The Gospel
God, Man, Christ, Response*
GOD
God is the creator of all things (Gen. 1:1), the Giver of every good gift (James 1:16-17). He created all things for His pleasure and glory (Gen. 2:7-18). He made man in His image to know, love, worship, and reflect Him (Gen. 1:26-28). He is perfectly holy and just, sovereign and good, worthy of all worship, and will punish sin (1 John 1:5, Rev. 4:11, Rom. 2:5-8).
MAN
All people, from Adam to the present day, are sinful by nature (Gen. 1:26-28, Ps. 51:5) and by choice (Rom. 2:4-6, Rev. 20:12). We all fall short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23). As a result, we are alienated from God, hostile to God, spiritually dead, and destined for both death and hell deserving of His holy wrath and eternal condemnation (Eph. 2:1-4). Every one of us is entirely hopeless and we are unable to save ourselves (Eph. 2:12).
CHRIST
In his great love, God sent His beloved Son Jesus, fully-man and fully-God (John 1:1), into the world to save sinners (John 3:16). He lived a perfect life and therefore did not deserve the punishment of death, nevertheless, He died on the cross, taking on himself the punishment for the sins of all those who would ever turn and trust in him (Rom. 3:21-26, 2 Cor. 5:21). He rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted His sacrifice and that God’s wrath against man had been exhausted (1 Cor. 15:20-22). (See also 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 7:26)
RESPONSE
He now calls all people to repent of their sins and believe in Christ alone for forgiveness. If we turn away from our sins and trust in Christ (Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21), we are redeemed me from sin and death (Rom. 8:2), forgiven and reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:17-18), and given eternal life with God, an inheritance that will never perish (John 3:16; 1 Peter 1:3-4).
* Outline adapted from “What is the Gospel?” by Greg Gilbert.