the Gospel

In the beginning, humans lived in harmony with God, each other and creation. They were dependent on God to show them what was good and life-giving. He was the source of all they needed to fulfill their role and purpose in the world. They trusted Him to lead them, provide for them, and rightly judge all things, and life was good (Gen. 1-2). Adam and Eve were created in God’s image and given the task of “ruling” creation, as outlined in Genesis 1:28-30 (see the article Rule and Reign). 

They were filled with Life from God and were able to care for the needs of each other and all of creation out of their fullness (Gen. 2:7-15). 

But when they believed the lies that they were told by the serpent, they became deceived and everything changed (Gen. 3:13). When they were deceived into believing that they could find Life outside of a relationship with God, they experienced death. This death did not mean immediate physical death, but spiritual death, which is separation from the Life Source that God was to them. They could no longer depend on God the way that they were designed to, and they were no longer able to fulfill the roles that they were created for. 

Because of their decision, the order of all relationships were corrupted and faced disintegration, and the entire world began to decay. God’s creation had been vandalized. This vandalism and corruption is called “sin”. Sin is anything that is a corruption of the way that we were designed by God to function. All people and all of creation have been affected by sin and are experiencing death in some form or another. But God promised to one day redeem all things back to the way they are supposed to be, He would someday send a Savior to die for sin (Isaiah 53). This Savior would be God Himself, and He would restore His Kingdom and bring back peace, justice and righteousness (Isaiah 9:6-7). 

The Gospel is the announcement that God is now fulfilling the promise He made to restore everything back to the way that it was created to be. Jesus conquered sin and death and is on His throne. The Kingdom of God has come into the world, and we can be a part of it. 

Anyone who chooses to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior becomes part of the new Kingdom. We do this by repenting (changing our mind) from believing the lie of the serpent: that we can find life in other things, and turn instead to Jesus alone to be our Source of Life. When we take this step, we become children of God, and we join Him in restoring all of creation back to what it was originally intended to be. 

When Jesus appears on the scene, the Kingdom of God arrives. A new world is born. The Gospel is much bigger than pardoning our personal sins, though that is part of it. The Gospel is that God has come in Christ, who has been made Lord, and a whole new world – the Kingdom of God – is here. Through Jesus, God has begun to make all things right. 

Jesus invites us to reorient our lives in such a way that we are depending on God as our Source of “Life”. This means that God becomes our source of value, significance and identity. He adopts us as His children, and makes us co-heirs with Christ and co-rulers with Him in His Kingdom.

So what about you?  Have you considered what it would mean for you to respond to the invitation of Jesus?  To be a part of His Kingdom Revolution?  To reorient your life around the reality that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, the King has arrived and is even now in the process of reversing the vandalization of His creation and restoring all things back to the way it was intended to be?