The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation. But in a vacuum, this may not make much sense to you. What is good news if there is no bad news to compare it to? What are we being saved from?
God tells us in His Word that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” and that “the wages of sin is death.” Since all have sinned, all die. But not only this—once you die, then comes the judgment. You will stand before a Righteous Judge with a criminal record to answer for. The Judge you will face is perfectly righteous and just. He cannot let a single crime go unpunished, and you have more charges racked up than you could even imagine. Someone must answer for these crimes.
We see in the Bible that “the wrath of God abides” on those who do not believe. So it is not as though you will stand before this Judge and plead your case. This righteous Judge will not weigh your good deeds against your bad deeds. It is not a trial—it is a sentencing. One bad deed carries a fine that you could never afford, and you have an inconceivable number of them in your past. You are guilty. This is your situation outside of Christ.
Now, picture yourself in that same courtroom, under the same circumstances. The Judge says to you, “You have to pay this fine, or you’re going to jail forever.” You have no money, and you cannot go back in time to undo your crimes. But suddenly, someone walks into that courtroom and says, “This man doesn’t know me, but I love him, and I will pay his fine to save him from this eternal punishment.” The Judge can now remain completely just and righteous because He has issued the punishment for the crime—and though it was due from you, someone else paid it on your behalf. You get to walk away, and the Judge stays righteous because He punished the crime. This is what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross—but more than that: He traded places with you.
Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, which means He did not inherit the sinful nature that we did from our forefather Adam in the Garden of Eden. But still being a man Himself, He was tempted to sin and yet never did—not even once. Think about that for a second. Even as a toddler, Jesus Christ never once dishonored His mother or father. Jesus Christ never told a single lie in His entire life. He never stole anything. He never looked at a woman lustfully. He never took the Lord’s name in vain. How many times have you done those things this week alone?
Like I said previously, the wages of sin is death, so Jesus was not owed death. But because He loved you—He knew you by name—He went to the cross to pay your debt. No one took His life—He laid it down—and He did it for you. He knew you could never pay the debt you owed to God for breaking His law, so He traded places with you. When the Father looked down at Jesus Christ on the cross, He saw your sin all over Him and poured out His wrath on Him. The Bible says, “He bore our sins in His body.” But in doing so, He gave you His perfect righteousness. So God treated Jesus as if He were you, and now He treats you as if you were Jesus. This is what it means to “be in Christ.” We clothe ourselves in Christ, and this is how God sees us when we stand before Him in judgment—not because of anything we did, but because we put our faith in what Christ did for us.
After the penalty was paid on the cross, Jesus Christ physically died. He was buried in a tomb and rose again from the dead three days later! This means that this very day, He lives—and you can call out to Him. This is the promise of God: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” The Bible says, “Today is the day of salvation.” Do not wait. Every breath is a gift from God, and until you call on the name of Jesus Christ, His righteous judgment remains against you. But He is patiently holding back His wrath, giving you time to repent and believe.
What will that day look like for you?
