The Gospel --- Making Us Brand New!

Do we notice how quickly things get old or outdated? New automobiles become old after driving them off the car lot. Computers become outdated in six months or less. Houses deteriorate and need repair. What’s new today will be old tomorrow.

In fact everything man produces will eventually go out of date simply because everything becomes old — that is everything but the gospel. The gospel message is over 2,000 years old, yet it is still just as fresh and relevant for us today as it was when it was first written.

The core gospel is that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect life (Hebrews 4:15; cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:21-22), willingly gave up His life (John 10:18) by being sacrificed on a cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb (Matthew 27:57-60), and was raised from the dead 3 days later (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; cf. Matthew 28:6; 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 Peter 1:21).

Because He took the punishment for our sins (Isaiah 53:5; cf. Romans 4:25; Gal. 1:3-4; Hebrews 9:28), He can forgive our sins and make us children of God if we put our trust in Him and display an obedient faith (Acts 13:38-39; Gal. 3:24-27; James 2:17-26; cf. Romans 1:5; Romans 16:26; Act 6:7).

Let the greatest story ever told make us brand new (2 Corinthians 5:14-17; Gal. 6:14-15; Colossians 3:9-10). It’s the story that never grows old. Let’s tell this story to others so they might become brand new as well (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets