How does God grow the Church? message #2 - the gospel

How does God grow the Church

“The Gospel”

Message #2

Intro:

Last week in our series How does God grow the Church we looked at something that is foundational. The Word of God teaches that “God desires for people to be saved.” In that message we studied three proofs of this reality:

#1 – God didn't create hell for people

#2 – god provided the means of forgiveness

#3 – God desires for every person to repent and be saved

This week we are going to look at “The Gospel.” We are going to investigate how the Word of God describes the gospel. Throughout the history of Christianity there have been many who have declared the gospel to be a fairytale. The word means “good news.” What is the good news? We are going to discover that what one does with the gospel determines his eternal destiny. So what am I saying? I am saying that if one rejects the gospel, he will be eternally separated from God in a place of torment called hell.

Message:

#1 - Man is separated from God because of sin

a – Original sin

When Adam was created he enjoyed unhindered fellowship with God (Gen. 2:15-17, 25). Yet, when he was tempted by Satan he chose to sin against God (3:1-8). At that moment Adam became a sinner. He died spiritually, which caused him to become separated relationally from with God. He also began to die physically (3:17-19).

b – Personal sin

We learn from Scripture that every human being since that time has inherited sin from Adam (Rom. 5:12-14, 17-19). Sin resides within our physical bodies (Rom. 7:14-20). Sin has separated us from God and it needs to be dealt with.

#2 – Sin's penalty is death

a – Physical and spiritual

We understand death as being something that frequently occurs. We don't often think of the original source of death. It is sin. But, sin doesn't just result in physical death, it results in spiritual death. Spiritual death means that we are relationally separated from God. We are considered His enemies because of the sin within us. Scripture teaches us that if people don't receive forgiveness for their sins they will be separated from God eternally (Rom. 6:23). Hell is a place of darkness and torment where people don't experience God's presence and grace. All those whose sins are not forgiven will spend eternity in hell.

#3 – Jesus Christ's payment for sin

a - Death

Since God is holy and just, He has to punish sin (Col. 1:13-14, 19-23). God determined to send His Son Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, to provide forgiveness of sins (Gal. 1:3-5; Eph. 1:3-8). The sins of mankind needed to be punished and only a perfect substitute would be sufficient to satisfy God's holiness (Heb. 7:26-27; 1 Pet. 1:17-21). God the Son took on human flesh and received God the Father's wrath for the sins of mankind on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24-25). Jesus, the sinless one, was punished for man's sins (Col. 2:13-14). Jesus died on the cross for man's sins. Jesus paid the debt that all men ow because of their sin (2 Cor. 5:17-21). Jesus took our place, our punishment (Heb. 9:13-14, 23-26).

b - Resurrection

When Jesus rose from the grave three days later, it showed that God the Father had accepted Jesus' payment for the sins of mankind (1 Cor. 15:12-19). Through Christ's payment forgiveness is available (Heb. 10:10-18).

#4 – Repentance and faith

a – Repentance

The Word of God teaches that the appropriate response to the gospel is repentance and faith. The word repentance means “to turn around 180 degrees” or “to change one's mind.” When one hears that he is a sinner and is in need of forgiveness, he should repent of the life he is currently living. There is sorrow involved in repentance (2 Cor. 7:9-10). There is sorrow over how one has lived in sin (Acts 2:37-38; 17:22-31). When this sorrow occurs the individual should seek forgiveness from God.

b – Faith

After one responds to the gospel with repentance, there is a need for faith in the contents of the gospel. The Scriptures always teach that salvation is received by faith (Rom. 5:1-2). When one exercises faith, he is placing his trust in something. Scripture tells us that God the Son took on flesh, received man's punishment for sins, and died on the cross to pay man's penalty (Rom. 3:19-26). When He rose from the dead, that signified that God the Father had accepted Christ's payment for sins. When you place your faith in Christ you are trusting/believing that Jesus' death and resurrection: a) really happened; b) that it saves you from your sins (Rom. 10:1-13).

Conclusion:

So what is necessary for one to be forgiven for his sins and reconciled to God? Repentance of sins and faith in the gospel (Acts 2:37-42). So why doesn't everyone repent and believe the gospel? The sin within people causes them to reject God's offer of salvation. In fact, because of the sin within them they not only refuse to believe the gospel, they ridicule it (1 Cor. 1:18, 22-25).

Is there really only one way to get to heaven? Yes, there is only one way (Jn. 14:6; Acts 4:10-12). Many declare this as arrogance. They question how Christianity has the audacity to say that there is only one way to heaven. They propose that there are many different religions and many different ways to heaven.

There is only one true God and He has established one way to get to heaven. Since only He is God and heaven is His domain, He gets to establish the ground rules. He is the one who establishes the requirements for entrance. God has declared that all men must repent of their sins and believe the gospel for the forgiveness of their sins. For those that propose different ways, they have found these answers from some other source, but it is not God. The God of the Bible, has declared that all men must repent of their sins and believe the gospel for the forgiveness of their sins.

Next week we are going to look at the third message in our series How does God grow the Church?, it is entitled, “God uses Christians sharing their faith.”