Why Do You Need The Gospel?

You might say, “What?” What is a gospel? Exactly! That’s a good question because most people today probably never use that word in the normal course of conversation.  I never did. Even after someone gave me the definition of “gospel” (good news!) I do not recall incorporating the term in my conversations. I don’t think I ever said, “Hey man, check this out... I got some gospel today. I just got a promotion.” Who says that? The word is foreign to many people outside of churches. So the word “gospel” we usually hear, if at all, in religious conversations. And I did not have very many “religious” conversations back then.

So let’s define G O S P E L.

As recorded in Luke chapter 2 verses 10-11, the angel of the Lord said to shepherds, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Savior means “deliverer – preserver." Savior, for the Jew, meant the Messiah, King of Israel. But this Savior born in Bethlehem would be crucified in Jerusalem because Israel rejected Him.

Then the Apostle Paul gives us the definitive verses in 1 Cor. 15:1-8, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Peter, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep (died). After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. (repetition in the Bible is for EMPHASIS)

Generally speaking, the word “gospel is used in the NT especially of the glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God, and of the salvation to be obtained in it through Jesus Christ. In Christianity specifically, it means “the glad tidings (good news) of salvation through Jesus Christ.”


So, why do YOU need The Gospel?

The short answer is... because there IS a hell, and the ONLY way to Heaven is Jesus Christ. I know, I know... that storyline is not as popular as Harry Potter or Star Wars, but they are not real and can’t save you. Jesus can! You might say, “What do you mean “saved” ...saved from what? I don’t need to be saved. I can take care of myself.” That would be incorrect. You don’t KNOW you need to be saved... and no, you CAN’T “take care” of yourself.

You don’t know you need to be saved because you have not considered (or won’t accept) the coming judgement of ALL mankind in which you stand already condemned, along with everyone who has rejected the free gift of the Grace of God in Jesus Christ.
John 3:17-18 says, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And as far as “taking care of yourself”... How’s that going for you so far? Do you have everything you need; everything you want? Are you successful, are you happy, are you wealthy, does everybody loves you, are you healthy? That’s great! You have everything you are ever going to have... until you die. And then you will lose everything, including your eternal soul.

Did you notice that word E T E R N A L ?

Yeah... your soul lives on. Actually, I should say “exists” because having refused God’s salvation in Jesus Christ, your soul will eternally DIE. Yeah, that’s a difficult concept, eternal death. We are conditioned to believe that we live until we die and then... that’s it! But some people like to think that “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Not true. He is as lost as he who dies with no toys at all.
So let’s define death.

In order to have a proper perspective, and therefore an accurate understanding of death, we need to go back to the beginning. Yes, In the beginning, God created Adam. Gen. 2:7, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The definition of “breath of life” and “living soul” is interpreted to mean “eternal life” as brought out in subsequent verses of the Bible.
But Adam sinned, which means he rebelled against God by disobeying the one and only commandment.

Gen. 2:16-17, And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall surely die.”
Up until this very point in time of Adam’s disobedience, there was NO death. Death is just separation! Separation of the soul from the spirit, the body from the soul, and all three separated from each other. That is physical death. The power of satan is that he can separate you from God by your rebellion, your pride, your disobedience, your unbelief... which is what satan did originally against God Almighty. That is spiritual death, which was immediate for Adam, and us. satan introduced death by his separation from God.

With regard to death in the spiritual condition, the spirit (pneuma, breath of life, Gen. 2:7) returns to God. The soul does not cease to exist. It is eternal. God’s Life is not a temporary thing. He intended Adam to live forever with Him. The body though, now, decays because of death... and ALL of creation has been “corrupted” with the decay of death – Rom. 8:19-21, For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

So our souls are eternal. It is either eternally alive in Christ (salvation) or it is eternally dead in sin. That is the state of existence for man.

So, why do YOU need The Gospel?

The short answer is... because there IS a hell, and the ONLY way to Heaven is Jesus Christ.

You decide.