The gospel is an essential concept in Christianity. It is mainly about the good news regarding the kingdom of God. However, the gospel aspect is slowly losing its impact despite being significant in the Christian faith. Its meaning has been changing over the years, creating confusion about what it is really about. It is essential to understand Christianity, as a religion, before analyzing the gospel. Christianity is one of the most popular religions in the world. It is the only religion, among the Abrahamic religions, based on Jesus Christ, who is also the founder. Christians believe that Jesus is God’s Son whom he sacrificed to salvage humans from wallowing from sins. Jesus is regarded as the re-uniter between God and Man, who had drifted apart because of Man’s sins. Notably, this paper will focus on investigating what the gospel means by discussing the essential elements and reflecting on the implications for the Christian worldview.
Gospel Essential Beliefs
Nature of God
In the gospel, the nature of God is portrayed quite differently from how He is portrayed in the Old Testaments. The gospel understands God as loving. He is powerful and the creator of the universe, but his loving side is portrayed through the gospel. In the new testament, God punishes people for disobeying him. His wrath on people causes them to wallow in disasters. Notably, as Ortlund (2014) explained, the gospel insists that God is a God of second chances. He forgives his people over and over again. He is also patient with them as He allows them to choose whether to follow Him or not. His love is manifested when he sacrifices his Son, Jesus, to die for people’s sins. This character is well portrayed in the book of John 3: 16-18 (NIV), which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” These verses show how God gave his only Son to save Man from sin and condemnation. Through Jesus, He had changed the ways of dealing with Man as He was guided by love and peace. His love is also expressed through his forgiving nature, written in verse, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32 NIV). In summary, the gospel is built on God’s nature because he decided to give people a second chance through Jesus, who paid for their sins at the cross.
Nature of Humanity
In the gospel, humans are God’s creation. They are God’s children. This aspect is supported by the first line of the Lord’s Prayer taught by Jesus in Mathew 6: 9 (NIV). It says, “our father who is heaven.” This line shows that Humans exist because of God because he provides them with everything they want, like a parent-children relationship. Humans depend on God for both material and spiritual needs. Therefore, their purpose is to live their lives exalting God and working in His kingdom. They are expected to expand God’s kingdom by spreading the word of God and making other people accept it. It is important to note that spreading God’s word is showing faith through actions. As God’s children, they are expected to obey God’s instruction and live according to his will. Notably, the gospel does not fail to show man’s weaknesses. Humans’ deficits are caused by the human desires that make them forget their godly purposes (Ortlund, 2014). Therefore, they fall short of God’s grace because they sin easily. They require the Holy Spirit to manage to live fully in God’s expectation. Another significant aspect regarding humans’ nature in the gospel concerns decision-making. God allows man to choose his kingdom or the darkness. Those who choose God make the right choice, while those who choose darkness cannot escape condemnation.
Nature of Jesus
Jesus is the central aspect of the gospel. Apart from being God’s Son that died to save humanity, he is portrayed with perfect behavior. All Christians are expected to emulate Jesus’ ways. One of Jesus nature emphasized by the gospel is that he is a teacher. He teaches his disciples and other people the ways of God’s kingdom and how to have faith in God. His teaching nature can be supported by the parables he tells in explaining how God’s kingdom works. He is also obedient as he follows God’s wills despite feeling burdened. This trait is well depicted during the night he went to Mt Olives to pray before he was arrested. He prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22: 42 NIV). Significantly, Jesus’ purpose was to save Man from sin. His death and resurrection meant that Man had defeated sin and could now manage to live holily in God’s eyes. Jesus managed to repair the relationship between God and man, which had broken when the latter chose sin over God. His importance in Christianity is that he managed to show man the truth, which is God’s words. Through his life, Man was able to see the manifestation of God’s nature of love, humility, truth, and patience.
