THE GOSPEL OF GOD The goal here is to present the Gospel of God using full or partial verses from various bible translations while attempting to be faithful to the intended meaning of each full or partial verse within its context. I. The Beginning of the Gospel (God Creates Man) A. Man Created to Be Loved by God 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God created mankind in his own image. God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! Genesis 1:1,27,31 2. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Acts 17:26,27 3. For the Lord delights in his people. Psalm 149:4 4. Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother s womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. Psalm 139 B. Man Created to Love God 1. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Mark 12:30 C. Loving God means Obeying God 1. Loving God means keeping his commandments. 1 John 5:3 2. Love the LORD your God, walk in all his ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul. Joshua 22:5 3. This is the duty of all mankind. Ecclesiastes 12:13 4. Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Jeremiah 7:23 II. The Problem of the Gospel (Failure and Separation) A. Man Failed to Love God 1. They knew God, but they wouldn t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Romans 1:21 2. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself. Romans 1:25
B. Man Failed to Obey God 1. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking. God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. Romans 1:28,24 2. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. Romans 1:29-32 C. The Result of Man s Disobedience: Separation of Man and God 1. Sin entered the world. Sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, everyone died, for everyone sinned. Romans 5:12,14 2. Dead in the trespasses and sins. Separated from the life of God. Ephesians 2:1,4:18 III. The Promise of the Gospel (A Savior) A. The Promise of a Future Salvation 1. All of us must die eventually. Our lives are like water spilled out on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But God does not just sweep life away; instead, he devises ways to bring us back when we have been separated from him. 2 Samuel 14:14 2. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. Ezekiel 36:25-27 3. I will give them hearts that recognize me as the LORD. Jeremiah 24:7 4. I will make my home among them Ezekiel 37:27 5. I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 2 Corinthians 6:16 B. The Promise of a Future Savior 1. (Written about 700 B.C.) There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man s grave. But it was the Lord s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, because he exposed
himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. Isaiah 53:2-12 2. (Written about 1,000 B.C.) I am scorned and despised by all! Everyone who sees me mocks me. They sneer and shake their heads, saying, Is this the one who relies on the Lord? Then let the Lord save him! If the Lord loves him so much, let the Lord rescue him! My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me. My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing. Psalm 22 3. (Written about 1,000 B.C.) For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. Psalm 16:10 4. (Written about 600 B.C.) The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet." Psalm 110:1 IV. The Preparation of the Gospel (The Law) A. The Law reveals God s Expectation of Man 1. What does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 10:12 2. (The Ten Commandments) Do not have other gods besides Me. Do not make an idol for yourself. Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. Do not covet. Exodus 20:3-4,7-8,12-17 3. You have heard that our ancestors were told, You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment. But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! Matthew 5:21-22 4. You have heard the commandment that says, You must not commit adultery. But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28 5. You are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48 6. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 18:13 B. The Law reveals that Every Man is a Lawbreaker 1. For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws. James 2:10 2. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God s glorious standard. Romans 3:23 3. We are all infected and impure with sin. Isaiah 64:6 4. We are guilty of many sins. Romans 5:16 5. The scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin. Galatians 3:22 6. If we say that we do not have any sin, we are deceiving ourselves and we're not being truthful to ourselves. 1 John 1:8 7. Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. Ecclesiastes 7:20 8. The law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. Romans 3:19
C. The Law reveals God s Wrath toward Lawbreakers 1. In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds. Ecclesiastes 3:17 2. He repays people according to their deeds. He treats people as they deserve. Truly, God will not do wrong. The Almighty will not twist justice. For God watches how people live; he sees everything they do. Job 34:10-12,17,21,27 3. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing. Ecclesiastes 12:14 4. For the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. Ephesians 5:6 5. The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23 6. The soul who sins will die. Ezekiel 18:4 7. Everyone will die for their own sin. Jeremiah 31:30 8. They will go away into eternal punishment. Matthew 25:46 9. They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. 2 Thessalonians 1:9 D. The Law reveals that Every Man needs a Savior 1. Those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God s Book of the Law. Galatians 3:10 2. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. Romans 3:20 3. Then who can be saved? This is impossible for mere humans, but for God all things are possible. Matthew 19:25,26 V. The Person of the Gospel (The Savior Jesus Christ) A. The Savior Jesus Christ: The God-Man 1. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 1 John 4:9 2. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privilege; and was born as a human being. Philippians 2:6,7 3. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. Colossians 2:9 4. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15 5. Because God s children are human beings made of flesh and blood the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. It was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:14-17 B. Jesus Loved God Perfectly 1. I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. John 14:31 2. I honor my Father. John 8:49 C. Jesus Obeyed God Perfectly 1. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. John 6:38
