The Gospel - A New Definition

I've been so busy with the gospel series I am doing now that I haven't had much time or energy to blog or do much of anything else. I have about another month to go so I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom, guidance, strength, energy and protection as the spiritual battle has intensified lately.

Below is a new definition of the gospel that I wrote based on the material I covered in "What is the Gospel Message?". I would appreciate any constructive suggestions or comments about it. Thanks.

THE GOSPEL

We are separated from God, the one who created us, because we have rejected Him and are in rebellion against Him. We have denied Him his rightful place in our hearts and lives. Instead, we have chosen to be our own gods and have looked to created things to find meaning, purpose and happiness, rather than looking to our Creator. This is called sin and from it flows all the “sins” we do.

After we die physically, there will come a day when we will have to stand before Jesus and give an account of our sin against God. Everything we ever thought or did will be revealed on that day and we will be without excuse. He will even show us the times He tried to reach out in love to provide Himself as the way for us to be reconciled to God but that we rejected His offer.

Since God is holy beyond our comprehension, sin cannot exist in His presence. Therefore, we will be found guilty and cast into hell, the lake of fire, where we will experience the wrath of God forever. There we will be separated from God forever, with no hope of ever being reconciled and restored to Him.

But there is good news, the greatest news ever! God does not want anyone to be sent to hell so, He sent His Son to provide a way for us to be reconciled and restored to Himself, by having our sin taken care of. Jesus came and lived a sinless life, then went obediently to the cross where the Father placed all the sins of the world on Him. As a result, Jesus was separated from His Father for the first time in all of eternity and then He experienced the full wrath, the full punishment for every sin. After Jesus paid the price for every sin, He rose again to life as proof that He was indeed the Son of God and had fully satisfied the wrath of God for our sin.

To receive God’s provision for our sin and be reconciled and restored to Him and become His children, we need to recognize in our hearts that we have rejected Him and rebelled against Him and confess it with our mouths. Then, we need to turn from sin to God and place our trust in Jesus and all He did for us and commit ourselves totally to Him. As we place our faith in Jesus, we must also give Him his rightful place in our hearts and lives as our King, always following and obeying Him, while we look forward to the day He will return and restore His kingdom here on the earth forever.

You can check this against what I wrote on September 12, 2007, A Definition of the Gospel. It has been viewed by people all over the world and has been as high as number 2 in Google search results for "definition of the gospel".