Simply put…

The gospel is the good news that Jesus came into this world to reconcile us to God the Father.

But’s let’s back up a bit because good news isn’t as good until we understand the bad news.  As an example, let’s say a doctor told you that he had good news for you and then gave you a prescription without ever telling you what it was for?  You might be likely to throw that prescription away without ever taking it.  It certainly wasn’t that great of news.  But, if the doctor first sat you down and told you the bad news (that you had a disease and only four weeks to live), and then told you the good news about an available prescription.  Well now, you would probably be very quick to fill that prescription because now the prescription is good news!

The bad news…

The bad news that comes before the good news of the gospel is that every single person has fallen short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23).  We have all sinned.  Of course a lot of people don’t see themselves that way.  We usually like to compare ourselves to people who are worse than we are.  “I’m not that bad”, we tell ourselves, “I’m certainly not as bad as so and so”.  But the problem is that on judgment day we won’t be compared to “so and so”.  We will be compared to the standard of God’s law.  Our life will be examined and we will be judged based on what God has commanded us to do or not to do (2Corinthians 5:9-11).  The most common of God’s commandments are the 10 Commandments.

Here are a few examples of God’s standards…

“Don’t steal” (Exodus 20:15)
“Don’t lie” (Exodus 20:16)
“Don’t ever covet what another person has” (Exodus 20:17)

These are just 3 of the most common of God’s commandments.  Anyone who has ever broken any of God’s commandments will be shown to have fallen short of God’s standard.  And that is everyone!

To make matters even worse, the consequence for falling short of God’s standard is death (Romans 6:23).  Yes, that’s right, death.  Let that sink in a minute.  Everyone has fallen short of God’s standard and everyone (including you) deserves death.  Yikes!

But the good news is great…

The bad news is really bad, but the good news is great!  God doesn’t want anyone to die like that (2Peter 3:9).  In the Old Testament God provided a temporary means of dealing with people’s sin.  Under the Law lambs were sacrificed on a regular basis for people’s sin.  An innocent lamb would die instead of guilty people.  Each year this would serve to temporarily remove people’s guilt but, more importantly, foreshadow how God was going to permanently deal with our guilt.

God’s permanent solution…

How was God going to deal with your’s and my sin?  Through the sacrifice of his son.  When Jesus first began his ministry, John the Baptist saw Jesus and shouted out, “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  Jesus is the sacrificial lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus lived a sinless life according to the law of God.  He did not fall short of God’s standard, and although he didn’t deserve to die, he chose to die for us.

The gospel is the good news that Jesus came into this world to reconcile us to God the Father by dying in our place.  Being reconciled to God is not about what you are able to do but about what Jesus has done for you.

Will you believe in him…

The question is, will you believe in what Jesus has done for you?  The bible tells us that whoever believes in what Jesus has done for them will be saved (John 3:16-17).  Of course the word ‘believe’ means more than just a mental sort of belief, it means to entrust ourself to him.  Years ago I was standing next to my grandpa who pointed up to the sky where a commercial jet was flying high overhead.  He told me that he would never ever step foot inside one of those things.  And to my knowledge, he never did.  You see, my grandpa believed that airplanes existed but he would never entrust himself to one.  He felt safer on the ground.  In the same way, many people believe that Jesus existed and that he did many good things but that’s not what the Bible means when it says ‘believe’.  It means stepping inside what Jesus has done for you.

The law shows us that no one can ever be good enough to earn salvation.  It is a free gift to those who entrust themselves to Jesus.  Being reconciled to God is not about what you are able to do but about what Jesus has done for you.  This is the foundation that God has called you to build your entire life on.