We gather for prayer every Sunday @ 9:30 am, with our worship service @ 10:30 am. We would love for you to join us!

If you are unable to attend in person, you can join us on our Livestream on YouTube.

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What is the Gospel?

The gospel is the "good news" of the Messiah's coming Kingdom, and of redemption through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Repenting and believing this is the central Christian message and life.

This gospel of Jesus Christ is initiated, accomplished, and preserved by the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Out of His perfect holy nature and character, God created the earth untainted as a glorious reflection of Himself. He also created mankind to reflect His image and bring Him glory. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, walked in perfect humanity and fellowship with each other and God in the garden He prepared for them. In this garden was a fallen angel who rebelled against God and took the form of a serpent. This angel, Satan wanted man to join in his rebellion and he deceived Adam and Eve by introducing doubt to the commands of God and questioning their obedience to Him. God commanded them to eat of any fruit in the garden but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve following the serpent, and Adam following Eve, they ate and sinned against God. With this sin, the perfect fellowship with God, one another, and creation was broken and their eyes were opened to their nakedness and their guilt. Through this sin, all mankind sinned with them and now shares in their fate of living on a cursed earth and in slavery to sin. Thankfully God did not leave man in this state and promised that a Seed of the woman would put an end to the curse.

This promise was prophesied and anticipated throughout the Law, Prophets and Poets of the Hebrew Scriptures that we call the Old Testament. Every sin is an offense to God and every sin must be accounted for because the Lord is perfectly just and cannot let any offense go unpunished. Man’s only hope to reconcile with a perfect and holy God is to offer a perfect and complete sacrifice for sin. By nature every man and woman are lawbreakers and are unable to obey the law perfectly and therefore deserve the wrath of God. But God, being rich in mercy condescended His heavenly throne and came to earth as a divine Man. The second person of the trinity, the eternal Son, was born as a baby, walked on earth for 33 years, and lived a sinless life. The Anointed One, Messiah, came to earth to declare a message of forgiveness of sins, citizenship in His eternal kingdom and reconciliation with God for those who repent and believe in Him.

This reconciliation was accomplished through the shedding of blood from the spotless Lamb, the perfect sacrifice. Only a man could bear mans’ burden and only God could bear His own wrath. So the sacrifice of this spotless Lamb, the blameless Son, was the only hope for the salvation of man. Jesus the Messiah, on whom our faith is founded, endured the torment of man and the wrath of God on a cross for the sins of those who believe in Him. On that cross His physical body endured death, and with Him death and sin died to eternally secure salvation in Him. On the third day He rose again, and those united with Him arise to new life, as new creatures, to live by faith. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His followers to bear witness to the world and then ascended again to sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven, on the seat of authority and power. The Son remains seated, reigning over all His creation waiting until the last day where He will come to judge the living and the dead. When He comes in judgment, He will come in glory, appointing His faithful followers and adopted brothers to eternal life and those who reject Him to suffer eternal punishment. After the judgment of man is completed, all things will be made new, including heaven and earth. God will build a holy city for Himself. Those appointed to eternal life will live with glorified bodies, as perfect humanity, in holy inheritance with their God, as His people forever on the new earth in peace and joy. This is the Christian hope and the "good news" to which we are saved and will proclaim.

Have questions about the gospel or where to find these references in the Bible? Please contact us at info@gfsanford.com.