The Glorious Gospel

I. God

A. God loves you.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

B. God is holy and just. He punishes all evil and expels it from His presence

Romans 1:18
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

II. People

A. God, who created everything, made us for Himself to find our purpose in a relationship with Him.

Colossians 1:16
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

B. But we rebelled and turned away from God.

Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

C. The result is separation from God.

Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

D. The penalty is eternal death.

Romans 6:21-23
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

III. Christ

A. God became human in the person of Jesus Christ to restore the broken relationship.

Colossians 1:19-20
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

B. Christ lived a perfect life.

1 Peter 2:22
"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."

C. Christ died as a substitute for us by paying the death penalty for our rebellion.

1 Peter 2:24
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

D. He arose.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

E. He is alive today to give us a new life with a relationship with God, now and forever.

John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

IV. Response

A. I must repent for my rebellion.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

B. I must believe Christ died to provide forgiveness and a new life with a relationship with God.

John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

C. I must receive Christ as my Savior and Lord with the intent to obey Him.

Ephesians 4:22-23
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;

D. I do this in prayer by inviting Him into my life.

James 5:13
Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.

V. Cost

A. There is no cost to me. Salvation is free.

Ephesians 2:8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.

B. But it comes at a high cost to God.

2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Philippians 2:6-8
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!

C. Ultimately my response is a life of discipleship. God has redeemed me; He has purchased me.

Luke 9:23-24
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.