What Is the Gospel?

 

The gospel - the good news or heart of the Christian message - is an announcement that the one true and living God, the generous, good, and loving Creator of all things, seen and unseen, great and small, has come in the humanity (flesh) of Jesus of Nazareth to inaugurate or launch God's Kingdom - the righful rule and reign of the Lord over creation.  The appearance of Jesus fulfills the promises, prophecies, purposes, and plans of God through the Hebrew people and witnessed in the First Testament.  Jesus is the seed of the woman, the Second Adam, the Son of Abraham, the second Moses, the Son of David, the Servant of the Lord, the Son of Man, and the eternal Son of God.  Jesus is God in the humanity/flesh of a real, particular person doing for us and for our salvation what God alone can do - Delverance comes from the Lord (Psalm 3:8).  

 
Through Jesus, who is the Messiah (the Christ of God), the Lord is fully and flawlessly revealed.  There is no revelation of God or from God that surpasses, supercedes, or supplants Jesus Christ - "in him the whole fullness of God dwells bodily."  Jesus perfectly embodies God's Way, God's Will, God's Word, God's Work, God's Truth, and God's Life.  Through His life, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus defeated the adversaries of God, the human family, and creation:  Sin, Death, Satan.  Jesus is the Liberator and the Savior of the world.  God's new creation begins through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, continues breaking into time and space through Jesus Christ's ongoing reign as ascended/enthroned Lord, and will come in fullness and with finality with the return of Jesus at the end of the age.  
 
THE GOSPEL IS AN ACT OF GOD
ESTABLISHING JESUS THE CHRIST AS KING AND LORD
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
FOR THE REDEMPTION, RENEWAL, RECONCILIATION
OF ALL THINGS 
 
Christians confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ and believe in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).  Becoming a Christian begins by declaring allegiance to Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. 
 
Jesus is our Savior, Healer, Liberator, and King.  The Gospel is not about what we do for God but what God is doing for us, in us, and through us by Jesus Christ - who is united to us and to whom we are united through faith and repentance.  Faith is ongoing trust and confidence in Jesus.  Repentance is continually turning away from the temptation of pursuing life apart from Jesus Christ.  Union with Jesus Christ is vividly demonstrated, enacted, experienced, and confirmed through the practices of baptism and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. 

 

Jesus is the heart of our faith community and our mission at Peace Haven Baptist Church of Winston-Salem.  All are welcome at Peace Haven Baptist Church of Winston-Salem and we encourage you to join us in the adventure of knowing and following Jesus.