What is the Gospel?
City Awakening is a church that exists for one reason, “The Gospel.” We worship, teach, preach, study, give, pray, serve and gather together regardless of our generational and cultural differences because of the Gospel. If it weren’t for the Gospel, then Christianity wouldn’t exist and City Awakening wouldn’t exist.
If you don’t know what the Gospel is, that’s okay. We have explained it below. If you already know what the Gospel is, read the following anyways. It’s always great to be reminded of what we believe.
The truth is you will never outgrow your need for the Gospel, which is why at City Awakening we developed a Code that says, “The Gospel is more than a way to eternal life, the Gospel IS our life.” This Code is to remind us that we need the Gospel not just for our salvation, but for everyday real life transformation. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a non-Christian, a new Christian, or a seasoned Christian, we all need the Gospel.
Part 1: “The Gospel is more than a way to eternal life….”
In this first part of Our Code we’re saying that the Gospel is most certainly for our salvation, it’s the way to eternal life. But it’s also “more” than that! There’s more to the Gospel than just our salvation, and in Part 2 we will get into the “more” part of the Gospel. For now, let’s talk about the Gospel for salvation, and address some common questions people have about the Gospel.
What is the Gospel?
The word “Gospel” actually originated from an old English word called “god-spel” and it’s meaning can be broken down into two parts. The first part (god) means “good” and the second part (spel), means “story.” So it’s “godspel,” meaning “good story,” “good news,” or “good tidings.”
That being said, it’s important for you to realize that every single day you are being presented with many different gospels that promise to bring you good news or good tidings. During elections you will hear politicians preaching an economics gospel, a foreign policy gospel, a pro-life gospel, a pro-choice gospel. Go to a magazine stand, and you will find even more gospels being preached to you. You will find a health gospel, a parenting gospel, a science gospel, a Cosmo gospel, and on and on and on the list can go. Every single day you and I are being preached to, and every single day you and I are being offered different gospels that promise to bring us good news for our lives. Some might be helpful, some might be hurtful, but none of them are eternal. Only one gospel will bring you good news that will last an eternity. It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that Jesus was God in the flesh who came to live with us, die for us, and rise again on the third day so that we would be forgiven of our sins and have a restored relationship with God (1 Corinthians 15:1-5). That is the Gospel in its simplest form. The truth is we don’t deserve heaven, we don’t deserve a relationship with God, we don’t deserve to be in the presence of God. Why? Because God is holy and we are not. Our sinful actions, our unholy thoughts and unholy actions aren’t heaven worthy or God worthy. Yet our God being so gracious, forgives us of our sins, allows us to enter into heaven, into a relationship with Him, and into His holy presence. Through Christ we are graciously given forgiveness and a relationship with our Creator. There is no greater feeling, no greater news, no greater Gospel than humanity being reconciled with God.
When humanity is reconciled with God it changes everything. Our desires change, our passions change, our attitudes change, and our hearts change as we begin to take more delight in God and less delight in our sin. When we delight more in God and less in our sin it impacts not only us, but also the lives around us. We will begin to treat our spouses differently, our children differently, our neighbors differently, even all of creation differently as we seek to live a joyful life for God, rather than a sinful life apart from God. The Gospel changes everything!
Who was Jesus?
It all comes down to one question. Sooner or later everybody will be faced with this one question. Who was Jesus Christ? Who was he? It’s a question that all of us must face sooner or later. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, sooner or later you will have to address the identity question about Jesus in front a friend, a family member, a professor, or in front of Jesus himself. So let’s get this question out of the way now.
In Luke 9:18-22 Jesus asked some people who they thought he was. The people gave three typical responses. They said he was either a Man, Myth, or Messiah. Your beliefs about who Jesus was falls into one of those three categories. You either believe he was a Man, a Myth, or the Messiah. By Messiah we mean Savior, we mean he was God who put on flesh to live, die, and rise again for the forgiveness of our sins bridging the gap between sinful humanity and God. So, which is it for you? Was Jesus a Man, Myth, or Messiah?…Luke 9:18-22 tells us that Jesus was the Messiah!
Here’s another question to ask. Why is Jesus’ name the only name in all of human history whose identity we are still questioning today? Ponder that for a minute…I mean nobody still questions who Muhammad was. Nobody still questions who Gautama Buddha was. Nobody still questions who Ghandi was, and get this! Nobody’s going to be questioning who you and I are 2,000 years from now. I don’t care how fat your 401k is, how big your entourage is, how much Usher-like swag you think you have, nobody’s going to be questioning who you are 2,000 years from now. Why? It’s because we know who you are. We know! We know that you’re just a human. Muhammad? Human! Buddha? Human! Ghandi? Human! We’re all just humans and none of us will ever have a cover story written that questions our human identity asking, “Who was this person?” It’s because we’re simply humans who live and die. Period! End of story!
