The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Text: Various                                                                         4/24/2011

Thesis: The good news of Jesus Christ removes our death-debt and restores us to God

I. God

The Trinitarian God is content in Himself.  He created us, and He has spoken.

Who is God?

1. God is self-sufficient Trinity (Acts 17:24-25; Matthew 3:16-17)

2. God is holy

a) Exodus 15:11, “Who is like you, O Lord, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?”

b) Leviticus 19:2, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’”

c) Revelation 4:8, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.”

3. God is love

a) 1 John 4:8, “God is love.”

4. God is awesome

a) Psalm 73:25, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.”

b) Philippians 3:8, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

What has He done?

1. He created us

a) Psalm 100:3, “Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us; and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (NKJV).

b) Genesis 1:27, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

2. He spoke to us

a) Hebrews 1:1-2, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

3. He sustains us

a) Hebrews 1:3, “He upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Colossians 1:17)

Why did he do it?

1. The Triune God created all things for Jesus

a) Colossians 1:17, “all things were created through him and for him.”

b) You were created to know God, enjoy God, listen to God, and reflect the glory of God.

c) God is the reason for your existence

II. Man

Man was created to be God-dependent and content

God sustains us. God speaks to us. God satisfies us.

Man was tempted to be independent

Genesis 3:1; 4&5- Here’s the temptation, “Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden… You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”

1. We are tempted to doubt what God said

2. We are tempted to define good and evil for ourselves

3. We are tempted to find our satisfaction apart from God

Sin can be defined as the attempt to do anything without God

Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to us his own way.”

Spending OUR time and OUR energy on what WE think is best. We sin, when out of desire to be satisfied, fulfilled, or happy we try to be what God never intended us to be. We sin when we try to do what God never intended us to do.

The payment for our rebellion is death

Let’s do a test to make sure we all understand opposites. The opposite of hot is what? Cold. The opposite of wet is what? Dry.  The opposite of life is what?  Death.

When we turn away from God who is the giver of life we necessarily turn toward death. Before temptation ever started God graciously warned Adam and Eve that if they turned away from him and his word they would surely die. When you turn away from life you embrace death.

Genesis 2:16&17, “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.”

One day several thousand years ago God was teaching Moses about who God is; about the very nature of God. And one important characteristic of God is recorded in Exodus 34:7: He is the God “who will by no means clear the guilty.” It is impossible for God to let a guilty man walk. Because He is the God who always keeps his word and because he is just in all his ways God is telling you today that you will not go free. You will not be graded on a curve.

Payment for your sins must be made and Hebrews 9:27 tells us that God has already set up the day when you will stand in front of him and settle accounts.

Are you ready to stand before God and explain to him why you turned your back on him? Are you ready to give a God-convincing reason for why you abandoned his truth and bought into the lies of the word?

God has warned you- the payment for sin is death. And God has told you that he will not let the guilty go free. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit is right now exposing your sin. My prayer is that right now the Holy Spirit is bringing to your mind every instance of turning away from God. And all this so that you will finally find the forgiveness and freedom your guilty conscience cries out for.

God is holy. He will not let the guilty go unpunished. And what was that other characteristic of God? God is love. John 3:16, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life.”

III. Christ

1. Fully God

a) John 1:1

2. Perfect man

a) John 1:14

b) Hebrews 2:17 (4:15)

3. Atoning sacrifice

a) Isaiah 53:6

b) 1 Peter 2:24 (3:18)

c) 2 Corinthians 5:21 (Mark 10:45)

4. Conquering King

a) Revelation 1:17&18, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

b) The resurrection vindicates Jesus as the one who has power over sin and the grave (Romans 1:4)

c) The resurrection of Jesus is in fact our passing through the waters of God’s wrath for our sins (1 Peter 3:21)

d) The resurrection is the power by which we are born again (1 Peter 1:3)

IV. Salvation

1. You must be born again

a) John 3:3 Jesus said, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

b) What is wrong with you must be fixed. Your heart of stone that is stuck on you must be replaced with a heart of flesh that focuses on God. You need a new heart with new desires and sufficient power to follow after God. Simply put the old you needs to be wiped out and a new you needs to be created.

c) This is the work of the Holy Spirit

2. Repent

a) Peter said in Acts 3:19, “Repent, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.” (Mark 1:15)

b) Acknowledge sin 1 John 1:9

c) Emotional sorrow 2 Corinthians 7:10

d) Personal decision to flee from sin 2 Chron 7:14

3. Believe

a) Peter said in Acts 10:43 that to this resurrected Jesus “all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

b) Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

c) Believe here is the one who has paid for my sin by his death

d) Believe here is the one who has gives me life because he rose from the dead (Romans 6:4; 1 Peter 1:3)

e) Believe here is the one who gives me his righteousness (Romans 5:19; 3:21-26)

4. Follow

a) 2 Corinthians 5:15 says Jesus “died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

b) There is a new life for all those who are born again through repentance and faith. This new life is full of new joys and new trials that lead to new joys. This new life is from Jesus and for Jesus. Living like him is why you were created.

Here’s my invitation

1. As the Holy Spirit brings you to acknowledge the guilt of your sin before a holy God, repent. With godly grief tell your Creator that you are sorry you turned away from Him. You are invited to repent.
2. As the Holy Spirit brings you to the end of yourself put your faith in Jesus Christ, believe. Believe that Jesus has died paying the penalty for your sin. Believe that Jesus rose again conquering your sin and your grave. Believe that he gives you new life to live as God purposed you to live. You are invited to believe.
3. As the Holy Spirit brings you to life follow Jesus with us. Link up with a faith family that will love you and equip you and serve alongside of you.  You are invited to follow Jesus as a part of this church.
4. As we sing a final song of praise I am going to make myself available to you. If you have any questions or want to pray with someone or if you want to tell the world that Jesus has saved you then I stand ready to receive you.