The Gospel
What is wrong with the world? Most agree that something is wrong; determining the source of the wrong brings out several different viewpoints. Some say that class struggle is the source of the problems in our world; others say that it is that people have not realized their potential; still others point to a lack of education that leads people to do bad things.
The Christian message is different. It says that the thing that has led to all the evil and wrong in the world is humanity’s alienation from God: we are no longer in constant, loving communion with Him as we were designed to be. The reason for this is sin: we have made something that is not God our ultimate, whether that be our job, our family, our stuff, etc. Having sinned, we brought evil into the world and allowed it free reign.
Since our diagnosis of the problem is different that that of others, the Christian solution to the problem is also different. Instead of our need being further education, a realization of our potential, or class equality, we understand that our fundamental need is to be reconciled to God, a reconciliation that He has provided in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was and is the divine Son of God born as a man in first-century Judea; He lived a perfect, sinless life – a life we could never and would never live – yet He died a sinner’s death. This He did for our sake, so that by the grace of God working through faith in Him, He might take our sin and give us His perfection.
This brings about the desired and needed restoration to God, a restoration that is both personal and global in its implications, for God is not just saving individuals, He is saving a people and is, indeed, at work inaugurating a new creation, in which the sin, evil, and death that so pervade our world now will have no part.
Our appeal to you is to put your trust in Jesus, that you might enjoy this reconciliation and begin to partake in the joy of the new creation.
