nevertheless, the Gospel comes to us in spite of the bad news, overwhelms the bad news, and one day will entirely eradicate the very concept of “bad” from the universe forever.

The Gospel says that God is for us. He always has been, and he always will be. Even though we rebel against him and seek our fulfillment in anything but him, and even though his holy anger burns at the offense of our sins, he loves us and gave his Son Jesus for us. On the cross, Jesus died, suffering the full wrath of God that our sins deserve. By God’s grace, Jesus took our place, and if you put your faith in him, your sins are forgiven and his perfect righteousness is accounted to you. When God raised Jesus from the dead, it was the proclamation that God wholeheartedly received the work of Christ on our behalf. Since Jesus is alive forever, you can be assured that you have eternal life, enjoying communion with God who will never again be angry with you.

Someone has said that the Gospel isn’t just the “ABCs” of the Christian life, it’s the “A to Z.” The Gospel is not merely the starting point for the Christian life; it is also the regular means by which we make progress in the Christian life. As we grow in our faith in the Gospel, we grow in the ability to honor God with our obedience. Biblically speaking, there is no other way to pursue our sanctification. The Gospel changes everything: the way we think, feel, and act in every imaginable situation. And since it’s all about God’s grace to us, God receives all the glory for the changes the Gospel brings.

So, the Gospel of “Jesus Christ and him crucified” is what unites us and changes us. It’s the most important, most valuable thing about our church. It’s what we want to talk about all the time. It’s the reason we gather for Worship, the reason we do everything we do. Want to learn more about the Gospel? Join us!