But the story never seems to end with Jesus. He lived, he died, he rose again, and year after year people globally are faced with the question of Jesus’ identity. Sooner or later every generation will be faced with the question, “Who was Jesus Christ?” Why? It’s because the salvation of every generation is dependent upon his name. It’s because the Bible teaches that his name is “above all names” (Phil. 2:9), that every knee will bow to his name (Phil. 2:10), and Jesus himself says the only way to get to heaven is through his name (John 14:6). No wonder every generation is faced with having to answer the question, “Who was Jesus?” It’s because the salvation of every generation depends on it! The Gospel of Jesus is for our salvation and no matter how hard people try, the name of Jesus simply won’t go away nor will questions about his identity. There is no Gospel like the Gospel of Jesus, there is no name like the name of Jesus, and it’s the only name in all of history whose identity we’re still questioning today. Was he a Man, a Myth, or the Messiah who died for our sins? Who do you say he is? Better ponder that question a bit longer…because if the Bible’s right, then your salvation depends on that question.
If I’m a good person can I go to heaven?
That answer is no! Let me explain.
First there’s no such thing as a good person and these aren’t my word’s, they are the words of Jesus. Jesus says in Mark 10:18, “No one is good, except God alone.” Yet if we think rationally about what a “good person” actually is, then it’s not hard to see the truth in Jesus’ words.
See by definition a good person is someone who does good 100% of the time, which means that if you do one bad thing, if you sin just one time, then it means you can’t claim the title “good” anymore. You can’t. It’s been tainted, it’s been stained, it’s been marred by your sin. So if you want to claim that you’re a good person, then you need to claim that you do good 100% of the time. Can you raise your hand for that one? Even if you are willing to claim that you’re a good person and you do good 100% of the time, then I would simply point out your own arrogance and self-righteous attitude in making such a claim, thus proving that you aren’t as good as you think you are.
Look, we aren’t as good as we think we are and this is especially true when we compare ourselves to Jesus. Compare ourselves to other people and we might appear good, but when we compare ourselves to Jesus, we need to bury our heads in the sand. So although our culture’s gospel may tell you that good people get to go to heaven, Jesus and logical reasoning tell us that there’s no such thing as a good person, which means that our culture’s gospel will lead no one to heaven. The only way to get to heaven is through the goodness of Jesus. He lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died because of sin. We are saved by his goodness, not our own.
If I do good deeds will that get me into heaven?
Again, the answer is no!
Simply put, God isn’t impressed with your good deeds. He delights in our good deeds, but He’s not impressed by them. I mean think about it. Can an atheist do good deeds? Can an atheist feed the homeless? Can an atheist help tsunami victims? Of course they can, and some do, but that doesn’t mean that God is in heaven cheering them on saying, “That a boy or that a girl! Keep up the good work. It doesn’t matter that you don’t believe in me. It doesn’t matter that you reject me. It doesn’t matter that you defame my name, so long as you keep doing good deeds. Keep up the good work!” You think that’s what God’s saying? You think that God is wooed and impressed with good deeds when even an atheist can do good deeds? Let me press on!
If you think you can earn your way to heaven with your good deeds, then what you’re basically saying is you can impress God. You’re saying you can impress God with your good deeds, which means you have a very small view of God. So let’s expand that view.
We live in a solar system consisting of the sun and 8 planets. Our solar system is roughly 7.5 billion miles in diameter and it would take us over 13,000 years to fly from one end of our solar system to the other going at a speed of 65 mph. If you have kids, double that number! So without gas stops, Chick-Fil-A stops, potty stops, coffee stops, and more potty stops, it would take us over 13,000 years to fly around our solar system going 65 mph. Now as big as that is, as huge as our solar system is, it’s located inside of the Milky Way Galaxy, and within the Milky Way Galaxy there are over 100 billion solar systems. That means there are over 100 billion solar systems like ours located in our one galaxy. Stay with me here! I know this is a bit heady, but stay with me.
So we live in a large solar system, amongst 100 billion other large solar systems, within one large galaxy called the Milky Way. Want to guess how many galaxies there are in our universe? 50 billion! We have 50 billion galaxies like the Milky Way that contain billions of solar systems like the one we live in, and in the entire universe there are roughly 300 sextillion planets that are out there. Still have your big boy pants on? Still have your big girl pants on? Still puffing out your chest like you are all high and mighty as if the entire universe revolves around you and your good deeds?
