The Gospel of Jesus Christ
A loving God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, made mankind for blessed life with himself. Mankind showed (and continues to show) his ingratitude toward God by committing sin, which is rebellion against God. Because God is a just and righteous Judge, we all stand under his just judgment. But because God is also merciful and gracious, he made a Covenant of Grace in which he sent his only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be born as a man, live in perfect obedience to God, and die in the place of sinners in order to accomplish their salvation. God confirmed Jesus’s work by raising him from the dead. This loving God freely offers life and salvation to such sinners through Jesus Christ, calling them to repent of their sins and believe in him. Through faith alone, they receive Christ and his righteousness, which is credited to them for their justification before God. The Holy Spirit graciously enables this faith and repentance and guides those who are saved to live new lives.
The One, True, Loving God
“The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.” – Psalm 19:1
The gospel begins and ends with God who made us. Now, you may already raise the objection, “How do I even know that God is real?” The reality is that you already know God, whether or not you acknowledge him as God. You live in a world that you assume to be ordered and intelligible. You reason as though truth is real, you make moral judgments as though there are standards of right and wrong that transcend individual preference, and you live as though human life has meaning and purpose. You may reject the God of the Bible with your words, but you cannot consistently live or reason in the world he has made without depending upon him.
What is more, this God whom mankind rejects and denies because of sin nevertheless continually does good to us. That is not to deny the serious suffering and evil that occur in the world. These are consequences of mankind’s fall into sin and of the curse that has come upon creation because of it. Nevertheless, God continually shows kindness even to those who reject him. He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45). He allows us to enjoy the beauty of his creation, to give and receive love, and to be satisfied with many good things.
Yet all of this is but a shadow of the goodness for which he created mankind in the first place.
Man’s Ingratitude through Rebellion
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.’” – Genesis 1:27-28
When God created the first man and woman, he created them distinct from all other creatures by making them in his own image. In other words, he made man and woman to be like him and to reflect his glory on the earth that he created by filling it, stewarding it, and ruling over it. Though mankind owed all obedience to God as moral creatures formed by his hand, God saw fit to enter into a Covenant of Life with the first man (Adam), promising him the reward of everlasting life on the condition of perfect and personal obedience. Furthermore, God supplied everything that man needed for the keeping of this covenant, including the blessing of his presence dwelling with man.
However, man broke this covenant by disobeying God and serving himself, rather than his Creator. And because that Covenant of Life was made with Adam as the covenant head (representative) of all the human race that would come after him, that sin brought guilt and corruption of nature to all mankind. That means that every single person descending from Adam by ordinary generation is born into the guilt of Adam’s first sin, with a corrupted nature that continues in rebellion toward God. As Romans 5:12 states, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
Just Judgment for Sin
“But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.” – Psalm 9:7-8
Why can’t God just let it go? Why doesn’t he just look past our sin and let us all move on? It is because he is just. To use a human illustration, we know that those who have committed violent crimes should receive a just and appropriate judgment in a court of law. Let’s say that a prosecutor proves beyond a reasonable doubt that a certain defendant is guilty of the violent crime of which he is accused. Suppose that the judge in the case readily acknowledges that the defendant is guilty of the crime, but he nevertheless decides to drop the case and let the defendant go with no punishment whatsoever. We could all agree that that judge is an unjust judge.
Our sin ultimately is against God, the all-righteous Judge. What is right is perfect obedience to him and conformity to his Law, which is itself good and good for us. It would therefore be the height of injustice for God to allow sin to go unpunished, for it would be a denial of his own righteousness. We have a constant reminder of God’s justice toward sin due to the reality of death in this world, for death is a consequence of sin. That is why there is fear in approaching death for those who have no hope for their souls. They know that death means judgment, for “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
The Covenant of Grace (Or, How God Saves Sinners)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” – John 3:16-17
When the first man and woman sinned, God had every right to immediately put them to death and end his dealings with humanity right then and there. But he didn’t, because in eternity past he determined to have mercy upon sinners by a Redeemer whom he would send into the world: his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus came into the world to be the covenant head (representative) of all those whom God would save, just as Adam was the covenant head of all mankind in the beginning. As covenant head, Jesus stood in for all his people to be their righteousness before God by living a perfect life and satisfying God’s justice toward their sin by taking the punishment for that sin upon himself. He paid paid the debt for sinners by his suffering and death on the cross.
But Jesus did not remain in the grave. He was buried on the evening of his death, but on the third day, God raised him from the dead (Matthew 28:1-10) as his vindication, victory, and entrance into resurrection life as the firstfruits of his people. As the covenant head of his people, the Bible assures us that all who belong to Christ will also share in a resurrection like his.
The fact that Jesus alone is the one who accomplishes salvation is why we refer to this covenant as the covenant of grace. Grace means undeserved and unmerited favor. The cross puts the whole thing into perspective for us. Jesus was nailed to those wooden beams, upon which he bore in our place the full judgment and wrath that our sins deserved. There was nothing that we could possibly do to accomplish our own salvation. There was and is no way to earn God’s favor or forgiveness. We can only receive these things as God’s gracious gift through our merciful Lord and Savior, Jesus, who died for sinners.
The Offer of the Gospel
“And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’” – Acts 16:30-31
If you have come to recognize that you stand condemned before a just and holy God because of your sin, then how can you hope to be saved? By repenting of your sin and putting your faith in Jesus Christ. As a small child flees from danger and runs into his father’s arms for protection, so you must flee in the same way to Christ, entrusting yourself to him as your faithful Lord and Savior. Repentance involves turning from your sin out of grief and hatred for it and turning unto God. Faith is receiving and resting upon Christ alone as he is offered in the gospel.
Jesus also commanded that those who belong to him should be baptized. Baptism is not merely a declaration that we make about ourselves, but a sign and seal that God gives to his people. In it, he visibly represents and confirms the cleansing from sin, union with Christ, and work of the Holy Spirit that are promised in the gospel. Baptism also marks our admission into the visible Church, which consists of all those who profess faith in Christ, together with their children. For this reason, baptism belongs not only to those who personally profess faith in Christ, but also to their children, whom God includes within the visible covenant community (Acts 2:39).
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).
The Christian Life
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” – Acts 2:41-42
The ordinary Christian life is a life lived in communion with the visible Church. In this communion, Christians sit under the faithful preaching and teaching of the Bible, share in the fellowship of the saints, participate in the sacraments Christ has given to his Church, and join together in prayer and worship. These things ordinarily take place in local churches, which are to be governed by elders ordained to the task (1 Timothy 3:1-7), with ministers of the Word particularly called and ordained to preach the Scriptures and administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper (1 Timothy 5:17).
Please consider becoming a part of the effort to see such a church of the Reformed tradition planted in Paragould, AR. We are beginning with a Bible Study in the hope that it would please the Lord to gather enough people to form the foundation of a faithful Presbyterian church that would worship him in Spirit and truth and bear witness to him in this community for generations to come. If you are reading this, I would love to connect with you and seek to be an encouragement to you in the Lord. You can connect with me by sending an email to ReformationCrowleysRidge@gmail.com or by attending our next Bible Study meeting, which you can learn more about on this page.
