Three Circles: Gospel

Three Circles: Gospel

(Put 3 circles in notes)

1. The gospel means that God made a way out of our brokenness. ? Genesis 3:14-15 1 Peter 3:18. John 3:16

The Heart of the Gospel: God sent His one and only Son to

shed His blood once and for all to cover us.

2. The gospel is simple. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

keryma, from kerusso: to proclaim or to herald. ? kerygma: the fundamental proclamation of the gospel.

3. The gospel is God’s promise to us—if we repent and believe.

Repent (metanoia): change of mind; i.e., change of direction

? Repentance: the realization your life is going the wrong direction and the willingness to turn and follow Jesus.

? Believe. Belief is not just considering something to be true; it is counting on it to be true for you!

4. The gospel continues in power to reorient us to experience God’s design?

2 Corinthians 5:17 Galatians 2:20

Opening about good news; someone rescued from certain death (car in river story)

Turn to Genesis 3. This morning we finish up this short 3 part series entitled 3 circles.

There are 3 spheres of reality that define our world, our country, our community, our church, our families; in fact, each and every one of us.? The first circle is God’s Design (draw). We saw in week 1 that God’s design for us is live a purposeful life in our relationships, our work life, marriage & family. Most of all, God’s design is for us to experience a glorious life, walking with Him and talking with Him in a warm, vibrant, loving relationship. (relationships, work, m & f, God)? The second circle is Brokenness (draw). Because we rejected and continue to reject God’s design, we experience brokenness. This rejection of God’s design is called sin. (draw arrow/sin) Sin simply means to miss the mark that God intended for us; to reject His design for us. ? Everyone is broken. We are a broken people. We see it in our world--and we feel it in our own lives: broken relationships, addiction, depression, discouragement, guilt and shame. We all want out of brokenness, so we try to fix it (squiggly lines out of brokenness). >We medicate it with drugs or numb it with alcohol. >We strive to be better people, hoping that somehow, someway, our good will overcome our bad. >We chase money. >We chase companionship. We look for ways to alleviate our pain. When we do that, we just get more and more broken.

But now comes the good news. Good news is captured in one word Good News=Gospel (write)?

1. The gospel means that God made a way out of our brokenness.

This is so incredible. God did not abandon us in our brokenness—He made a way for us out of our brokenness! ? You see this right after Adam and Eve rejected God’s design. Look at Genesis 3:14-15 (on screen). Satan is depicted here as a serpent. The rest of the Bible writer’s picked up on this and they add to this description that he is the deceiver, the adversary, the devil, the accuser, the tempter, the wicked one.? What was God’s promise? “He (a man) will strike your head and you will strike his heel.” Who’s the man? Jesus! This verse forecasts the battle between Jesus and Satan. Satan delivers a blow to Jesus on the cross, but Jesus deals the ultimate blow to Satan when He walks out of the grave conquering the penalty of sin and death.? v.21 “The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.” Sin always brings death. In this case, by God’s amazing grace, He sacrificed an animal—shed its blood—to make a covering for Adam and Eve. I want you to get these two words firmly fixed in your mind: blood & covering. The death of the animal, signified by its spilt blood, provides a covering for Adam and Eve. This is where God God institutes the sacrifice of animals in order to provide a covering. In this case, the covering was clothing. But in the rest of the Bible, the covering is the blood itself.

Now this is The Heart of the Gospel: God sent His one and only Son to shed His blood once and for all to cover us. But we need the proper covering to be acceptable to Him. Story about being invited to play golf but wasn’t dressed properly…? We need the proper covering to be acceptable to God. And that’s what Jesus did for us on the cross. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God.” 1 Peter 3:18 See! There is the way out of our brokenness; there is the pathway back to God’s design. That’s gospel.