Why are we here?
What is life all about? Why do we exist? Does anything in life really even matter? The Bible, God's Word, contains the answers to these questions and many more that have plagued people for thousands of years. The Scripture's answer to these questions was summarized several hundred years ago with the truth, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." To understand how you glorify God and enjoy Him, you must understand the gospel message from the Bible!
The gospel is the best news you will ever hear! Because it explains how God deals with the number one problem you and every person faces in their life. The reality that the Triune-God, Father, Son, and Spirit is holy while you are not. God is the Creator, Ruler, and Sustainer of all things. He is just, and He will judge each person when they die based upon His perfect, holy standard of righteousness revealed in the Bible. Your problem is that you are not holy or righteous in and of yourself. And, a holy God cannot allow a sinful person to be in His presence. This is a massive problem for sinners, which we all are. Even our best efforts fall immeasurably short of perfect righteousness as we sin throughout every day in our thoughts, attitudes, actions, and the words we speak. And, even if we somehow go an hour without breaking God's law, we still fail to keep it as God has commanded. We live in a fallen, sinful world and are born with a sinful nature in bondage to sin. The reality is your best efforts to be sinless fail before you even start. Everyone is dead in their sins. And, if this is where everything ended, life would be miserable, pointless, and guaranteed to end in destruction.
But, God!
God, in His own good pleasure, choose to save for Himself a people. The Lord knows you are unable to work your way to holiness and to Him. So, loving His people before they loved Him, He moved to save a people greater in number than the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on all the earth's beaches. God the Father gave these people, the Church, to His Son as a gift. And, the Son willingly came to earth in the incarnation, taking on flesh that He might keep the law perfectly and live without sinning. Jesus, the God-man, died on the cross, paying the penalty for the sins of His people as His perfect righteousness was given to them. Then three days later, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. His resurrection testified that He, the God-man, did save His people from their sins. This reality is made real in the lives of God's people when the Spirit applies salvation by giving spiritual life to those whom the Father choose and the Son redeemed. By God's grace, you are saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone. All those who ask God to forgive them for their sins while turning to belief in Jesus Christ for their salvation are adopted into God's family, the Church. This adoption is recognized by your baptism into the visible Church. God blesses His children with fruitful lives lived by faith in the power of the Spirit and in union with Jesus Christ. That they may over time be made more and more like their Savior Jesus through sanctification. God's amazing grace casts your sin, guilt, and shame away as far as the east is from the west! By God's grace, you are given faith in Jesus Christ, who reconciles you with God, who adopts you into an eternal relationship with the Triune-God! Salvation also brings you through Christ into a relationship with everyone else whom the Lord has saved. This relationship exists in the local church, which is part of Christ's Church. When you are in Christ, you are never alone!
The significant aspects of the gospel are as follows.
God is Holy
Bible: Genesis 1-2, Psalm 19, Revelation 4
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah 6:3
God is the source of all things. He reveals through the Bible that He created you, the universe, and everything in existence. He created man to love, serve, and enjoy Him forever. God is holy. His character is perfect, and He cannot even look upon sin. God is just, and He hates all evil.
Man is Sinful
Bible: Genesis 3, Romans 5-6, 1 John 1
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
Our first parents Adam and Eve sinned against God and caused the entire human race to fall. Instead of loving God, we rebel and sin against Him. Man's sinfulness has separated us from God. We are sinful in our nature and sin every day by breaking God's law. We justly deserve eternal punishment from God, who is holy. All people will be held accountable for every one of their thoughts, words, and actions.
Jesus Christ is the Savior
Bible: John 3, 10, Mathew 28, 1 Peter 3
"There is salvation in no one else" Acts 4:12
The gospel is good news for sinners. Jesus, the Son of God, became a man and lived a perfect, sinless life. Jesus is the God-man. He was the only person who has never deserved the penalty of eternal punishment from God. Jesus Christ died on the cross, taking upon Himself the punishment for the sin of all those who will repent and trust in Him. Then, three days later, He rose from the dead.
Repentance and Faith is the Answer
Bible: John 5, Acts 17, Ephesians 2
"Repent and believe in the gospel" Mark 1:15
God commands you to turn away from your sin and to trust in Jesus Christ alone for your forgiveness and salvation. If you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ revealed in the Bible, and what He has done for sinners, you will be saved! Christ places His perfect righteousness upon those who repent and trust in Him. This righteousness brings you into eternal life and communion with Him. There is no denying this isn't just good news; it's amazing news!
The New Life of the Christian
Bible: 1 John, 1 Corinthians 6
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17
When God saves a person, He gives them a new nature. No longer are they in rebellion to God because now they love Him. A believer is not perfect, but there are fruits of salvation that will begin to appear in a believer's life that show they are changed. The book of 1 John explains how a person is assured of their salvation in Jesus Christ. As a new believer, you will be growing in your love for God and other Christians. You will desire to obey God's commandments out of love for Him. You will begin to see victory over sins that you have previously struggled with. You will never be sinless, but you should look more and more like Jesus every day through sanctification. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone!
The Christian Life in God's Family
Bible: Matthew 28, John 1, Ephesians 1
"In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." Galatians 4:3-7
God the Father adopts believers into His family upon salvation, and through baptism, they are admitted into the Church. The New Testament is written with the understanding that except in rare situations, Christians live their lives as members of a local church. In the local church, you experience the means of grace during corporate worship on the Lord's Day. Jesus Christ is the one Who provides His people the gifts of elders and deacons to care for their spiritual and temporal needs in local churches worldwide. As a member of Christ's body, it is in the context of the local church that the Holy Spirit works in and through you to care for your brothers and sisters in Christ. We invite you to visit Christ Church Presbyterian to learn more about becoming part of the church!
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