Two thousand years ago, God remade the foundation of this world when He brought salvation through the cross. Because of this event’s magnitude, it is very common to underestimate the Gospel or even miss the point entirely. God’s sacrifice was far bigger than a statement of love, and He did it for far greater reasons than a get-out-of-Hell-free-card. The Gospel is a convoluted puzzle that challenges ideas of reality, and because of this, vital parts of it are often missed. When understanding of the Gospel is found, it completely transcends a person’s relationship with God. If Christians want to see just how great God is, understanding the Gospel is an essential step.

First Step

The most important concept to understand is that mankind is sinful; therefore, the Gospel does not revolve around them. The majority of Christians have accepted that every sin is punishable by death, and that they are undeserving of God’s grace. Despite this, many still view God’s grace under a lens that holds themselves at the center of it. Mankind cannot be the center of the Gospel because of the wicked choices we have made.

The Gospel’s core is explained in John the Baptist’s famous words, “‘He must become greater, I must become less’” (Saint John, NIV).

As sinners, we are not a benefit to this earth but a nuisance to it. Therefore, the Gospel revolves around making Christ larger. Once a Christian recognizes this, fully understanding the Gospel’s core requires going a step deeper. The first step to making Christ greater is understanding that the sacred and the wicked cannot abide in unity.

This idea is introduced with the words, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” (Saint Paul, ESV).

The bad company acts like a plague until a love for God dies and sin remains. Similarly, righteousness will be a plague to sin until it perishes. They cannot abide together, which is why God cast out Adam and Eve.

The Lord God said, “‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—’ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.” (Genesis, ESV).

It is incorrectly perceived that the sin eats away at the righteousness in one's heart, like bad company corrupting good character, but sin cannot conquer righteousness. What Paul is referring to as good morals is good in comparison to others, but they are still sinners. The sin did not concur good; instead, the righteousness fled because of the wicked heart that abided with it. After these truths are established, the Gospel seems almost nonsensical. If righteousness and sin cannot abide together, then how does God provide unity to sinners?

The answer is found through the words of Christ, “‘For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’” (Christ, ESV).

The point of the Gospel is not to allow evil and good to abide together, but for the sin in one's heart to no longer abide. When Jesus speaks of dying to receive life, he literally means that our souls must die to enter life. If righteousness would flee from a sinful heart, then the solution is for the heart to be drowned in the blood of Christ so that the only thing that remains is the Holy Spirit. When a man’s sinful heart no longer exists and the only thing that remains is God, he is now less and God is now greater. The core of the Gospel is not to allow the sinful heart to abide with God, but to change the sinful heart.

The Good News

Another vital aspect of the Gospel that is deeply complex is the Good News. The word Gospel literally means good news, but this news is far better than a get-out-of-Hell-free-card. Paradise cannot be the purpose of the Gospel because it puts man at the center. To understand the real purpose of the Gospel, one must first understand eternal life.

Jesus prayed, “this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (Christ, ESV).

This truth, that eternal life is unity with God, restores God to the center of the Gospel. Heaven is the gain of man, but a son is the gain of God. This also answers the question: Why did God create man? The proposition is often tossed away as unanswerable but God gave us the clues toward understanding.

The reasoning is found in the writing of Saint John, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (Saint John, ESV).

If God is love, then God wants relationships. He describes Christians as his children, friends, brothers, servants, and students in various places in the Bible. All of these things are beneficial for someone and provide meaningful relationships in their life. In order to put God at the center of the Gospel, one must understand that the point of the Good News is that mankind can now have a relationship with God because of his mercy. Additionally, this does not lessen the gift to man. Instead, God and Christians both receive more because of the focus on a relationship.

Jesus declared, “‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.’” (Christ, NIV).

This is why some people go to Hell when they die. If one is a slave to sin, then they are the property of sin, and if God took away what sin owns, He would be a thief. Instead, Jesus bought freedom with the price of his blood. Now, if someone gives themselves to God, they are no longer slaves to sin but a child of God. If the Good News is a get-out-of-Hell-free-card then we still haven't gained freedom. When God’s gain is at the center of the Gospel, not only does God receive more, but mankind receives mercies that we are incredibly undeserving of. When the Good News is perceived as paradise, the good part of the Gospel is neglected. Man receives more from their relationship with God than they receive from their get-out-of-Hell-free-card.

Daily Application

The idea that the Good News is to know God challenges the action of applying the Gospel in daily life. Rather than actively seeking forgiveness, God wants people to actively seek him. Instead of the response to a sin being a request of negation, it is a request of change. Before he was crucified, Jesus commanded Christians,

“‘Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’”

It is a direct command from God that Christians pray to not fall into temptation. If a Christian is going to lose their life so that they may save it, it can only be done by the strength of God. Mankind does not have the authority to make something born again like God describes in the Gospel, so Jesus is outlining how to no longer be a slave to sin. If everyone falls under the category of slaves to sin, there has to be some way He makes his children follow his own ways, and it is not by their own strength. If sin has authority over their slave, then the slave has to appeal to what has authority over sin. The way that chains are broken and relationship with God is formed is by appealing to God’s authority and praying to not fall into temptation. The action step of the Gospel is to actively pursue God’s power and do nothing by your own strength.

The Gospel is a convoluted and profound truth, and its complexities completely change life on earth. To understand the Good News, it requires a zoom-out. One must examine the Gospel with a broad and complex understanding if they want to encapsulate the entirety of its truth. The modern narratives around the cross lack the big picture understanding to fully know the Gospel. When one understands its reality it changes every part of their faith. The Gospel can only be understood when Jesus is at the center and every part of it actively glorifies Him.