Listen! You and I are but a speck of dust compared to God, so what good deed could you ever possibly bring to a God who is that big? What good deeds or futile attempts at moral perfection could you ever possibly bring to a God who is bigger than the universe, that would impress Him so much that He would say, “Wow! That’s so amazing. Forget about the universe I created, what you did, what you brought to me is so much more amazing than that.” The answer is nothing. There’s nothing we can give to God that would cause Him to say that. Our culture’s Gospel is untrue. It doesn’t take a good person doing good deeds to get us into heaven, rather it takes a good God doing the greatest of deeds to freely offer us heaven. Jesus did the greatest of all deeds when he died for our sins on the cross. Your salvation isn’t dependent upon who you are and what you’ve done, it’s dependent upon who Jesus is and what he’s done! Believe in the Gospel of Jesus, because you will never be able to outwork the good works of Jesus!
Tough and Tender
As a dad I’m both tough and tender. If a boy wants to date my daughter, I’m going to be tough. I’ll be very tough. We’ll talk some beat down evangelism. “You hurt my daughter I’ll hurt you. I’ll beat you down then pray over you later. It’s beat down evangelism.” I’ll be tough if a boy wants to date my daughter. But I also have a tender side. If my daughter wants me to go to a ballet, I’ll go. I’ll go to a ballet. I won’t tweet or Instagram about it, but I’ll go with my daughter to a ballet. I’ll be tender. In a similar way, Jesus is both tough and tender.
In John 8:2-11 some legalists grab a woman who was accused of committing adultery and they bring her to Jesus saying that she should be stoned to death, but Jesus leads the way with grace in hand not stone in hand. He forgives the woman of her sin. He’s tender. Jesus is very tender! But the text also shows a tough side to Jesus in that he doesn’t condone the woman’s sin. He doesn’t tolerate her sin, rather he tells her to “go, and sin no more.” So it’s true that Jesus is tender in that he extends his grace first and foremost, but he’s also tough in that he expects obedience. He doesn’t condemn this woman for her sin, and yet he doesn’t tolerate her sin. He’s both tough and tender.
Why are we talking about this? It’s because some people think they can take advantage of the tender side of Jesus. They think, “Because of grace I can do whatever I want. It doesn’t matter what I do, what I say, or what I believe, because Jesus will forgive me. So I don’t have to go to church, I don’t have to read my bible, I don’t have to give in the offering basket, because none of that matters. In the end Jesus will love me no matter what.” That’s what we call licentiousness. It’s where you take advantage of the tender side of Jesus and think you can do whatever you want because of grace. What a foolish mockery of the cross this is! Jesus died to save you from sin, not to take you further into it. It’s true he’s tender and forgives us when we sin, but he’s also tough and expects our obedience as he leads us further away from sin. We don’t obey to get saved, we joyfully obey in response to our salvation. He forgives the woman, but expects her obedience. He forgives us, but expects our obedience. Let us not abuse the tenderness of Jesus, instead let us joyfully obey in response to his tenderness.
How Do I Identify False Gospels?
We started off by talking about the various different gospels that are being proclaimed to you, so let me wrap Part 1 up by giving you a few pointers on how to identify false gospels. Galatians 1:1-9 gives us three criteria for identifying false gospels, which can be summed up in the below three questions.
Does the gospel being preached trace back to the apostolic teachings, meaning the original authors of the bible? (vs. 1)
Does the gospel being preached entail Jesus saving me through his good works, rather than through my own? (vs. 4)
Who gets the glory in the gospel being preached? Is it me, someone else, or God? (vs. 5)
That’s it. Ask those three questions and you will be able to determine which gospels are true in your life and which ones are not.
Look, the world will promise you many things. You will be promised “good news” from many different gospels. Yet none of the world’s gospels will ever give you eternal joy, only the Gospel of Jesus can do that. Our first parents Adam and Eve, they fell for the deception that there was something greater than a relationship with our Creator God. They thought that they could find satisfaction in another gospel other than God’s. They heard Satan preach, they listened to his gospel, and they chose his version of the good news over God’s. The result was sin! The result was death! The result wasn’t good news, it was “bad news,” and in the end all false gospels will lead to bad news. They will lead to sin, to death, to temporal joy, to bad news. Only the Gospel of Jesus will lead to forgiveness of sin, a restored relationship with God, and to everlasting joy. May we ask God to forgive us for the times we have chosen the world’s version of good news over His.
Part 2: “…The Gospel IS Our Life.”
Alright so now that we’ve talked about what the Gospel is we need to talk about the “more” part of the Gospel. Remember our Code, “The Gospel is more than a way to eternal life, the Gospel IS our life.” Part 2 in this booklet is about the 2nd part of our Code. It’s the “more” part of the Gospel. As glorious as the Gospel is for our salvation, it’s also for our everyday real life transformation. The Gospel IS our life! Let me explain.