2. "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. John 5:19 3. I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will. John 5:30 4. "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. John 4:34 5. "Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. John 12:27 6. Shall I not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given me?" John 18:11 7. Father, not my will, but yours be done. Luke 22:42 8. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal s death on a cross. Philippians 2:7-8 9. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 10. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names. Philippians 2:9 11. Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority. 1 Peter 3:22 D. The Result of Jesus Obedience: Reconciliation of Man and God 1. There is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5 2. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people s sins against them. 2 Corinthians 5:19 3. Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 4. "I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he will be saved. John 10:9 5. There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12 6. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. John 5:23 7. Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced. For Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:11,13 8. He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 9. Sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 10. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1 VI. The Purpose of the Gospel (God Recreates Man) A. A Man s Sin is Credited to the Sinless Jesus Christ 1. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross. 1 Peter 2:24 2. Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Hebrews 9:14 3. For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21
B. Jesus Christ s Righteousness is Credited to an Unrighteous Man 1. No one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law. Romans 3:20 2. People are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. Romans 4:5 3. For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. Romans 10:4 4. He believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:6 5. Faith was credited to him as righteousness. Romans 4:9 C. The Death of a Man Enslaved to Sin 1. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. Romans 6:6-8 D. The Birth of a Man Free to Love and Obey God 1. Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3 2. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. John 1:12-13 3. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 4. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:2 5. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God s grace. Romans 6:14 6. For we are God s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 7. You were slaves to sin. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. Romans 6:20,22 VII. The Power of the Gospel (The Holy Spirit) A. God s Spirit comes to Live within Man 1. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:5 2. You received God s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, Abba, Father. For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God s children. Romans 8:15-16 3. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 4. God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 1 John 4:13 5. The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. Ephesians 1:14 6. We have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. Romans 8:23
B. God s Spirit Empowers Man to Love 1. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. Galatians 5:25 2. Live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 3. The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23 C. Love fulfills The Law 1. Jesus replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. Matthew 22:37-40 2. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God s law. For the commandments say, You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet. These and other such commandments are summed up in this one commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God s law. Romans 13:8-10 VIII. The People of the Gospel (The Church) A. A People Indwelled by the Spirit and Ruled by Jesus Christ 1. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. Colossians 1:18 2. The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 B. A People who Love and Obey God 1. If someone claims, I know God, but doesn t obey God s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. 1 John 2:4-6 2. We know that God s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. 1 John 5:18 3. Those who have been born into God s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God s life is in them. So they can t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. 1 John 3:9-10 C. A People who Love One Another 1. Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 1 John 4:21 2. If we love our brothers and sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 1 John 3:14 3. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. Colossians 3:12-15
IX. The End of the Gospel (Eternity) A. Every Man will Stand before Jesus Christ to be Judged 1. Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment. Hebrews 9:27 2. Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all--the living and the dead. Acts 10:42 3. The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son. John 5:22 4. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. 2 Corinthians 5:10 5. God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone's secret life. Romans 2:16 6. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. 1 Corinthians 4:5 7. Everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Matthew 10:26 8. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. 2 Corinthians 5:10 B. Eternity for the Man that Loves God 1. We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. Philippians 3:20-21 2. God s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. Revelation 21:3-5 C. Eternity for the Man that Loves Himself 1. Don t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 2. When you follow the desires of your flesh, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 3. But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. Revelation 21:8 4. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 5. So it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:40-42 6. Into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. Matthew 25:41 7. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20:10
X. The Invitation of the Gospel A. An Invitation to Die to Self: Repentance 1. You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God s judgment when you do the same things? Don t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will judge everyone according to what they have done. Romans 2:1-6 2. Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. Ezekiel 18:23 3. Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Acts 3:19 4. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. Isaiah 55:7 5. Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 16:24-26 B. An Invitation to Live through Jesus Christ: Faith 1. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. Romans 3:21-22 2. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36 3. So Jesus explained, I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. John 5:19-25 4. Jesus continued, You will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins. John 8:23-24 5. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life. John 6:47 6. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. Romans 1:16-17 7. Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. Philippians 3:8-11 Questions? Comments Download, Print, or Share this and other Gospel Tracts & Presentations Go to www.answering-his-call.weebly.com