Page 29 - Christ and Culture Textbook

The Gospel is the message to all the world that human beings are born into sin and enslaved to it.
Consequently, they are under the judgment of the Holy God. It is an announcement of good news; that
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Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection have brought about salvation for Israel and all that believe in him .
The good news that the just and gracious Creator of the universe has looked upon hopelessly sinful men
and women and has sent his Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to bear his wrath against sin on the cross
and to show his power over sin in the resurrection, so that everyone who turns from their sin and
themselves and trusts in Jesus as Savior and Lord will be reconciled to God forever.

What Christians must know
Christians will most likely be in communities where the gospel is attacked.
Christians won’t always fit into the world in which they live.
Christians may be inclined to think that defending the gospel is “trivial.”
Defending the faith can become wearisome and risking.
Evangelism maybe be neglected.

The Nature of the Gospel.
According to David Platt, the initial affront of the gospel is that there’s a God by, though, and for whom
all things begin. Because all things begin with God and ultimately exist for God, nothing in all creation or
in our lives is irrelevant to Him. What we believe and what we do (or don’t do) matter. The Bible shows
us who God is and what he desires. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God…” The preliminary offense of
gospel is that there is a God. “The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth”
(Isaiah 40:27) Because all things begin with and ultimately exist for God, nothing in all creation is
irrelevant to him. What is this Creator like? “I am the LORD, your Holy one”, God says in Isaiah 43:25. In
other words, he is wholly unique unlike us and incomparable to us. God is absolutely pure, and there is
nothing wrong in him. Everything God is and everything God does is right. He is without error and
without equal. This holy God is also good. “The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he
made” (Psalm 145:9). God’s goodness is expressed in his justice. “The LORD Judges the people” (Psalm
7:8). Because God is our creator, we belong to him.

Now we see the offense of the gospel coming to the forefront. Tell any modern person that there is a
God who sustains, owns, defines, rules, and judge him or her, and that person will be offended.

Our Natural Reaction to God.
Man is natural reaction toward the gospel is rejection. History records that human heart is problematic.
The ultimate problem of the human heart is that it rejects its maker. It rejects God’s purposes and plans.
When God creates man, God puts him in the Garden of Eden, and everything was great. Genesis 2:16-
17, Here we see God’s holiness, goodness, justice, and grace on display. God has authority to define
what is right or wrong, good and evil, based upon pure and holy Character. But in Genesis 3:1,4-5, the
serpent asks Eve, “Did God really say, ‘you must not eat from the any tree in the garden’?... you will not
surely die…. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you be like God,
knowing good and evil”.

There is a reversal here. It all begins when the command of God is reduced to query about God. Is God
Holy? Does God know what is right? Is God truly good? Does God want the best for us?

6 Chris Kugler, “Gospel,” ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Theological Wordbook, Lexham Bible
Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).

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