The Gospel is a message best communicated if you can know the message is received. Writing a definition of the Gospel, cannot confirm the delivery of the message. But the Gospel definition can be compellingly written. With too many details, you lose the reader; with too few, you lose the truth. Somewhere in the middle of this, the weight of the Gospel must be carried to the heart of the reader –

 

The greatest story ever told is not something made up, but a matter of history. It begins with the first man, the ruler of the earth. He took care of a garden, where he served and safeguarded. He named all the creatures in it, and he cared for all living things. He walked and talked with God, and he was the ruler as God intended him to be. Until he wasn’t. He disobeyed God, and he was no longer able to be with God, and he had to leave the garden.

​

Ever since then, everyone born to mankind has continued to disobey God. And for thousands of years, there was no other perfect ruler. Not one who would serve and safeguard as God had created the first ruler of the earth. But God told His prophets that He would one day send the perfect King and that He would be born from the lineage of King David of Israel. This coming Messiah would come into the world and deliver people from sickness, suffering, and death.

​

The King came in the person of Jesus, the Christ. Born of a virgin woman, sinless, in fulfillment of God’s prophecy. He came to show the perfection of the image of God. He would depart, leaving the world with His Spirit to remain as Advocate and Intercessor before the Heavenly Father. Jesus lived only to serve, and in His death, He safeguarded all mankind from the penalty of separation from God – the penalty that man had endured since the first ruler had been cast out of the garden. Jesus the Perfect King was crucified, nailed to a wooden cross, willingly, as a sacrifice to pay the price of our redemption from sin.

​

But Jesus is more than a man, He is the Son of God. After He was buried, He remained in the tomb for three days, and then He arose from the grave. After this, He appeared to and spoke with the apostles and many others. But soon after, He left them and was taken up into heaven. Jesus is now in Heaven with God the Father, having ascended there 40 days after His resurrection from the dead, just as He prophesied He would.

​

At His Ascension, God delivered His Holy Spirit into the world. This was just as Jesus had foretold. The Holy Spirit is the confirmation of Salvation to all who receive Him, through the acceptance of Jesus as Lord and acknowledgment of His death, burial, and resurrection. The Holy Spirit is God's gift of Himself to the redeemed of the world who await Jesus' return. Jesus will return again as the Everlasting Glorified King. He will establish His Eternal Kingdom on earth when His Kingdom in Heaven descends to earth. On that day, Sin, Death, Suffering, Sorrow, and Pain will forever be defeated, and Jesus will reign forever as the Perfect King.

​

This is the greatest story ever told. This is the Gospel of Jesus the Christ.