The Gospel Matters by Andrew Barker

In our world today, there are many groups of people who have instantaneous access to so much information. With little time to discern its truth, we witness competing philosophies and differing opinions filling the media landscape. The sheer volume of differing views causes some to feel that the Gospel is outdated, too complicated, or worse, irrelevant, for our world today. Despite these claims, when we take the time and effort to read the message of Jesus Christ, we are gifted with a wondrous and simple message of good news. This Good News holds God’s promise of the forgiveness of sin, promotes the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and provides us with the hope of an everlasting life in our Father’s heavenly kingdom. The Good News bridges the gap that sin has torn open between the Creator and His creation and compels us to join in the work of new creation.

This truth stands with integrity amidst the steady bombardment of data and opinion and the quest for the ultimate meaning of life. The message of the Gospel is not complicated, even though we often try to make it complicated. It is the eternal Word of God and remains the primary source of hope and good news for all people throughout time.

What Is the Gospel Message? A Simple Explanation

The beautiful and simple message of the Gospel has, at its heart, the love and truth of Jesus himself. Put simply, the Good News is this: God loves you. Out of that love comes the promise that, through Jesus, God offers forgiveness, restores our broken relationship with Him, and transforms our lives so that we can do his ongoing work in the world with Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Good News is simple, yet it changes everything. Through the powerful work of the Gospel, lives are transformed, souls are saved, hope is restored, and all are called into a redeemed and renewed relationship with God for shalom of the Kingdom.

In Romans 1:16, Paul shares that the Gospel is not just a philosophy or idea but the actual “power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…” In the same message, Paul tells us that we do not need to be ashamed of this power. To put it simply, the message of the Gospel is eternal and has the power to change lives still today. We need the Gospel, and through God’s grace, are invited daily to not only receive this good news but live in it and through it.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

Why Do We Need God? Understanding Sin and the Human Condition

Scripture is clear in its description that as humans we all long for more than the world alone can offer. Ecclesiastes captures this reality by saying God has “set eternity in the human heart.” Human hearts and minds sense that something is missing within, and trying to fill that emptiness with earthly pursuits and promises leaves us feeling empty and hollow. We can all confess to moments when life has not gone according to our plans. Relationships break down, we experience limits to our own strength and understanding, and disappointments pile up. Awareness of the resulting discomfort and incompleteness is not accidental; it is God’s grace at work in our lives. The realities and experiences of life point us to a profound realization; we need help… we need God. One beautiful aspect of the Gospel is that God’s grace goes before us and awakens in us an understanding that our longing is a yearning for Him. 

God, in His love, reaches out to us before we ever respond or recognize his presence. This pre-eminent grace is vital. God continues to seek us and call us towards an ever-deepening relationship with Him, a new and full life with Him, and it happens even before we are aware of it. The message of the Gospel is not about behavioral modification, it is about restoration of our most basic relationship, our connection with God. The Gospel meets us in our moments of need not with condemnation but with an invitation.

At times, it can be tempting to reduce sin down to mere rule breaking.  However, Scripture presents us with a much deeper picture of the reality of sin in our lives and in the world. Isaiah 59:2 states, “… your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Sin not only disrupts our relationship with God but also plays havoc with our relationships with others and how we feel about ourselves. Romans 3:23 clearly states that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” I have heard it said many times that sin is missing the mark. Sin is not merely doing wrong, but it results in us missing out on the fullness of life that God longs for us to have. 

Sin fractures our relationships and distorts our love. Sin creates both personal and social challenges. The effect of sin is seen not only in our personal lives but reflects out into society through disharmony, warped values, unjust systems and practices, and violence. We not only sin by what we do, but we also sin by what we fail to do. James 4:17 remarks, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” 

God does not reveal our sin to shame us. He illuminates our sin to help us acknowledge the damage it has created, turn away from sin, and come to Him and be healed. God convicts, He does not condemn. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17) Through conviction, we are led to pray similar words to Psalm 139: 23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.”  

“Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:10-12

How Does Jesus Transform Our Lives?

Like a shining light, the Gospel pierces through the backdrop of the darkness of sin. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5) Jesus Christ, Immanuel (God with Us), who is the Light of the World, stands at the center of this true story. Jesus lived among us, died, and rose again to reconcile us to God. Romans 5:6,8 summarizes the greatest news we have ever received. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The good news, the Gospel, proclaims redemption and forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7), the promise of a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17), and a restored relationship with God (Romans 5:1). All of this is brought about through the love and work of Jesus. The Good News does not end there; we are also transformed through the Holy Spirit and God’s continual grace. We become disciples of Jesus who are empowered to grow in holiness and love. As Titus makes clear, “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.” (2:11-12) Beyond mending our relationship with God, through God’s grace we can also experience healing in our relationships with ourselves, others, and the world.

The Gospel is beautifully simple. It is not shallow or complicated. The Gospel reveals the truth of Jesus. In Jesus, we not only have a Saviour, but a Healer, Teacher, Redeemer, Comforter, Shepherd, Lord, and King. In Jesus, we have the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6). The Gospel is an invitation to a transformed life and an ongoing journey of grace.

“When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7

What Does It Mean to Live as a Disciple of Jesus?

Receiving the Gospel is the beginning of our life as disciples of Christ. We are called to follow him and grow in faith and spirit. “O then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7)

John Wesley describes growing and experiencing more of God and his goodness through the means of grace. These means are not ends unto themselves or ways to earn God’s favor. They are ways in which we enjoy and grow in his presence and grace. Scripture reading, prayer, fellowship, and acts of mercy are ways that enable us to grow deeper in faith and experience God’s love and grace more fully. These behaviors are modelled by the early church as “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42)

Living in the Gospel truth shapes our lives and alters how we see ourselves, others, and the world. We grow in love – love for God and love for others. Jesus made it unmistakably clear in John 13:35 when He said, “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We are called to holiness and are invited to experience the love and grace of God increasingly each day. As we ourselves grow in love and holiness, that same love and holiness reveals itself through our love of neighbor, justice, humility, and service – and compels us to do the good therein. 

Living out the Gospel encompasses far more than a solitary journey in search of personal holiness. It requires commitment to the communal pursuit of a common goal – becoming effective disciples of Christ through reconciled community – the church. As a body, we are called to be salt and light and to spread that salt and light to others through lives of following Jesus in Kingdom living. A devoted and unified church who, through our own transformed lives fleshed out in everyday community, bears witness to these truths in the lives of others. This is the good news being lived out today.

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

The Gospel Is an Invitation to New Life

The Gospel may be simple, but that does not mean it is not powerful. The truth of the Gospel continues to stand unscathed and victorious throughout all generations. The call to a life of devotion can be answered by anyone and everyone. The message of the Gospel brings with it a lifetime of transformation. The Good News tells us that we are loved before we “get it right”; and we are forgiven before we are perfected. We are invited into a relationship with the Lord God that takes us on a journey of holiness shaped by grace that has a Kingdom impact in the lives of others.

The Gospel is an invitation. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30). To receive the Gospel is to accept the invitation to a life that allows God’s grace to shape every aspect of who we are and how we live. Praise God for this wonderful news!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17