The Gospel Message

I have entitled our sermon this morning “The Gospel Message.” I wish to speak about the foundational truth at the heart of the Church that defines who we are as Christ-followers; and that is, the basic salvation message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Humberto Medeiros said, “The Church is not here to be popular, but to proclaim the good news of the gospel to those who like it and to those who don’t.” Oswald J. Smith asked, “Why should so few hear the gospel again and again, when so many have never heard it once?” John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States (1825-1829), stated, “My hopes of a future life are all founded on the gospel of Christ.” The word “gospel” is from the New Testament Greek word euangelion meaning, “good news.” Therefore, it is something that we should never hold back from preaching in our churches, or anywhere else.

I like preaching to the Church, and helping the saints of God grow and mature in their relationship with Jesus; however, there are often people in the pews who don’t have a personal relationship with Christ, and who don’t even know how to receive Him into their heart. There are likely times they will walk away from a church service and still not understand how to have a relationship with Jesus. They can enter the church building lost in their sins, and then depart after the church service is over still dying in their sins. The reason why this happens is because pastors and churches all too often fail to preach the simple gospel message.

It’s easy to spend our time preaching to the saints and forgetting the lost; to become distracted by trivial matters such as debating theology or politics; or perhaps, to find ourselves arguing about the color of the carpet or fussing over money matters. Unfortunately, it’s possible for believers to forget the ones who are lost and dying in their sins; however, we must never fail to recall that it was on account of the lost that Jesus came into this world. Jesus declared, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

It is good to teach Christians and help them grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ, for this is part of the Great Commission of “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20a). Also, we need to study theology to know what we believe. There is also a time and place to become involved in political matters. However, our first priority should be to seek and to save the lost; and we do this by communicating with them the basic gospel message of Jesus Christ.

This morning, we are going to examine some words of the apostle Paul; and for Paul, the only thing that was important in his missionary efforts was “the gospel message.” In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, Paul told us, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Paul didn’t approach people teaching them with deep philosophy or lofty theological tenets that he had learned in his rabbinical training; but he taught them the simple gospel message of Jesus Christ being crucified on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. This is the message that we will look at today; and it is the good news of Jesus Christ!

Basics Truths of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.

Right here Paul laid out for us the basic gospel message. He provided three concepts that we must come to understand and embrace in order to be saved, and to inherit eternal life in the kingdom of heaven. Here are the three points he presented: 1.) Christ died for our sins; 2.) Christ was buried; and 3.) Christ rose again the third day. This morning we are going to look at each individual point and come to a basic understanding of how to be saved. What do you think we will discover? The Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman tells us, “In the gospel, we discover we are far worse off than we thought, and far more loved than we ever dreamed.”(1)