BE RECONCILED
What is
THE GOSPEL?
From the Greek:
εὐαγγέλιον (euangélion) n (genitive εὐαγγελίου); second declension
-
a reward for good news
-
good news
-
gospel
When Christians talk about “the” Gospel, we are referring to the good news of salvation found in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ).
But... Salvation from what?
To answer that question, we first need to go back to the beginning.
Before the beginning,
there was God.
With wisdom and power, God spoke and the world came into being. He created light and darkness, which He called day and night, the and the sun, moon, and stars. He created the plants, the animals, and finally human beings, whom He made in His own image. He described the complete creation as “very good,” and then ceased from His work.
He placed the first two humans in a lush, beautiful garden. They were told to tend and keep it, and to be fruitful and multiply.
In the garden were two unusual trees. One was the Tree of Life and the other the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God told the man not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and that if he did, he would surely die. To make a long story short, the man’s wife was deceived by an Enemy (Satan) and she ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She then convinced the man to eat of the tree.
Until this point all of creation happily obeyed the voice of the Creator.
Then man disobeyed.
Disobedience to God is called sin, and it carries the curse of disobedience – death – not only of the body, but of the soul (the inner being). Guilt rests upon the soul. Man’s sin not only brought a curse upon himself but on all of creation, and every generation to come after.
"The soul who sins shall die..."
Ezekiel 20:18a
Sin results in death. Not only would mankind be forever cursed to die, but his relationship with God was broken. God would no longer walk with man as He did in the garden. The forbidden fruit also brought with it all that comes with the knowledge of good and evil – selfishness, fear, pride, wicked imaginations, lust, hatred, and every evil thing. This knowledge was passed on to all the children of the first humans and they all continued to sin. You and I are children of Adam. God said to Cain, one of Adam’s children,
“If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” (ESV)
This sinful part of our nature is opposed to us and it causes all kinds of pain, suffering, and confusion.
The world is full of suffering & evil.
We are trapped in a cycle of destruction, both physical and spiritual.
This is not God’s desire for His creation.
Yet, our guilt remains and our condemnation is just.
This is why we need saved.
The true desire within man is to return to the garden where God walked with us and where we experienced the cosmic communion that can only be had between creation and creator.
Perhaps imagine a being from whom exudes both a sense of awesome, limitless power and a deep, exhilarating love that courses through you. Imagine being in a state of joy, love, and peace with all of creation. Imagine a state of both total knowledge and complete innocence. This is where God would have us.
We are separated. But –
God made a way of salvation. He made a way for us to come back, but not by our own effort, because this would be impossible
“The soul that sins shall surely die.”
We have sinned and stand guilty before the throne of God.
The punishment according the law of God is death.
Other religious systems maintain that works are what is required; whether the goal is a better standing with the gods, reaching paradise, a better reincarnation, etc.
This is one thing that separates the Bible and the true worship of God from false religions.
Yet, even many self-described Christians have very similar ideas. According to the Barna Group study from 2016, 73% of Americans identify as Christian.
...But that idea is not found in the Bible...
God is absolutely perfect, holy, and just, and to dwell with Him as we did in the garden, we must be the same.
Why?
Would it make sense for a judge to let off crooked thieves and murders that are found guilty or to hang out with such people in his free time? That would say a lot about his character. In the same way, God won’t allow lying, selfish, lustful, spiteful beings into His eternal kingdom, nor would He be just to acquit the guilty.
We need to be changed first.
We cannot get into heaven by trying to outweigh our bad deeds with good deeds. We won’t be measured by that standard. Even if we were, how could we accurately assess ourselves to have any assurance of our salvation?
The Bible says that if we think we are good, we are deceived. God knows us better than we do.
“Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, But who can find a faithful man?” Proverbs 20:6
"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings." Jeremiah 17:9-10
“The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.” Psalm 14:2-3
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23
What about you? Do you have idols in your heart that are more important to you than God? Have you ever lied? Stolen anything? Have you ever hated someone, or been angry with someone for selfish reasons? Have you ever done something hurtful to another person? Have you ever looked at another person with lust?
We can try to cover up our sin or explain it away, but we remain guilty. God put a conscience in our hearts, and though some choose to ignore it, He speaks to each of us in a still, small voice.
God has also communicated with mankind through other people – those who are careful enough to listen to Him and bold enough to speak what He tells them. We call them apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.
Some of them wrote books that were fully inspired by God. These have been collected and compiled into a single volume that remains the best-selling book of all time – the Bible.
At one time, God spoke audibly to an entire nation of people. After delivering the Israelites from Egypt through the Red Sea, He brought them to a mountain called Sinai. The mountain burned with fire and cracked with lightning and thunder at the presence of the LORD. Within the thick, dark cloud of smoke that surrounded it, the mountain trembled and the great sounding of a trumpet grew ever louder.
It was from this mountain that God spoke and delivered to them His 10 commandments. It was such a frightening experience that the people cried out for Him to speak to them no more, lest they utterly die.
So they told Moses, their leader, to go and get the rest of the law from God and bring it back. Moses drew near to the darkness and received the Word of God to deliver to Israel.
1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall make no idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath day holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.
The Ten Commandments
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
They made a covenant,
like a marriage.
GOD:
"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
ISRAEL:
“All the words which the Lord has said we will do.”
Then God called Moses up to the mountain to receive the tablets containing the Law
Weeks passed, but even as Moses was up on the mountain, the people had already sinned against the command of God. A golden calf was made and the people worshipped it.
What does this tell us?
It shows that even when God shows up with signs and irrefutable wonders, even when His very presence is nearby, even with the clearest possible revelation of His will for man, we are still prone to sin.
They didn't listen. They broke the covenant. And we are just like them.
In frustration, Moses threw the stone tablets down and in a symbolic act, literally breaking the law.
BUT
A promise was given that there would be someone similar to Moses that the people must listen to and obey. God said:
“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not listen unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”
Deuteronomy 18:15-19
Anyone that does not listen to this Prophet will be held accountable.
This Prophet, later called the Messiah, was prophesied about throughout the Bible and foreshadowed within many of the events recorded there.
For thousands of years, the Hebrew people were awaiting this promised Messiah whom their prophets foretold would accomplish many important things - both for themselves and for all nations.
To help identify this person, many prophecies spoke regarding what kind of person the Messiah would be and where he would come from.
But what about the covenant?
The relationship between God and His people was broken.
Would this Messiah somehow restore that relationship?
God tells us through the prophet Jeremiah and others that He would form a new covenant with them.
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:31
Another word for covenant is testament. The New Testament is the story of how God fulfills this promise and how anyone can become part of it.
For nearly 400 years Israel was without a prophet, but they had this promise:
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 3:1
“The voice of him that cries in the wilderness, 'Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'” Isaiah 40:3
ENTER - John the Baptist
John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, clothed with a humble garment of camel’s hair and a leather girdle, eating locusts and wild honey. He boldly preached to turn from sins and be baptized. He cried out saying:
“Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
Many came to him to be baptized in the Jordan river and confessed their sins. His name was on everyone’s lips. Many wondered if this was the Prophet like unto Moses, the Messiah himself. Yet he denied this and instead told them:
“I baptize with water: but there stands one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”
In the Bible, repent literally means to turn, return, or to change one's mind. It means to turn away from sin and turn to God.
Then a man named Jesus (in Hebrew, Yeshua) came to him to be baptized.
John was apprehensive at first because he knew who he was. Yeshua assured him that it was God’s will, and so he baptized him.
When Yeshua came up from the water, the Spirit of God descended on him like a dove.
Afterward, John testified of Him and said:
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ ... the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.”
“I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him. ... the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
Yeshua and John were actually cousins. They both had miraculous births. John's mother Elizabeth had been barren and was past the age of child bearing.
However, Yeshua was born of a virgin. His conception was announced by an angel to his mother Mary and to Joseph, the man she was betrothed to.
This Yeshua was and is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, the prophet like Moses, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world who came to take away our sin -- to restore our soul, and bring us back into fellowship with God. Here's how:
After His baptism, the Spirit drove Yeshua into the wilderness where he fasted and was tempted by Satan for forty days.
Satan tried to get Him to succumb to hunger, to test God, and even offered Him the kingdoms of the world if Yeshua would worship him.
Each time Yeshua resisted Satan, so he left Him alone and waited for another opportunity to tempt Him.
After this, Yeshua began to preach:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe the good news.”
To the Jewish people, the good news meant a restoration of the kingdom to Israel - that they would be delivered from the oppression of the foreign nations, and the rightful heir of David would again rule on the throne in Jerusalem.
While this is an important role of the Messiah, he had a much more important mission during his time on earth.
Before they are physically delivered from their enemies, they first needed to be spiritually delivered from their sins.
The salvation that He was to bring would be not only for the Jew, but for all people of the world.
Recall the curse that sin brought into the earth --
death
of the body and soul.
Jesus was fully human and dealt with all of the temptations, suffering, disappointments, and frustrations, yet
he never sinned.
This means that he was
not worthy of death.
He healed the sick, preached righteousness, cast out demons.
Many people began following Him and everywhere He went crowds would form to hear His words. He chose twelve disciples to follow Him closely and help spread the message of God's kingdom.
He corrected the errors of the religious leaders, and many of them were jealous of the crowds that followed him.
He exposed them for being the spiritual sons of that first enemy back the garden, Satan, because they misled the people and were hypocrites.
Because of this, they turned against Yeshua and sought to put him to death.
He knew they were going to put Him to death but He knew that this was also the plan of God. He fervently prayed asking that, if at all possible, He would not have to go through with the excruciating task.
The religious leaders, His countrymen, brought false accusations against Him and demanded that the Romans execute Him. To silence the mob, they carried it out.
They flogged him, put a crown of thorns on His head, mocked, beat, and spit upon Him, made Him carry His cross up a hill. They nailed Him to the cross and lifted it up. Suffering for hours, He cried out "Father forgive them, they don't know what they are doing." Then --
He died there
for you.
Jesus had sad "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."
The prophet Isaiah wrote long before this, "Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer;"
"By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities."
"Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities;"
"We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all."
"After the anguish of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied."
However, death could not hold him.
3 days later, the tomb was
EMPTY
The disciples were shocked to find that not only had the heavy stone been rolled away, but the body of their Master was missing! They soon found that the body was not stolen.
He had risen!
It was then that He began to appear to them.
This was no hallucination, and He was not a spirit.
All 12 of His core disciples saw Him after He rose from the dead.
He spoke with them, ate with them, and they were able to touch the side which was pierced for them.
After 40 days, He rose to the Father where He will be until He returns with tens of thousands of saints.
The Bible says that Jesus was
"was delivered up [to death] because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification."
We can be made right with God and have our sins washed away because Jesus died on the cross to cleanse us of our sin, to take on the punishment we deserve, and to give us the eternal life that He earned.
It's that simple. Believe. Turn from sin and turn to God, and He will receive you. Call out to Him.
"Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."