the gospel
who is Jesus?
Jesus was a man like you and me, with one exception…He was perfect. He never sinned, though He was tempted to sin like you and I are tempted. He lived about 2000 years ago, and all human history has been shaped by His life. He was unique because though He was fully man, He was – and is – fully God.
His life was one of love. We don’t know much about His life until He was 30 years old. What we do know is that He was a carpenter and worked with His earthly father, Joseph. When He was around 30 years old, He began His three-year ministry, which would eventually lead Him to die on a Roman cross for the sins of the world.
His three-year ministry was absolutely amazing. We are told that He did so many good works that there aren’t enough books to record everything He did! He healed the sick, fed the hungry, befriended the outcast, loved the unlovely, and died for sinners.
He was the greatest man to ever live and He remains that. While He was living, His very own people (the Israelites) did not accept Him or believe He was their King.
They scorned Him and were instrumental in bringing about His death. His death did not take Him by surprise. The Bible is clear that this was God’s plan from the very beginning. Jesus would come to die for those He created and who had sinned and fallen short of His glory.
what is Jesus's message?
His message is called the Gospel. This word simply means “good news”. It is good news because Jesus lived the life we are commanded to live but are incapable of living.
We are all commanded by God to live a perfect life without sin. We are all very aware that we are unable to do this. Therefore, because of our sin, we are justly punished by being separated from God for eternity when we die. Our sin earns us eternal condemnation.
GOOD NEWS! We do NOT have to resign ourselves to eternal condemnation. Jesus came and lived a perfect life to keep us from eternal separation from God.
The Gospel means He lived a perfect life on our behalf and died in our place, taking the punishment that we were due. The Gospel (good news) is that if we call out to Him for forgiveness and believe and trust in His work and sacrifice on the cross on our behalf, a Great Exchange can happen.
The Great Exchange is that Jesus’ perfect life will be counted toward us and all our sin will be counted toward Him. He died the death we should have died on the cross. He was substituted, by God for us. Now, by the grace of God through faith, we can have forgiveness of all our sin and experience eternal life with God.
This message is the most amazing message in the world. It is the most important decision you can make in your life. Trust Christ and His work on the cross for you and your sin. Believe in Jesus today and receive His forgiveness and grace.