The gospel defines who we are and how we live as Forest Ridge. The word “gospel” means good news. Specifically, it is the good news of the kingdom of God that Jesus inaugurated when he came to earth, died for our sins, and rose from the grave on the third day (Mk. 1:14-15, 1 Cor. 15:3-5). God now calls on all people to repent of their sins and submit their life and allegiance to Jesus (Acts 17:30). When we believe and confess Jesus as our Lord and believe God raised him from the dead, we are born again and become a part of God’s new creation which is here now and will fully come at the return of Jesus (Jn. 3:3, 2 Corinthians 5:17).
THE STORY OF GOD
The gospel is good news for us because through it God saves us from the bondange of our sin, Satan, and the wrath of God against sin that is poured out on unbelievers in a literal place called hell.
The gospel is also good news because through it God saves us for an eternity of fellowship with him and other believers in the new creation. To understand this better we often use what we call The Story of God to explain the full scope of the gospel.
CREATION + FALL + REDEMPTION + NEW CREATION
The Bible is one consistent story with four chapters so to speak: Creation, the Fall, Redemption, and New Creation.
The pinnacle of God’s creation is the creation of human beings; his image- bearers who were created to reflect God and multiply and to spread God’s dominion across the earth (Gen. 1-2). The narrative then takes a turn when our first father and mother, Adam and Eve, brought about the curse of sin upon the whole earth and passed sin-nature onto their sons and daughters (Gen. 3). When this happened, human beings gave our God- given authority over to Satan and we became spiritually dead. We call this the Fall.
However, even in the fall God promised deliverance from the curse by raising up a seed (offspring) from Eve who would crush the head of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15). This is the first good news after the fall and we call this the promise of Redemption, which is ultimately realized in the coming of Jesus who was victorious over sin and Satan by bearing the penalty of our sin on the cross (Col. 2:13-15). That’s incredible news but it doesn’t stop there! He redeems us and renews us by conforming us to his image and restores our initial vocation as image bearers (Col. 3:10). Just like when God told Adam and Eve to multiply in order to spread his kingdom across the earth, we now have a similar calling that produces a better outcome. We are to make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching everyone to obey his commandments (Mt. 28:18-20).
THE STORY OF GOD
The gospel is good news for us because through it God saves us from the bondange of our sin, Satan, and the wrath of God against sin that is poured out on unbelievers in a literal place called hell.
The gospel is also good news because through it God saves us for an eternity of fellowship with him and other believers in the new creation. To understand this better we often use what we call The Story of God to explain the full scope of the gospel.
CREATION + FALL + REDEMPTION + NEW CREATION
The Bible is one consistent story with four chapters so to speak: Creation, the Fall, Redemption, and New Creation.
The pinnacle of God’s creation is the creation of human beings; his image- bearers who were created to reflect God and multiply and to spread God’s dominion across the earth (Gen. 1-2). The narrative then takes a turn when our first father and mother, Adam and Eve, brought about the curse of sin upon the whole earth and passed sin-nature onto their sons and daughters (Gen. 3). When this happened, human beings gave our God- given authority over to Satan and we became spiritually dead. We call this the Fall.
However, even in the fall God promised deliverance from the curse by raising up a seed (offspring) from Eve who would crush the head of the Serpent (Gen. 3:15). This is the first good news after the fall and we call this the promise of Redemption, which is ultimately realized in the coming of Jesus who was victorious over sin and Satan by bearing the penalty of our sin on the cross (Col. 2:13-15). That’s incredible news but it doesn’t stop there! He redeems us and renews us by conforming us to his image and restores our initial vocation as image bearers (Col. 3:10). Just like when God told Adam and Eve to multiply in order to spread his kingdom across the earth, we now have a similar calling that produces a better outcome. We are to make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching everyone to obey his commandments (Mt. 28:18-20).