The Gospel in Four Points

​Ever feel like you need a refresher course on the main points of the Gospel? Maybe you know the Gospel but have a difficult time communicating it effectively. Or maybe you wholeheartedly believe in Jesus but aren’t super familiar with a lot of the details about God’s full plan of redemption. We are here to help! 

The word “Gospel” simply means “good news,” and we believe that the story of Jesus really is good news! It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of information and stories we have in the Bible that relate to the Gospel, so we narrowed it down to four basic points: God, Sin, Jesus, Kingdom. If you can nail down these four main themes found in the Gospel story, it becomes way easier to start filling in the gaps with details as you read and study the Word. This also provides a great framework to share the Gospel story with other people. Let’s jump in!
 
God
We believe that the God of the Bible created the universe and everything in it, from the greatest stars to the smallest particles in existence. He created all of it and declared it to be “good,” meaning that it was in line with His perfect plan. As His final act of creation, He made a man and a woman in His own image, declaring them also to be good and giving them free reign over His good world. They lived in perfect union with God, ruling over creation and walking with God every day. But the man and the woman soon encountered a problem.
(Genesis 1-2)
 
Sin
In a single moment both the man and the woman disobeyed their Creator, inviting sin into the world for the first time. Because of this one act, God’s good world became imperfect, prone to disease, natural disaster, and even death. This sin also caused a spiritual separation between people and God. Not only would the man and woman be separated from Him, but all people after them would experience this separation from the moment they came into existence. Nothing we do on our own can ever bring us back into perfect union with God. At this point in the story, death would mean eternal separation from God. Is there any hope for us?
(Genesis 3, Psalm 51:5, Isaiah 59:2, Romans 8:20-22)
 
Jesus
Our sin didn’t take God by surprise. From before creation He had a plan in place to rescue us and to bring us back into union with Him. God sent Jesus (His only Son) down to earth to live as one of us. He lived the perfect life that we couldn’t live and died the gruesome death that we deserve because of our sin. He was crucified on a Roman cross, a completely innocent man branded guilty in order to fulfill God’s plan. Three days later He rose from the grave by His own power, showing that He had beaten the death that sin had brought into the world. Now, if we believe in Jesus’ death and resurrection and turn away from our sin, knowing that we didn’t deserve it but that He freely gives us the gift of forgiveness and redemption, we can once again be in perfect union with God.
(John 3:16, Romans 4:20-25, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:1-10)
 
Kingdom
The concept of Kingdom is sometimes forgotten when we talk about the Gospel, but when Jesus was on earth, He came preaching the good news of the Kingdom. When we believe in Jesus, we become part of God’s Kingdom, where He currently rules and reigns over His people. One day, when Jesus returns, He is going to bring God’s Kingdom to the earth where He will be king over all things. The complete story of the Gospel sees not only our personal salvation, but also the restoration of the world into perfect union with God under His Kingdom rule. Our hope for the future is that one day Jesus will return and will make all things new.
(Matthew 4:23, Matthew 26:29, Mark 1:14-15, Acts 8:12, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Revelation 21-22)
 
 
Ultimately, the Gospel really isn’t about us at all. It’s about Jesus and what He’s done to save a broken humanity and restore a broken world. We simply get to play a small part in the bigger story that He’s still writing. Our role is to share this with the people around us: our family, friends, co-workers, and others we come in contact with. We pray that this is an effective tool to help you do that!
 
 
 
You’ll notice under each main point that there are several verses listed out. Use these to help deepen your understanding of each main point and how it relates to the Gospel story. 
​