Gospel Glasses
Typically, what happens when someone first becomes a Christian, when they first receive the Gospel, they view the Gospel just for salvation. But the Gospel is also for our transformation, and if all you do is view the Gospel for salvation, then it means the climax of your Christian life is that Jesus saved you. That’s it! That’s the climax of your Christian life. It’s that Jesus saved you. But I want you to see that there’s more to the Gospel, there’s more to the Christian life than that.
As amazing as salvation is it’s not the peak of the mountain, it’s the base. It’s only the base, it’s only the beginning of the joy that God has in store for you. Jesus didn’t just promise you a saved life, he promised you an abundant life, he promised you a full life (John 10:10). Yet, some of you are experiencing a saved life, but not an abundant life, not a full life. It’s because you’ve taken your Gospel glasses off and you need to put them back on. You need to put on your Gospel glasses so you can experience the fullness of the Gospel in your everyday life. Here’s what I mean by this.
When we don’t view everyday life through the lens of the Gospel, it’s like watching a 3D movie without 3D glasses. You can still watch the movie, but you’ll miss out on all the joyful effects of 3D. You’re alive, but things are blurry. The movies good, but it’s not great. You need to put on your 3D glasses to experience the fullness of 3D. In a similar way you need to put on your gospel glasses in order to experience the fullness of the Gospel. You need to view everyday life and every part of your life with Gospel glasses. I’ll give you a few examples.
When you’re fighting with a friend or a family member, you put on your Gospel glasses remembering to extend forgiveness because it’s Jesus who extends forgiveness to you. When your kids are driving you nuts and you’re about to lose it, you put on your Gospel glasses remembering to be patient because Jesus is patient with you. When you’re struggling with sin, you put on your Gospel glasses remembering that Jesus didn’t just save you from sin, he gave you the power to overcome sin. When you’re dealing with identity or self-worth issues, you put on your Gospel glasses remembering that your identity is in Jesus, that you are loved by Jesus, accepted by Jesus, and that you are now free from having to prove yourself to others. You no longer have to live FOR your identity in this world, rather you can live FROM your identity in Jesus. You’re free!
Life’s different when you put on your Gospel glasses. It’s very different. When I have my Gospel glasses on I’m forgiving, patient, and can overcome sin, but when I take them off I’m unforgiving, impatient, and easily give into sin. When I take the Gospel glasses off I’m still saved, but I’m not experiencing the fullness of the Gospel. I’m not experiencing the abundant life Jesus promised! This is why at City Awakening you will hear us say, “Put on your Gospel glasses!” It’s because we want you to experience the fullness of the Gospel. We want you to experience the abundant life, the full life, the fullness of what Jesus promised.
There’s so much more to the Gospel than just our salvation, it’s also for our everyday real life transformation, and just like a 3D movie is more enjoyable with 3D glasses on, life’s more enjoyable when we have our Gospel glasses on. So put on your Gospel glasses! View everyday life and every part of your life through the lens of the Gospel. It will bring you the greatest joy! That’s not my promise, it’s the promise of Jesus! It’s the promise of the Gospel! Jesus came to not just give you life, but an abundantly full life! Put on your Gospel glasses, and find out just how abundantly full that life can be!
How Do I Receive The Gospel?
This is where many people feel tempted to tell you that you need to say a particular prayer or even write a prayer out. These aren’t bad things and are certainly good ways to outwardly express your desire to be in a relationship with Jesus, but saying or writing such prayers does nothing unless your heart is stirred to a place of repentance, believing, and submission. If God has not stirred your heart to such a place then pray that He does, however if God has stirred your heart and you desire to enter into a relationship with Him, then your response to that stirring isn’t to try harder at being a good person or at being a good Christian. Instead your response must be to repent, believe, submit, and then tell someone.
REPENT: Ask God to forgive you of your sins, to forgive you for not following Him, and turn to Jesus for that forgiveness.
BELIEVE: Believe that you are forgiven. Believe in who Jesus Christ is and what He did for you on the cross. He is God in the flesh who lived, died, and rose again for the forgiveness of your sins. Believe and rest in the joy of that forgiveness.
SUBMIT: Submit to him being in control of your life, rather than you being in control of your life. Put on your Gospel glasses, and joyfully follow Him!
TELL: Tell somebody about the decision you made today. Tell us, tell your church, tell a strong Christian friend or family member so we can celebrate in this decision with you.
As C.S. Lewis puts it, “We don’t come to God as bad people trying to become good people; we come as rebels to lay down our arms.” Lay down your arms today and everyday of your life by repenting, believing, and submitting as you live not a perfect life, but a perfecting life that’s reliant upon God’s grace and God’s grace alone. You are loved, you are forgiven, and it’s not because of who you are and what you’ve done, rather it’s all because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. He loves you, he died for you, and he rose again proving that it’s all true. This is the Gospel!