What is the Gospel?

1. God is the loving ruler

God is the loving ruler of the universe. He made everything that exists. He made us cultivate his good world, obeying all his instructions with grateful hearts for all he’s done.

But it’s obvious that that isn’t our experience of the world now, so what happened? (Genesis 1:27-28, Revelation 4:11)

2. We reject God’s rule

We all reject God as our ruler by doing what we want when we want without him. By rebelling against God in this way, we damage ourselves, we hurt each other, and we destroy the world.

The question is, what will God do about our rebellion against Him? (Isaiah 53:6, Romans 3:10-12)

3. God’s just judgement

God won’t let us continue destroying ourselves, each other, and the world, nor will he let us rebel against him forever. God’s right and just punishment for rejecting him and rebelling against him is death and judgment. This is hard to hear, but it’s the truth. And it means that we’re all in deep trouble.

But that’s not the end of the story. (Romans 6:23, Hebrews 9:27)

4. Jesus came to save us

Because of his great mercy and love, God sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. Jesus perfectly obeyed God, living the life we know we should live. Jesus also died in our place on the cross, taking the punishment we deserve.

But that’s not all Jesus did. (Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 Peter 3:18)

5. Jesus rose to reign

God raised Jesus back to life again as the ruler and judge of the world. Jesus has conquered death, now brings forgiveness and new life, and will return one day in glory.

And so, where does that leave us? It leaves us with a choice between two ways to live. (1 Peter 1:3, Romans 4:25)

6. Two ways to live

Option one: We can live our way. We can continue to reject God as our ruler, causing damage to ourselves, others, and the world, which will ultimately end with us facing death and judgment, having to give an account for everything we’ve thought, said and done. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

Option two: We can live God’s new way by submitting to Jesus as our ruler and relying on Jesus’ death and resurrection, through which we can experience God’s forgiveness. This is how we can receive a new life that lasts forever, along with many other wonderful blessings. (Romans 10:9, 1 Corinthians 15:2)

So, which way do you want to live?

Want to dig deeper?

For a beautifully illustrated walk-through of the same six steps, visit twowaystolive.com, a trusted resource that has helped many people understand the gospel.