It is Simple, It is Him

 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11 ESV)

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Gospel; He is the good news, the Euangѐlion (Ευάγγελοv). There are those who mock the gospel. The New Age Emergent church asks if Jesus was not dead and what He was preaching. “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” (Matthew 4:23).

The prosperity preachers twist the gospel. They mock scripture because they do not know Christ, and they do not understand scripture. They want to make up what they believe in scripture and what they do not. They want to deconstruct the Christian faith into something so watered down that all those who believe in that version will perish.

It is this simple: The Son of God came from heaven in the incarnation. He became man, preached of His own coming, and forgave sins for those who believed that He was who He said He was, the Son of God, the “I am.” He loved His creation so much that Jesus, within the Trinity, agreed to bear the sins of humankind.

Jesus said who He was and then was silent. He was beaten and tortured by the Jews and the Romans. He was mocked and spit upon. Jesus went to a tree to which He was nailed through the hands and feet, becoming a curse (Galatians 3:13). He gave mercy to a thief (Luke 23:43), and He prayed for those who persecuted Him (Luke 23:34). Jesus became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), bore that sin, and drank the wrath of God. Sinless perfection, transcendently pure Jesus became sin, tasting what he abhorred yet never sinning.

Jesus died a physical death. He was prepared for burial in the Jewish tradition by Joseph of Arimathea and the Pharisee Nicodemus (John 19:38-42). Jesus lay underground for three days. On the third day Christ rose again alive in an eternal body. In doing so, he demolished sin and death, erasing all sin for those who believe in Him. For 40 days, people saw Jesus on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), outside the tomb (John 20:15,) in the rooms of the Apostles (John 20:19), and in the sea of Galilee, where he ate fish with the apostles (John 21:4-14).

There is no question about what gospel Jesus preached. There is no question that He is the Son of God who ascended to heaven and is seated at the Father's right hand. There is no doubt that He came and will come again.

Those who mock Him. Those who pick and choose what they believe in scripture. Those who doubt the wrath of God will believe one day. Unfortunately, they may come to this belief in hell. Oh yeah, hell does exist. Do you want to know how I know? Open your Bible and read the words of Jesus. He told us more about hell than anyone else in the Bible.

This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not a book or books; it is a person, the person of Jesus Christ, a living being, the Son of God. Paul taught it, and so did the other apostles.

Is Jesus your Savior? Are you waiting for an invitation? You already have one.

Praise be to God, Praise to our Lord Christ Jesus!

Grace and Peace!