The Good News of the Gospel
The good news begins with an accurate assessment of our condition. The world is not right and each of us is a victim and perpetrator. We cannot stop damaging ourselves or each other. This ruin springs from rejecting God and filling His place with lesser things. Our selfish pursuits fracture this world, offending God himself, yet he promises to do what we cannot.
God takes the initiative to rescue us according to His promises. Since the world went wrong it has been His purpose to set it right and does so be entering this world in Jesus Christ who is both God and man.
Jesus, unlike us, is whole in all aspects. Jesus wholeheartedly serves God and loves man, teaching a radical ethic of goodness to which only he conforms. Yet, instead of being favored by God and man He is rejected and unjustly executed, dying a shameful death on a cross. Death is not the last word. On the third day, Jesus rises from the grave.
In dying and rising Jesus chooses to take the place of sinful man to set him free. When Jesus is scorned by God as he suffers on the cross, he takes upon himself our alienation and God’s just anger at us. When He rises Jesus demonstrates that the power of sin and death has been broken. Being freed and forgiven by God comes by virtue of Jesus’ death and resurrection, not the sincerity or strength of His faith. The inner ruin of sin is healed through the presence of the Holy Spirit, God himself, whom Jesus sends to live in the heart. Instead of destroying ourselves, each other, and this world we are befriended by God and His restoring hand touches every area of life conforming us to the high ethic Jesus himself instituted.
Where to Go From Here
Having an interest in Jesus is a great starting point and is meant to be furthered through reading God’s word and connecting to a Christian community who will actively support your growth. We would feel privileged to walk with you through this process.
An important way to process the message of Jesus is to look at it from a couple of angles. Here are a few more pieces that might help you along: