THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

Introduction

Jesus' Sufferings brought Redemption to Humanity

One common index in all of humanity is the fact that there is much suffering in our world today. This alone has made many question the existence of God. They say “if there is a God, why is there so much suffering around”. Suffering is seen everywhere but even more in places were there are full scale wars being waged. This scene played out in the movie on the Rwandan genocide, Hotel Rwanda. In the height of the conflict a Nun asked her Rev. Father, “were is God in all of these?” He couldn't answer. When the United Nations troops stationed at the hotel were asked to withdraw with every expatriate on ground, the Rev. Father said he would be remaining with the locals, even though that meant suicide. He then turned to the Nun and said he has found were God was in this conflict: God was with the suffering and murdered people of Rwanda and he would be remaining behind with Him. The answer to those who question the place of God in the lives of suffering people is that God is with people who suffer.

Romans 8:22 says “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” The world is in pain, this is due to its bondage to corruption as indicated earlier in verse 21. This corruption can be traced to the problem of sin and man’s exceeding sinfulness, so that every suffering in the world today can be traced to sin in the lives of men. God identifies with the suffering of all of humanity and knowing the root problem of suffering to be sin, God sent Jesus Christ to save men from their sins: “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife:  for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.  And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:  for he shall save his people from their sin.” – Matthew 1:21.

The Gospel

The gospel message is the good news of God’s saving activity in Jesus Christ in redeeming men from their sins. This cannot be over emphasized as the problem of sin is all too well known in the world today and most religion teach that God dislikes sin. What many of these religions do not teach is that God has also given us a solution to sin.

In the nation of Israel, whose history and religion is well documented in Old Testament, God gave the ritual of animal sacrifice as a form of atonement for the sins of his people. We see that this activity was actually foreshadowing the coming of Jesus Christ who was to become God’s Sacrificial Lamb to take away the sin of the whole world (John 1:29, Revelation 5:6). God fulfilled his promise of sending the messiah when Jesus Christ was born and following thirty three years of ministry on earth, he was crucified on a Roman Cross. Jesus died and rose again after three days having purchased eternal redemption for as many as would believe in Him. The scripture tells us:

“6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.   7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die:  yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.   8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.   9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.   10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.   11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.   12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;  and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;  even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.   19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” – Romans 5

One thing is clear from the above scriptures: Christ died to reconcile sinful humanity to God, who were at enmity with their creator because of sin. The good news about this act of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is that salvation is free of charge! The same way we became sinners by being born of earthly parents who descended from sinful Adam, so also shall we be made righteous by being born-again of the Spirit, when we commit our lives to Christ and receive Him into our lives by faith. The solution to sin then comes to us in two folds: first, we have the blessing of His righteousness that is given to us as a result of our union with Christ by faith (Colosians 2:10) and next we receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit in our lives to help us live lives that are pleasing to God (Galatians 5:22-23).

Coming to Jesus

Jesus Welcomes You

In the gospels, Jesus Christ made a passionate appeal to men to come to Him: “28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.   29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;  for I am meek and lowly in heart:  and ye shall find rest unto your souls.   30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” – Matthew 11. Peradventure there is some one reading this who desires to come to Jesus and be born-again so as to be free from sin, all that is required is sincerity of heart, mind and purpose. One thing is sure: God is also willing to give His own life to you. The first step is repentance. This will involve acknowledging that you are a sinner and asking God to forgive you your sins. Know that your being a sinner is primarily because you are born a human being in this world and secondarily because you commit sins. So the magnitude of sins you commit does not matter; there are individuals who naturally are morally upright. Such people are as much sinners as Hitler, if they have never committed their lives to Jesus Christ.

When you have asked God to forgive you your sin(s), then you must believe that you are a child of God: faith. Faith is extremely vital because coming to Christ is a spiritual act that cannot be felt physically. You must believe that God is all too willing to receive a sincere and penitent individual who has asked Jesus to be the Lord of his life. Following this, you must get to know the person of Jesus Christ by reading the accounts giving of Him in the bible, especially the New Testament. Associating with professing Christians will also help you in this new found faith in Jesus Christ.

At this point I wish to make it clear that the process of an individual’s conversion is supernatural and it is the act of a sovereign God. There is more of the working of God in bringing men to salvation in Christ than what we do to be saved. So, while the steps enumerated above are good in themselves, God can save men in whatever way he wants. One common denominator to the salvation experience is that the person who is saved begins to know God more. Jesus said: “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent”. Knowing God is salvation itself. When men come to know and understand the person of God and Jesus Christ, they can go to Him and believe in Him unto salvation. So as much as we encourage repentance and faith in God, what will ultimately cement the salvation experience is getting to know God more through His word and enjoying an assurance of salvation.

Beware of a Different Gospel

Another Gospel

We cannot discuss the subject of the gospel of Jesus Christ and not also talk about another gospel like it. While Christ’s gospel aims to have genuine born-again Christians, this other gospel produces pseudo Christians: men and women who profess the Christian faith but have never met the author of salvation. Another gospel results in hypocrites filling the pews and sometimes pulpits of churches; they lack the life of God and all that is about them is pure religion. Their religion is based on rote, the commandment of men and dictates of tradition. This other gospel takes the following format but it is not limited to:

1.      A prosperity gospel: health and wealth

2.      A motivational gospel: success

3.      A Word of Faith movement

4.      A ritual gospel that sees conversion in infant baptism

5.      A gospel that is easy to believe, that does not require repentance

6.      A holiness movement

Much of Christendom today is replete with individuals whose conversion has the above gospel as their foundation of faith. I do not question whether those who believe these gospels are saved or not because only God knows those who are His (2 Timothy 2:19), I however believe that the gospel that Jesus Christ and His apostles espoused is not in any way similar to those listed above. Those who have come to faith in Jesus through these gospels will need to check themselves well to be sure they are in faith, lest they have believed in vain.

Conclusion

The aim of this article is to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who wish to know Him and receive Him as their personal Lord and Savior. I have shown that the challenge of the world today is sin and sin is the author of all of mankind’s sufferings. I wish to conclude by saying that God would have all men to be saved and that believing in Jesus Christ is by faith alone; God is not demanding money or good deeds from you to be saved. I have not said that my readers should become Christians. Indeed Jesus Christ was not a Christian. The name Christian was some sort of nick name given to the followers of those who espoused the teachings of Christ. I am convinced that a man may profess any religion and still be saved, if he has come to believing faith in Jesus Christ through personal confessions of his sins to God and having active faith in God for his life now and in the times to come.

The times are hard and there is no assurance that human suffering is about to decrease. The assurance we have, however, is as we have seen quoted in Matthew 11:28, when Christ promised that as many as come to Him will have rest in their souls. Regardless of the suffering on the outside, God has promised his redeemed people a rest in their souls. This is the true victory of the cross: rest in our souls; strength in our inner most being; love for God and all of humanity; peace – abundant of peace; joy overflowing; vision; focus; hope; assurance of salvation; etc.

Jesus Gives True Joy

None of these things can be bought with money and none of them are tangible – rather, they are the effect of the workings of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives. This Spirit has been given to us as a down payment of our future glory. The Christian’s greatest joy is that when this entire world is over, and life is ended, there is a sure hope – a home made ready for us by Christ Jesus in heaven.

Praise the Lord!

PS:

If as a result of reading this article, you have made a decision to commit your life to Christ, I rejoice with you. I would like to hear from you. Please send me an email on yesufudeji@yahoo.com and I can help you with some advice on how to continue in the Lord. If however, you have some questions about faith in Jesus Christ, you may reach me on that same e-mail and I would respond to you. Thank you.