Restoration
Restoration in Christianity means Man being restored of God’s grace that he had fallen short of after sinning. Grace means that God loves his people unconditionally and proportionally. Everyone is worthy of love and forgiveness (Ortlund, 2014). In salvation, grace enables Christians to be humble and allow God to control their lives. It encourages the belief that God is great and cannot be matched to any other form of power. Restoration also concerns boosting their faith in God. Faith means accepting God’s word through Jesus. Christians accept Jesus as their personal savior, and they become God’s children (Ortlund, 2014). Notably, restoration is impossible without repentance. Christianity likens repentance with the humility of accepting sins and asking God for forgiveness. It is the first step to attain salvation.
Christian Foundations
In summary, the gospel essentials (the nature of God, the nature of humanity, the nature of Jesus, and restoration) constitute the foundation of the Christian worldview. God is the center of Christianity as Christians are expected to believe in him to be part of the kingdom. He is the creator and the origin of the love upon which the gospel is based. Humanity’s role Christian worldview is to show why the gospel is important. Human nature makes it impossible for humans not to sin. Thus, Jesus plays an important role in rolling the burden of sin away for people’s sins. He pays the price by being humiliated publicly and dying on the cross. However, he conquers sin when he resurrects, restoring God’s grace and love upon humans, who had initially strayed from God’s kingdom.
Analysis of the Implications of the Christian Worldview
The major benefit of the Christian worldview concerning human value is that it makes people confident regardless of the struggles they face. Christianity asserts that God is the creator and provider of the universe (MacArthur, 2009). Thus, Christians usually feel they have a father in God. Apart from confidence, the Christian worldview emphasizes hope in humanity. Humanity was lost in darkness and sins, but God sent Jesus to die to save humans. Through Jesus, Man can see the truth and live it. Thus, they can live in dignity.
Notably, Christianity and Judaism believed in God but have a different understanding of salvation. For Christians, salvation is more spiritual than physical. Salvation is mainly about being rescued from bondage and sin (Gilman, 2014). It is attained through Jesus Christ, who was sacrificed to die for the sake of humanity. Those who believe in God must be baptized in Jesus’ name. Jesus’ blood and body are significant for salvation (Gilman, 2014). The blood washes away from people’s sins while the body represents the sacrifice of Jesus’ life to compensate for Man’s sin. In Judaism, salvation is more physical. It involves God freeing his people from their oppressors (Gilman, 2014). An excellent demonstration of Judaism’s salvation is when God sent Moses to free the Israelites from Egypt. The Israelites were in slavery bondage for a long time, and they patiently waited for God to save them. Another example is how the Israelites had expectations of Jesus, the “coming Messiah.” Israel was under Roman rule; hence, the Israelites expected Jesus to be a king who would conquer the Romans in war.
Christianity teaches people how to live with each other well. Therefore, the Christian worldview influences people’s thinking and behavior positively (MacArthur, 2009). For instance, Christianity teaches people to forgive each other as many times as they can. Forgiving is considered godly since God easily forgives those who forgive their fellows.
Even though the Cristian worldview contributes to societal values, people still find it confusing and troublesome. One confusing aspect of Christianity is the numerous denominations that have conflicting beliefs (MacArthur, 2009). For instance, Catholics believe that the correct baptism is through sprinkling, while Protestants believe in immersion baptism.
Conclusion
The gospel unifies all the Christian denominations. It focuses on the relationship between God and Humanity. Jesus plays the central role of uniting the two through salvation. Man is cleansed of his, and he manages to see the truth of the gospel. His grace and faith are restored, and he becomes a new being. The gospel essentials summarize the primary participants in God’s kingdom.
References
MacArthur, J. (Ed). (2009). Think Biblically!: Recovering a Christian Worldview. New York: Crossway Books.
Gilman, L. S. (Ed). 2014. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Collaboration and Conflict in the Age of Diaspora. Hongkong University Press.
New International Version (NIV). (2021). Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+22&version=NIV
Ortlund, C. R. (2014). The Gospel: How The Church Portrays The Beauty of Christ. New York: Crossway Books.
