THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST

IN A NUTSHELL: The Gospel, or good news, of Jesus Christ: Jesus gave up His own life for our sins, but He didn't stay dead. Jesus rose again! And because of His death and resurrection, Jesus rescued people from sin, death, and satan.

IN DETAIL (WORTH THE READ):

In the beginning...

God created Adam and Eve, the first human beings. God desired to have a relationship with His creation, and He commanded Adam and Eve to not eat a fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan, disguised as a serpent, tricked Eve who then led Adam to eat fruit from the tree that God forbade them to consume from. This disobedience became known as sin, or transgressing against God. In the Old Testament, in order for the Jews (Hebrew Israelites) to be forgiven of their sins, they needed to shed blood by sacrifice animals. There were 613 Mosaic Laws, a list of laws that The Father (God) gave to Moses. Israelites had to abide by these laws, and if they broke these laws, it was called sin, and the wages of sin is death. If you cross the line and sin one time, the sentence for that sin was death. For example, you attend a court/hearing because you convicted of stealing one time, and the judge says "You're dying without mercy and grace." So our Heavenly Father said "because sin equals death, I'm going to give you an option.

1. An opportunity to atone for the sins, or cancel out the debt through blood. Why? Because blood equals life, and without blood, we die. We need blood. The Father, created a spiritual law He created is blood which equals life and it will atone for sin which equals death.

The Israelites would constantly sacrifice a tenth of their best sacrifice animals. The Israelites continued to sin, and the prophets, the men of God that were called to prophesy and bring correction to the Israelites. For 1,000 years, they would speak about the Messiah, The Christ. As time passed, they wondered where is He and when is coming to save them? As time passed, they realized it was taking too long so they worshiped false gods. They would go to false gods for the quick fix and quick "power," showing how wicked they were.

Israelites Waiting for the Messiah

We couldn't correct (atone, or make amends) sin in our own strength. The Israelites were waiting on Jesus, the Messiah, The Christ. He came and was born of a virgin to prove that He is God. It was by the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is what gave the virgin Mary the seed to be able to birth Jesus Christ. It wasn't sexual nature, it was spiritual. She birthed Emmanuel (God is with us), Jesus Christ. He was/is perfect, He was/is sinless.

• Why was Jesus perfect? He had to be. If He committed one sin, one blemish, He couldn't be the perfect sacrifice. Jesus said "I'm going to come and be perfect, that way when I sacrifice myself, a human sacrifice, it would be the perfect, final, eternal sacrifice. After that, there will be no more sacrifices.

Jesus Christ is God

God literally came in the flesh because Jesus is the fullness of God bodily. The fullness of God, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. all powerful God, came into a human vessel. Jesus Christ is the revelation of God in the flesh.

God showed us that He can be just like us, same human vessel, same trials and tribulations, issues, and how we have to eat, go to the bathroom, go through emotional issues, and the enemies and demons that constantly bother us, our flesh, and have to work to survive. He became poor so that we could become rich in heaven.

During Christ's ministry, Jesus operated in miracles, signs, and wonders. He preached the kingdom of God is at hand and to repent. He went from city to city, casted demons out of people, raised people from the dead, healed the blind, healing people with leprous, kids with seizures, and people that had disabilities. After, He would tell them to not go back to their sinful ways or it will be worse than their last.

The book of Isaiah refers to the prophesies about Jesus, and Christ fulfilled them all. Before His death, Jesus Christ asked our Heavenly Father if "this cup could pass Him," or if there was another way to conquer sin and the world because He knew how horrible, painful, and terrifying it was going to be. In the garden of Gethsemane, He grieved to the point of death, fell to the ground multiple times, and His sweat turned into blood because He knew how detrimental it was going to be.

