Jesus has commanded his church to share the good news of the Gospel. Christians know that they should do it. But, far too often, we don’t. We defend ourselves by coming up with excuses as to why we aren’t sharing. We are waiting for the right moment. There are too many distractions around. The person isn’t ready to hear the truth. You don’t want to hurt the relationship. Our actions are sharing the Gospel for us. That is the job of professionals.
I think the main reason we don’t share the Gospel is because we can’t tell the story. The Gospel literally means “Good News” and we as Christians have the best news to share. We share the good news of a promotion, an engagement, or a baby being born. How much more should we be sharing the good news of this great story? Everyone loves to hear a good story, and this story is the greatest one ever told. Can you tell it?
Below is the story written out in four parts – creation, the fall, redemption, and restoration. All of the Bible is screaming out this story and it culminates with our risen Savior, Jesus. Everyone can be a part of this great story. It is our job to share it. If you can remember these four parts, you will be able to share the story to the people around you.
Creation
God created humans in his image (Genesis 1:27). Not only that, he also created them with a purpose (Ephesians 2:10). That purpose is to know him and be known by him. To live forever with him and pursue him for all time. God is a God of love and he wants to love his people for eternity. This is true for his people from Adam and Eve all the way to today. He created you and he created me this way.
The Fall
There is a problem though. That problem is that there is something that is standing in the way of our perfect relationship with God. That something is sin. Sin is anything that goes against God’s perfect law. Sin happens when we don’t believe the promises of God. We think that there is something better out there than what God has given us. God created us to love us and to be loved by us and we go and love other things and try and find love in other places. It is when our hearts are going towards something other than God that we sin.
The Bible tells us that all people sin (Romans 3:23). Because we all are sinners, we all deserve death (Romans 6:23). Instead of pursuing God for all eternity we are now on another trajectory. We are on a path that leads to eternal separation from God. There is nothing that we can do to get back on the right track. We can’t do enough good deeds, go to enough church services, or rely on the faith of our family. We are separated from God.
Redemption
Because our God is a good and gracious God he did not leave us dead in our sins. God loved us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to pay the price for our sin on the cross (John 3:16). He wants to redeem his people. Jesus literally took the punishment that was due us because of our sin so we wouldn’t have to (1 John 2:2).
The Bible says that when we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead we will be saved (Romans 10:9-10). When we admit that we are sinners in need of a Savior, believe that God sent his Son to pay the penalty for our sins, and confess Jesus as the Lord of our lives we are redeemed. We move from death to life. We are separated from our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
Restoration
Once we find life through Christ, we are no longer a slave to sin but we are free to live out our original purpose in a restored relationship with God (Romans 6:6). We are able to have love, peace, purpose, and joy. We are able to pursue God in our daily lives and share His story with the world around us. Jesus came to give us life, and life abundantly (John 10:10). When we confess him as Lord of our lives we are actually free to live the way we were created. We have been saved to the good life.
Have you experienced this story in your own life? Do you know the four parts to it? Can you share those four parts with the people around you? It is the most important story you can share, the story of the Gospel. Share it today and see what God can do with it.