What's Our Message?
We focus on the Gospel every week -- but what does that mean?
The Bible tells us that the most important message for everyone in the cosmos is the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible calls this Good News (that's what the word "gospel" means). It is an announcement of what God has done in Christ.
The Bible syas that God was in Jesus rescuing us from sin and judgment. This is the Gospel. The Bible does not flatter us. It tells us that by instinct we are selfish and proud. We will do anything to make it on our own. We want to live independently of God. We will even be very religious as a way to show God that he is wrong and to prove we are not as bad as he says!
Look around, and you will see our selfishness everywhere. You will see it in petty arguments or shoplifting, in conflict in marriage or family. You will see it in cheating on taxes or murder. We see it in the things we do, and in what we fail to do too.
Christianity says that God takes our sin as a personal offense. He is our Creator and we willingly reject him. He will bring judgment upon us. Worse yet, we cannot make ourselves better before God.
Here is the amazing news. We were helpless and guilty, but Christianity says that Jesus did all that we need to be restored to a right relationship with God. He died for sin as he hung upon the Roman cross. He died in our place, as a substitute. Sounds crazy doesn't it? How can someone dying the death of a vile criminal 2000 years ago be the Savior of all people? The Bible tells us that it is because he was and is God the Son. Because he died in love for us and because he was innocent and fully paid for our sin, God raised him from death forever. The work was done!
What makes Christianity unique is that it proclaims what God has done. It is not advice or a set of rules for a moral or religious life. It is the declaration of a finished work.
And the finished work is not the teachings or the miracles of Jesus. The finished work is what he accomplished by his death. Christianity is not about the teaching of Jesus, or his life and character and love. It is about his death. At the heart of the Christian message is this truth -- Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again from death oin the third day.
If you want to hear our message you can go HERE.
