The Gospel of Jesus Christ

The word ‘gospel” means “good news”. The title of this page could read “The Good News of Jesus Christ. The name “Jesus” actually means “the Lord saves” or “'savior”. (Matthew 1:21)  The word “Christ” is a title and not Jesus’ last name, which means “messiah” or “the anointed one of God”. So, the title could be “The Good News of The Lord Who Saves, Our Savior, Jesus The Messiah or The Anointed One of God”
Before you can appreciate the “good news’ you must first understand and accept the ‘bad news”.
The Bad News: If you read the first two chapters of Genesis you’ll find that God created the world perfectly good and holy and “sin” did not exist. To sin means “to miss the mark” or to not meet the expectations of God.  In chapter 3 of Genesis you’ll read how sin came into the world, which brought with it eternal death to our soul’s and bodies.  Man died spiritually that horrific day. Man is no longer able to meet the expectations of God and we are all born that way. See (Psalm 51:5)  For now in the realm of men evil contaminates any good that he would inspire to do. (Isaiah 64:6) The ultimate consequence of man’s disobedience of God brings a righteous judgment of an eternity in hell. On Mount Sini God reveled to Moses his laws, which if kept perfectly, a man’s salvation could be secured.  But, because no one is able to receive the law’s promise of salvation through obedience, we all are deserving of condemnation in hell, for we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. See (Romans 3:23) and (Romans 5:12)  But wait, our heavenly Father has some good news, he promises us a savior.  In (Isaiah 53:1-12) you will read about the prophecy of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
 The Good News: Our loving heavenly Father anointed his only begotten son to be our substitute and suffer the punishment of sin for the whole world. (John 3:16)  “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1) Christ—his life, his suffering, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, his promise to return—is the center of the Gospel. Jesus lived his life perfectly, without sin, and his righteousness is imputed to us through faith in him. (Romans 5:17-19)  His suffering and death on the cross served as payment for our transgressions and we have been reconciled to God. His resurrection has made us heirs to eternal life in heaven. The GOOD NEWS IS forgiveness of sins and eternal life are a free gift from God for the whole world. This life is received by faith alone, to all those who believe and are baptized.  Satan and this world have been defeated by Jesus, sin and death no longer have any power over us.  (1 Corinthians 15:55)
 “To contrite sinners the gospel says, “Your sins are forgiven.” To Christians, no matter how weak or frail your faith may be at any given moment, the gospel says, “You are God’s child and an heir of everlasting life.”[1] The gospel speaks of the finished work of Jesus, so there is nothing left for the sinner to do but have faith in Jesus and even that faith is a gift of God! (Ephesians 2:8-9)
“God, who planned the world’s salvation, has also determined the means by which we may come to know and believe in Christ. The means of grace by which God channels or brings his grace to us are the gospel in the Word and the sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.”[2]

1. The Word - “The Gospel According to ST. John” is a great place to start learning  about the “Good News” of Jesus Christ. In (John 1.1) the Apostle John reveals to us that Jesus is the Word.  Along with the other gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the other books of the Holy Bible Jesus is revealed to us as the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6)  (Romans 10:17) “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
2. Baptism – through baptism we are spiritually reborn and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Read (John 3:1-8) Jesus explains baptism.  (Matthew 28:19), (Mark 16:16), (Galatians 3:26-27) (Acts 2:38-39) and (1 Peter 3:21)
3. The Lord’s Supper – Jesus says the following concerning the Lord’ Supper in (John 6:51-56), (Matthew 26:26-30), (Mark 14:22-26), (Luke 22:17-19), (1 Corinthians 10:16) and (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)

We are not able to amply supply all the nuances of the gospel here, but we hope to serve as a pointer to Jesus Christ and inspire more than a passing interest in our Lord and Savior.  What Jesus has done for us is the greatest display of love the world will ever know.  All honor, glory and love to Jesus forever and ever. Amen!