The gospel Part 8
In the bible, the first 4 books of the new testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are called the gospels. These books are not just there to provide us with mere biographic accounts of Jesus or historical narratives of His life, even though those are important and are included in the gospels.
All four gospels are written, each with a specific audience in mind, thus compelling each of the gospelers to emphasise certain aspects of Jesus’ life for their particular audience. Ultimately, the writers of the gospel, seek to convey to their audiences a particular message about Jesus Christ and the significance of His life to them.
According to one author “the Gospel” is the sum total of the saving truth as God has communicated it to lost humanity as it is revealed in the person of His Son and in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible.’
The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopaedia provides this summary about the gospel message.
“The central truth of the gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for men through the gift of His son to the world. He suffered as a sacrifice for sin, overcame death, and now offers a share in His triumph to all who will accept it. The gospel is good news because it is a gift of God, not something that must be earned by penance or by self-improvement.”
Ephesians 2:8 says “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” (NLT)
Apostle Paul listed out some basic essentials that make up the message of the gospel. These key ingredients must be present in the content of the gospel message for it to retain its power to rescue the lost and save sinners.
1 Cor 15:3-5 “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.”
There are four basic essentials mentioned in the above verses by Paul in the message of the gospel.
- Christ died for our sins
- He was buried
- He was raised form the dead
- He was seen by many
The basic message of the gospel is quite clear and simple:
- Christ Died for our sin: Sin is the primary reason for our condemnation, and its wages is death; an eternal separation from God. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23, Rom 6:23). Without acknowledging our fallen state as condemned sinners who are hell bound, mankind would never realise his need of a saviour and the substitutionary death of Jesus would never make sense. The dead of Christ was to pay a debt we owed to free us from the penalty of sin.
- He was buried: The prove that He died is the fact that He was buried.
- He was raised from the dead: By His resurrection from the dead, Christ offers the free gift of salvation and hope for a glorified life which never ends, to all who will put their trust in Him.
“And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.… And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” (1Cor 15:14,19) - He was Seen by many: The prove of Jesus’ resurrection is the fact that many saw Him.“…After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers…” (1Cor 15:4-8).
His tomb does exist but with no remains. The Angel said “He is not here, He has risen” (Mat 28:6). The fact that he was seen in his glorified body after His death and resurrection, assures us of an eternal state of life beyond death. These truth is what the gospel presents.