The Gospel Explained

I think it's a shame that many Christians can't properly explain what the gospel really means. Some think it's making Christ a sort of life coach and buddy. Others think it means turning over a new leaf and trying to be good.

The Gospel Project has some excellent presentations of God's salvation plan. With animations and a well-thought- out script, their videos show that the Gospel is no recent addition but the basis for humanity's reclamation.

Right from the start, the Lord had a plan in mind to save humanity from the curse brought on us by Adam's sin. Genesis 4:3 and 4 (Bible in Basic English) demonstrates how God appointed animals as the substitutes for us to satisfy his justice. "And after a time, Cain gave to the Lord an offering of the fruits of the earth. And Abel gave an offering of the young lambs of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord was pleased with Abel's offering;"

Passover also showed, in graphic form, how a lamb was selected to atone for sins. Exodus 12:5 and 6 (BBE) tells us, "Let your lamb be without a mark, a male in its first year: you may take it from among the sheep or the goats: Keep it till the fourteenth day of the same month, when everyone who is of the children of Israel is to put it to death between sundown and dark."

An even more graphic portrayal of God's substitutional atonement is shown in Genesis 22:12 and 13 (BBE) when Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son. "And he said, 'Let not your hand be stretched out against the boy to do anything to him; for now I am certain that the fear of God is in your heart, because you have not kept back your son, your only son, from me.' And lifting up his eyes, Abraham saw a sheep fixed by its horns in the brushwood: and Abraham took the sheep and made a burned offering of it in place of his son."

We read in the New Testament how Jesus had a hard time getting the fact of his accomplished atonement through to the disciples. Two of them felt downcast as they walked away from Jerusalem, believing Christ was gone for good. After chiding them for their lack of understanding, he asked in Luke 24:26 and 27 (BBE), "'Was it not necessary for the Christ to go through these things, and to come into his glory?' And he made clear to them all the things in the Writings, from Moses and from all the prophets, which had to do with himself."

What an astonishing privilege it is that God, through Christ, gave us who surrender to him total forgiveness. Therefore, Christianity is no mere religion as some suppose.

And if our Lord hasn't returned by Thursday, I hope to post about what Sanctification means.