At Peine Ridge Church we talk a lot about “the gospel.” We use this word all of the time. Maybe you’ve heard people use it, too. But what does it actually mean? Simply put, the gospel is the good news about Jesus. We believe that it is such good news that it is foundational for how we view all of life and is necessary to hear, believe, and share with everyone.

Here is a brief summary of the good news about Jesus:

There is a God. He is Eternal, Self-existent, and Self-sufficient, needing nothing and no one. He is on the Glorious side of wonderful and the Infinite side of worthy!

And being such, He chose to glorify Himself; that is, to display His infinite worth by becoming the Creator and King of our entire universe, showing Himself to be on the Almighty side of strong and the Omniscient side of wise.

God, being God, does nothing, especially not creating the universe, on accident or arbitrarily, but does everything on purpose. And His purpose for us is that we would glorify and enjoy Him forever!

We all know that we do not always glorify and enjoy God. In fact, we never have, nor can we do so, perfectly, as we ought. But this didn’t begin with us, or our parents, or our grandparents; instead it began with our first parents: Adam and Eve.

The crowning jewel of God’s creation, the first humans, sinned against God by rejecting Him as King and seeking to be independent from Him. They made gods out of nothing (and less-than-nothing), and made nothing out of God.

In this sin, they fell dead in the Garden of Eden. And we fell dead in Adam, our representative, so that we receive both the same guilt/condemnation and corruption that he received.

And we see this everyday in ourselves, don’t we? We idolize things, people, activities, and more and devalue Him who is of supreme value! We, too, treat nothing as gods and God as nothing. This is sin. This is in our hearts from the moment of conception, and it comes out in our lives every day.

For this sinfulness, God, the Law-giver and Judge of everyone, must show Himself to be on the Holy side of good, the Perfect side of just, and the Terrible side of wrathful. This finds its fullest and final expression in the everlasting, punishing torment of sinners in Hell.

This is the fate of all human beings who have ever naturally come from Adam. We all are in a state of sin and misery from the womb, destined to hell, bearing God’s holy and just wrath forever.

But the supreme display of God’s glory is not in the pouring out of His holiness, justice, and wrath in Hell. Nor is it in His might and wisdom as seen in creation. These were never meant to be the ultimate expressions of His glory. They are the backdrop, the canvas, if you will, for the highest display of God’s glory.

Which is seen in Him becoming the Savior who is on the Merciful side of kind and the Gracious side of love.

He became that Savior by coming as Himself into this sinful, broken, and condemned world. God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus, to be conceived supernaturally and born sinless (which we are not). Jesus lived a completely sinless life (which have not and do not). He fulfilled the entire law of God perfectly (which we cannot). And then He died a wrath-bearing, justice-satisfying, forgiveness-producing, life-changing, and Eternal Life-giving death on a cross.

But He didn’t stay dead! For on the third day, Jesus rose again, conquering death and proving Himself to be the only Saving Lord over all. He, now ascended and reigning on High, is the actual and sovereign Savior of anti-deserving sinners. Jesus did all of this in the place of everyone who treasures and turns to Him alone in humble faith. This means trusting in and submitting to who He is and what He did to be sufficient for your salvation. And He will come again, just as He promised, to condemn all living and dead sinners who reject Him and to complete His saving work for all living and dead sinners who rest in and worship Him. As He does this He will perfectly restore and forever rule over the entire universe that He created to glorify and enjoy Him above all.

This is the gospel, the good news of God’s great grace for sinners in Jesus! If you want to know more about this or if you have other questions, please contact us.