You hear sermons on everything these days--from serving God diligently, to God's love to really inappropriate topics like which candidate to vote for. But, very rarely do people preach "the Gospel"--the why behind the behaviors, choices and changes we expect to occur in Christians. So, here goes...open your bibles to John 3:16. Alright, done.
No, just kidding. This is really a key part of Christian faith. So, I think each Christian has to be able to explain it without simply delegating the responsibility to scripture. Here's my attempt:
There's one God and that God created all humans and everything else in existence. God loves us all and wants to commune with us daily. Despite this love and connection, most humans don't reach for God. We, instead become enslaved by our misplaced allegiance to things around us (sin). This enslavement leads to a deep shame, loneliness and isolation from God and others. In order to bridge the gap between God and us, God became flesh in the form of Jesus Christ and walked among us, sharing in our pain and loneliness. Jesus Christ was crucified, seemingly through the acts of a jealous group of people, but really through our communal sin. But, despite this crucifixion, Christ was not defeated. Christ rose from the dead--in the ultimate defeat of the power of sin. That is, by rising from a death He was sentenced to because of sin, Christ overcame sin. This victory is transferred to everyone who believes in Christ. By simply believing that Christ is God and that He rose from the dead to free us from the bondage of sin, people are saved from the power of sin. This salvation means that they have direct access to God.
Yay! "The Gospel" in one paragraph. Thoughts?
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