Jesus' Crucifixion

He was betrayed by one of His disciples named Judas. He betrayed Him for thirty pieces of silver. Afterwards, Jesus was arrested, brought to the chief priests, and was charged with blasphemy against God because He claimed to be God (Son of Man). They mocked, spat, punched, and ridiculed Him. After being convicted, He was whipped, scourged, and flogged to the point His flesh was hanging off his body and His ribs were visible. They twisted thorns into a crown and forcefully pushed it into His skull, clothed Him in a robe, and made Him hold a reed/staff, and with wickedness and laughter, mocked Him as the King of the Jews. Furthermore, the chief priests and public all voted to crucify Him. He carried a heavy, wooden cross across Jerusalem after being physically tortured. Not only did He carry a cross, but He carried all the weight of all the sins of the world, disgusting, nasty, evil, and wicked sins from the past, present, and future. We refer to this as "spiritual torture." He became sin when He knew no sin for us sinners. He was able to go through the pain, physically and spiritually, all for us. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

They hammered nails into His hands and feet. He was crucified naked, and they cast lots with His garments. They lifted the cross, and Jesus hung on that cross for 6 hours. The chief priests continued to mock Him, testing Him by saying "if He truly is the Christ of God He can take Himself up off the cross and save Himself." Jesus showed that He is LOVE and God by saying "Father forgive them for they do not know what they do."

Jesus Defeated Sin, Death, and the kingdom of darkness

God literally sacrificed His Son for us. On the cross, Jesus said "It is finished." Sin, death, and life was conquered. The Word of God says He disarmed all principalities and powers. Jesus won! Jesus Christ made an eternal covenant, and He saved the entire world. He sacrificed Himself on the cross, knowing that He could've destroyed everyone by calling on 12 legions of angels. He didn't have to go through this but He did because He loves us. This is called Agape - sacrificial love. He gave up His life for us so we could be with Him in heaven. He not only died, but He was buried in a tomb. Even though His disciples saw Him walk on water, perform miracles, signs, and wonders, they still doubted that He was the One. Peter denied Jesus 3x. They witnessed all these miracles but STILL doubted Him because they didn't have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God.

Just to give one more proof that He is God, He rose from the dead. No one prayed for Jesus. God raised Him from the dead on the 3rd day! Even in His glorified body with holes in His hands and feet, Thomas still doubted Him until he saw the actual holes.

After Resurrection

After His resurrection, Jesus Christ stayed on earth for 40 days and witnessed Himself to 500 people. They received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, He ascended into heaven in His glorified body and they watched Him go past the clouds. Two angels said the same way He came up is the same way He's returning. Jesus Christ is returning as the Lion of Judah with fire in His eyes, not the Lamb of God. He's not returning to preach the gospel or the kingdom of God is at hand. He's coming back for vengeance. He wants everyone to come to repentance and not persih a second death (eternal damnation, eternal condemnation).

The Gospel

Overall, the good news: the wages of one sin is death, but Jesus came to be a literal, perfect sacrifice. A propitiation of sins (to be able to fulfill all of our sins). Now, all you have to do is put your faith in Him, which means believe in what He did, believe that He is your Lord, and believe that the blood that He shed is an eternal covenant and washes away our sins. Everything we did and do will be washed. Jesus Christ made it so easy for us, and that's why it's called the good news. The Bible says, "If you think you're without sin, you're deceived."

Followers of The Way, or Christians, Today

The problem: people will confess Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior, but won't believe it in their heart. If they did, the Holy Spirit would fill them. That's why they go through brokenness, pain, etc. The Bible says "No one comes to the Son unless the Father draws them in."

The Purpose of Life

The purpose of life is to find God, put our faith in Him, and He frees us from our sins. That's why Christ said you must be born again. After you find God and receive the Holy Spirit, you're born of the spirit. You were once born of a mother's womb, you came out of the water, but you need to be born of the Spirit. That's when the Holy Spirit will fill you, baptize you in power, and that's when everything changes. When you don't like your sin anymore, that's when you know someone truly changed. It's NOT about religion, it's about relationship with Jesus Christ. When you fall in love with Jesus Christ, your life changes. Make Him Lord over your life, and continue to deny yourself, pick up your cross daily, and follow Him.

Jesus literally conquered sin and death. By grace through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross gives us eternal life. Jesus is the mediator between man and God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no one can get to the Father but through Him. He is the bridge to heaven for us. Jesus Christ gifted us with the salvation of mankind. Praise King Jesus for eternal life/salvation through His death, burial, and resurrection. Believe in Jesus and you will be saved!