A Summary of the Gospel

The Stage:

Adam walks with God in the garden. They have a relationship with each other, which tells me that Adam is a "perfect" being before God. Innocent at this time. Some facts about this story are interesting to note.

1. Adam was perfect, but he was clearly still in a "body" where he was capable of sin.

2. Adam was still lonely, so God made him woman. Clearly Adam still had needs, apart from God Himself, that God attended to.

The Sin:

Adam disobeys God. God finds him hiding in the garden. After questions were asked, God expels Adam from the garden, to return at a later date when the curse is fixed. More facts.

1. Adam ran from God. The first separation of man from God, was guilt!

2. Though Eve tempted Adam, the sin and guilt passed on for all time is attributed to Adam.

The History:

God tells us of His plan to restore mankind. Stories like Noah, etc. show us that God has a plan that goes beyond one lineage, and will affect all mankind.

God calls apart one man to separate himself. This was for God to do a few different things. He wanted to separate for Himself a lineage by which He would bring about the Messiah who would deliver the world from the power of the curse. He also wanted to reveal Himself to mankind through this time period of His covenant with the Jews. Facts.

1. God is extremely patient. It took about 4000? years for Him to reveal Himself to the world, and bring about the Messiah

2. God's overall plan was to include all people of all races, not just one race of people. It was this way from the beginning. No one was to have a monopoly on God.

The Redemption:

God delivers Christ on time. He walks the earth as a man, perfect in the form of the first Adam. Only this "Adam" does not sin against God. He pays the penalty for sin anyway on the behalf of those who believe on Him. His death is only part of the mission. For Christ to have complete victory over the curse, He needed to eradicate the thing that first separated Adam from God...guilt. In a climate where one people had the monopoly on God, in order to prove Himself the true Messiah and His people the true children of God, He needed to vindicate His word by coming back when He said He would, to deliver those He said He would, to prove He was not just a false prophet. This second coming did a few things.

1. Proved the cross was legit, God had accepted His perfect sacrifice, and showed the world that He was the true Messiah.

2. Vindicated those who believed on Him. They now had perfect confidence that He was the true Messiah. So all the claims for forgiveness, grace, and truth, were real. They no longer had the old covenant to answer to. Their seared consciences (which they inherited from Adam, emphasized by the law) were perfected before God, because they were perfect).

The Rest of the Story:

Christ is the true Messiah. Ad 70, more than any point in history, shows us this fact. What we know now is that He defeated death. He reversed the curse. Those who believe on Him have a relationship with God similar to that of Adam (if not exactly the same). Because Christ covered our sin from the presence of God, we can go to God directly as Adam once did. Can we still commit sin? Yes! Do we still feel lonely? Yes!

Even though we are not in a perfect world, we are not perfect beings in all aspects, we still benefit from the reverse of the curse because Christ bridged the gap for us. This is the gospel.

What the Gospel is NOT:

1. It is not about YOU! It is not YOUR glorification that is the end result of the Gospel. It is GODS glory, and Christ who is GLORIFIED because He did what He said, when He said. So now He is lifted up to the world as the one, true Messiah!

2. It is not all-inclusive! There is no place in scripture that says every man will be restored. What is says is those in Adam died, and those in Christ will be made alive. If the sin of Adam, and the glory of the death covenant were great, how much greater is the salvation of Christ? If Adam's sin caused great death, then cannot we be even more assured that Christ's salvation will bring an even more glorious life? All men in Adam died, all men IN CHRIST are made alive. Rest assured.

God Bless

Nate