A man receives a phone call from his doctor.
The doctor says, “I have some good news and some bad news.”
The man says, “OK, give me the good news first.”
The doctor says, “The good news is, you have 24 hours to live.”
The man replies, “Oh no! If that’s the good news, then what’s the bad news?”
The doctor says, “The bad news is, I forgot to call you yesterday.”
The Gospel is a combination of bad news/good news story. To understand the Gospel first we need to understand the problem it has been designed to solve. To fully appreciate the good news, you need to understand the bad news behind it.
The Bible diagnosis of the human problem is sin. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . Gods standard of measuring the problem is not our own relative values but the absolute standard of God. God doesn’t define sin as just doing wrong things. He defines it as falling short of His glory. We may say
Oh, I have nothing to worry about, as long as my good works outweigh my bad.
Oh, I am just as good as the next person.
Most people measure their goodness against the goodness of other people. Many think they don’t have any problem with God because they compare favorably with those around them. But this is not how God sees you.
God holds you accountable for each act of sin. The Bible says that we are accountable to God for everything we do wrong. God will judge all sin without exception. It is for this reason that the problem of sin is targeted so aggressively and comprehensively by the Gospel. For the bad news is the foundation for the good news. The antidote is found in understanding the disease.
Sin
We often talk about ourselves having problems. But do you ever stop to think that God has problems with you. Your sin is the root cause of this problem. Sin separates us from God. Even a little evil stains the good in us and demands the judgment of God. He sees the inside, the rotten core of our heart that most others only see occasionally.
The Good News
The good news of the Gospel is that God sent His son Jesus to take our judgment on Himself. We were not only sinners; we were powerless sinners, powerless to save ourselves or to change ourselves. And so on the Cross, Jesus became our substitute. He didn’t just save us. He became salvation for us. This is the good news of the Gospel message.
On the Cross, the love of God and the holiness of God intersected. God’s holiness demanded judgment against us, but God’s love sent Jesus to pay the penalty in full. Both God’s holy standard and his loving compassion were satisfied. The barrier of sin, which had blocked out access to God, was completely removed in Christ Jesus. He did this so that we can live.
The good news of the Gospel is that through the Cross we now have peace with God. Another way of saying this is that we have been justified by the blood of Christ. Justification means that all of the court records in heaven that were against you have been wiped clean. You have not just been forgiven, the guilt itself has been wiped away. You no longer have a criminal record in heaven. There is no longer any judgment hanging over your head.
This is the incredible good news of the Gospel. The barrier of sin that stood between you and God has been completely done away with! You now have personal access into the presence of God. That means you can enter the presence of God, without shame and without fear, all because of the Cross of Christ. God wants to transform our life. God want us to have an intimate relationship with Him.
WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO RECEIVE THIS?
When we understand the gospel, the spirit of God brings conviction of sin in our heart. We need to repent for our sins. We need to be baptized in water and the spirit. We need to obey God throughout our life and the we can share this good news to the dead world.
