The Gospel

So today, I was thinking, "It'd be pretty cool to have a shirt that got people's attention about the Gospel." So I went online, made a shirt that states, "Ask Me About The Gospel" and bought it. It should be coming pretty soon. I'm kinda excited about it, but also, I want to make sure I am prepared that I know how to explain the Gospel... Hmmm, what exactly is the Gospel? Is it similar to a story about a superhero who comes in saves the day? Or is it a romantic drama in the sense that out of his great love for us, He came and died for us?... It has to be so much more than that though.
Lets start from the beginning. God created everything perfectly. Spotless. He made man and called him "very good." The man fell into temptation, and he lost everything, including his own life. At that moment, everything should have stopped. We shouldn't even be here. Adam and Eve deserved to be wiped off the face of the Earth. They had made what was completely Holy, dirty. I don't think we understand the overwhelming effect of this. Because of sin, our goal in life became in impossible. Our fellowship with God was torn apart. We fell into a pit of sin...
...But God threw a rope. No, more than a rope. His son. He gave up the life of His son to save us. Why? Because it was a part of His plan. Why do we think we are so important in God's plan for the world? In Exodus 32:9-10 He says, "9 “I have seen these people,” the LORD said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
Right now, the only reason you are currently living, reading this blog, and breathing is by the Grace of God. Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, at the very beginning talks about how we are standing over the fire of hell on a thin piece of material. If we were to fall or slip, merely by our weight, then we would burn in eternal hell. Is it not humbling to know that if you merely slip, you will perish forever?
I want you to know this very important fact, though; that God loves you even though you sin. Christ died for those He has saved, and will do everything in His power to draw them closer to Him. We need God. I don't think we understand how much, but we need Him. Every hour I need you. God knows that the one thing that can save us is Him, that's why He calls us to Him.
Because man had sinned, man needed someone in it's race to be perfect. However, because sin nature has descended to every man, no man could become perfect, because no man was born with the ability to be perfect. Then came Christ, who was born of a special birth, not into the line of sin nature. He had to become man to pay for man's sin. He was Holy and blameless, even though He took the blame for all our sin. He died on the cross to save us from hell. He saved us by dying on the cross.
It's important that you know that He indeed saved us by dying on the cross. Romans 5:9 says that we were "...justified by His blood..." His death did not partially save us, waiting for us to do something in return, but it completely made us clean. It is important for you to know that the blood of Jesus has cleansed you.
In saying that, know that you are to do nothing, whatsoever; Except one thing. This may confuse people, but listen to what I have to say. His grace is free, but if you truly accept it, then your life will change. Understand that I didn't say a changed life saves you, but the grace of God that you accept should radically change you. One of my favorite pastors, Paul Washer, gave the illustration of the following story.
"The church service had been going on for a while, but they were all wondering, 'Where is Washer?' for I hadn't shown up yet. I came in thirty minutes late and said, 'I apologize for being late. I was driving on the highway, when my hubcap had come off. I pulled over to the side of the highway, and say it in the middle of the interstate. I walked into the middle of the road to pick it up, when an 18-Wheeler going about 70 mph hit me. I was knocked over, but then got up, picked up my hubcap, and walked back to my car.' The elders looked at me and asked, 'How are you not dead?!' " (Paraphrased)
If Pastor Washer truly got hit by an 18-Wheeler, you would have been able to the effects of it; meaning, he would be dead. His point in that little story is that if we truly encounter God, meaning we become a believer, we should be so radically changed, it should be like being hit by a truck. It doesn't make sense to say, "Oh, God and I are buds" if we don't live like we have seen Him.
In Luke 14:28, Jesus says, "For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not ^(AC)first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?" What He is saying by this analogy is that if you are going to seriously give your life to Christ, accept and live out the Gospel, then you need to understand that your life will be called to much higher things then sin and death.
The Gospel is a love story, it truly is. But it is important for you to know that this love should drive you to do crazy things for the Kingdom of God. Your life should be different, the way you think should different, and the way you act should be different because of this loving relationship you have with your Creator.
Falling in love makes you do crazy things, so fall in love. - Forsake All