The "gospel" means "good news". We can tell you with absolute certainty that it is indeed good news! Jesus is at the heart of the gospel. In fact Jesus is at the heart of everything we do here at First Baptist Church of Franklin. The gospel goes something like this.

 

God is the creator of all things. He is all powerful, all knowing, and always present everywhere. His great and loving plan for creation is that it would bring glory to himself. He is perfect and holy in every way. When he created the heavens and the earth he created it good. God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This a great mystery and hard to undertand, but it is true nevertheless.

Scriptures: Genesis 1:1, Revelation 4:11

 

The first human being created was Adam. God created him from the dirt of the ground and the breath of his mouth. He then created Eve, the first woman, from Adam's own body (his rib) to be compatible with Adam and told them to multiply and fill the earth and excerise dominin over the earth. Eve, however, was tempted by Satan to disobey God's only rule, the penalty for which was death. She chose to rebel against God and Adam did too. As a result sin entered the world and spread to all humans. Therefore we are all sinners before God and rightly and justly deserve death as payment for our sins.

Scriptures: Gen. 1:26-28, Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:23

 

Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. He therefore did not inherit the sinful nature that the rest of mankind did and still does. This enabled Jesus to live a compeletly sinless life, obeying God the Father perfectly. Jesus willingly laid down his life to purchase the redemption of his people. He did this by dying of the cross, the Roman Empire's cruel execution method. After dying on the cross he rose from the grave three days later and he is ruling and reigning at present and forever more.

Scriptures: John 1:1, 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 7:26, Rom. 3:21-26, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Cor. 15:20-22

 

Jesus came to save sinners from their sin and from the penalty of their sin. This is accomplished by grace through faith. It is all of God's grace that he sent Jesus to redeem a people for himself. When a person repents (acknowledges that they are indeed a sinner and asks God for forgiveness) of their sin and puts their faith (trust/belief) in Jesus he is faithful to fulfill his promise to save them from death (the penalty for disobeying God) and give them eternal life with Himself in heaven! This is why we call it the good news. Eternal life is for all who follow Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Scriptures: Mark 1:15, John 3:16, Rom. 10:9-10, Acts 20:21

 

This is the basic meaning of the good news. This, however, is just the tip of the iceburg. The biblical truth of the gospel is deeper and richer than we can fathom and as we draw near to our Lord Jesus Christ we become more and more aware of how great God is.

 

If you would like to talk to one of our pastors about Christianity, the gospel, counseling or something else please contact us through the "contact us" page.