Introduction

The gospel is one of four pillars that show us what is most important to God. The pillars are God’s glory, God’s kingdom, God’s law, and God’s gospel. The gospel pillar helps us understand the other pillars. The gospel shows us how Jesus fulfilled God’s law. It shows us how Jesus established (and one day will consummate) God’s kingdom. It shows us how Jesus reveals God’s glory in a unique and climactic way. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” (Hebrews 1:3). His name is Jesus because He saves His people from their sins; He is God with us (Matthew 1:21-23). We live in a world where me, myself, and I are most important. But God’s priorities differ. His glory, kingdom, law, and gospel show us his priority. Here we focus on the gospel.

Good News

If there were only minutes before we never spoke again, I would speak of the gospel. It is spring water in the desert of despair. If I were at your death bed I would speak of the gospel. If you are at my deathbed, I beg you please, speak of the gospel. I find rest in it. Sing that sweet song to me, the song of Jesus and the shed blood. Remind me of forgiveness. Christ warms the coldest heart, and mine leans that way on the best of days. He is the saving flame in this winter of sin. I would speak to you, therefore, of the gospel of God and I would ask you to do the same. Why must there be some awkward silence, or some killing the time with talk of trivial things? It is not sports, weather, current events, new movies or the like that can comfort my soul. Only Jesus.

“His banner over me is love” (Song of Solomon 2:4). His love comforts me. It gives me hope. Do you hear Him, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3)? Hear Him with an ear of faith. Be His.

The word gospel means good news (Luke 2:10; Mark 1:15; Romans 1:1-4, 15-17). The gospel is the good news of Christ’s redemptive suffering and glory, the Bible’s overarching story. The essence of the gospel message is simple: Though sinful man be separated from the Holy God and Creator of all things, Jesus, by virtue of His suffering unto death and resurrection unto glory, reconciles sinners to God through the working of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.

(1.) The Holy God and Creator

(2.) The Separation of Sinful Man

(3.) Christ’s Redemptive Death and Resurrection

(4.) The Mighty Working of the Holy Spirit in the Sinner’s Heart

The Nature of the Gospel

I want to discuss the nature of the gospel message as a prelude to the substance, or the essence of the gospel message. By nature the gospel is news. It declares. It announces. It reports news. The gospel is not advice, rules, or therapeutics. News is different than advice. Advice is about what you should do in the future. News is about something that has already happened. The gospel is not advice, but news. Nothing anyone does can change the fact that the gospel events already happened. News is also different than rules. Rules are about things you must do and things you must not do. The gospel is not a set of rules, but news. Yes, God does have moral requirements and moral prohibitions, but these are law not gospel. The news is, “Jesus kept the law for you,” if you trust Him.

Finally, news is different than therapeutics. If you are drowning at sea, you do not need a rescue boat to stop beside you and try to help you find true happiness and meaning in your situation. You need them to rescue you. “Help! Help me please!” Therapeutics make you feel better and are often needed in different ways. My point is not that they are necessarily bad, though they can be abused and misused. My point is that the gospel is not therapeutics. The gospel does not float by you shouting things to make you feel a bit more happiness, joy, peace, and sense of meaning before you drown. The gospel gives Spiritual life to the spiritually dead. The gospel means to save you.

The gospel, furthermore, is not for self-help, self-esteem, or another form of man-centered positive thinking. The gospel wants you to see yourself truly, and the truth is that we cannot help ourselves. We need help from God through the gospel. The truth is that we should not hold ourselves in high esteem. We should see ourselves with the low esteem appropriate to wicked sinners driven by selfishness and hardened against God. We are all “under sin” (Romans 3:9). “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Esteeming ourselves instead of God is the problem; how then could having more esteem in ourselves be the solution?

The truth is, contrary to the message of pop-culture, there is no reason to think more highly of ourselves. What we need most is to think higher and higher of Jesus and lower and lower of ourselves. This is counter-culture; it is the road to life. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12). “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

The gospel aims for both the head and the heart, not one or the other. Jesus wants both your thinking and your affections. Know Him; cherish and desire Him. God wants you to believe the truth about Him, and He wants you to love Him above all things. The gospel does not call sinners to self-made moral improvement or shallow religious performance. It calls sinners to die to sin and live to God. Lastly, the gospel is not a way for you to gain material riches, physical health, or various worldly comforts and perks in life. This demonic counterfeit of the gospel has been peddled for millions of dollars by false teacher preying on the masses. They have their reward; and they will reap what they have sown.