There seems to be a lot of confusion on the Forum about what the Gospel is and what the Gospel is not. After 45 years of indepth study of the Gospel I am more than qualified to tell you what the Gospel is and what the Gospel is not.
The Gospel is not about us, nor is it about anything that we can experience or have experienced.
The Gospel is not about being born again. That may be a good thing, but it is not the Gospel.
The Gospel is not that you have been predestinated or that you are one of the elect.
The Gospel is not that you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and you now speak in tongues.
The Gospel is not that you are a member of the Catholic church or any church.
The Gospel is not about obeying the commandments.
The Gospel is not that you have invited Jesus into your heart.
The Gospel is not that you have been baptized in water.
The Gospel is not that you have said the sinners prayer.
The Gospel is not that you have accepted Jesus as your savior.
What is the Gospel?
The Gospel is about Jesus Christ and what he has done to victoriously defeat sin, death and the devil in our name and on our behalf, Colossians 2:15. If Jesus had not defeated sin, death and the devil no one could be saved. Because Jesus was victorious over all things, God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ, Acts 2:36. It was God's plan that Jesus would come into the world as the new Adam and humanities representative, Romans 5:17-19. Jesus does for us what we cannot do for ourselves because we are sinners, Romans 3:23. By his righteous, sinless life, he offers to God the Father a life of perfect obedience to his Holy Law. It was his life that was lived for our justification, Romans 3:26. We have been justified by the doing and the dying of Jesus. God now sees us as perfect and complete in his Son Jesus Christ, Colossians 2:10.
That was not enough. Something had to be done about our sins and the sins of the whole world, "He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" 2 Corinthians 5:21. God put to death the whole human race in his Son Jesus Christ, Romans 6:6. He was a propitiation for our sins and the sins of the whole world, 1 John 2:2. God now sees ALL THINGS in his Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is God's new creation and our new humanity, 2 Corinthians 5:17. We have been reconciled unto God by the doing and the dying of Jesus, 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19. All that come to Jesus as repentant sinners to be saved by him. "Will be raised up together , and will be made to sit together in heavenly places in Jesus Christ" Ephesians 2:6. In Jesus Christ we have been justified, sanctified and redeemed.
This is the Gospel and there is no other Gospel.
Well, that's not quite true. What you said here is certainly PART of the Gospel (Good News), but you left out a very important point. Actually two important points.
(1) Jesus specifically said that the Gospel was about THE KINGDOM (Matt.24:14). The Gospel has everything to do with God's Kingdom, which he taught us to pray for. (Matt.6:9,10) The Kingdom is a government by Christ...he is the King of that government, and he has subjects of that government which happen to be billions on the earth that will be governed by him and his co-rulers. (Revelation 5:10; Rev.20:6) This Kingdom will dispense with all evil that now pervades the earth, and will guide the people on earth as we clean up the planet, build our dream homes, welcome back the dead, and many other things. God's will will finally be done on the earth as it is done in heaven. Jesus mentioned the Kingdom more than any other thing. This can be seen by checking out a Bible concordance. He said that it was for the Kingdom that he was sent forth (Luke 4:43).
(2) All Christians will not be sitting in heavenly places, ruling with Christ. Most of us will remain here on the earth and enjoy the blessings of Jesus' government. Does a government need BILLIONS of rulers? The ruling class will be a relatively small group. When the dead are resurrected (John 5:28), there will be billions living on the earth. The ones with the heavenly hope are not "better" or "more spiritual" than the rest of us; just like the U.S. president is not "better" in some way than any of his subjects. Neither is his cabinet. The ones who will rule in heaven were chosen by God through the centuries until the number of the planned group was filled. Now the majority of Christians have the hope of living in paradise on earth forever.
God's will for the earth was for humans to live here forever. His will hasn't changed. (Genesis 1:23, 2:15; Isaiah 45:18) Why would it? If Adam hadn't rebelled he'd still be here. If he had remained faithful to God, there would have been no need for Christ to die, no need even for the Bible. Jehovah "walked," every day apparently, with Adam "in the breezy part of the day." Adam got full instructions, I'm sure, as to how he should live to achieve the most benefit for himself.
That this earth will be brought back to pristine conditions is a tremendous truth that is included in the Gospel message. We see this restoration of the earth throughout the Bible.
Look up Isaiah 11:1-9; Isaiah 35:5,6; Psalm 37:9-11,29; Psalm 72:16; 67:6; Isaiah 65:21-23; Psalm 72:7,8
"He [Jesus] will have subjects from sea to sea and from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth."
Does this sound like all of his people will be in HEAVEN?:nono:
