The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ suffered and died in the place of sinners – bearing on the cross the punishment that they deserved. It promises us that, through faith in His perfect sacrifice, we will be fully forgiven for all our wrongdoing, counted righteous now in Christ, and welcomed wholeheartedly into God’s family as His much-loved children.
And it’s this good news, and all that inevitably flows from it, that means I still need the gospel today every bit as much as when I first came to Christ.
Here are just 31 of the countless reasons why.
1. Though guilty – it offers me forgiveness.
2. Once alienated from God – it reconciles me to Him.
3. Knowing I am going to die – it promises me a resurrection to eternal life.
But it brings about far more than what makes the headlines. So the list continues:
4. When I’m proud – it humbles me, by reminding me that, other than Christ, I’ve nothing to boast about.
5. When I worry about the future of the planet – I’m reminded that it’s not just me who will one day be renewed, because the earth will be too.
6. When I am tired – it offers me rest.
7. When I am sad – it assures me that one day my every tear will be wiped away.
8. When I despair – it offers me hope.
9. When I’m lonely – it assures me I’m not alone.
10. When I think it’s all down to me – it promises me it isn’t.
11. When I don’t understand – it points me to where true wisdom is found.
12. When I’m rejected by others – it reminds me that I am completely accepted in Christ.
13. When I continue to sin – it offers me fresh mercy. And when I continue to act in ways I shouldn’t – it offers me ongoing grace and with it the hope of slowly being transformed into the likeness of Christ.
14. When I feel invisible – it assures me I am seen.
15. When I think I’m someone of importance, it reminds me that my greatest significance comes not from what I do but from who I am – one who has been made in the image of God. Having fallen, I have been redeemed and graciously restored, and having been born again, I am now His child, one who is being slowly transformed into the image of His Son.
16. When circumstances appear impossible – it reminds me that nothing is beyond His power, and though I may have to wait my whole life long, I can nonetheless be sure that one day all that is wrong with the world will finally be put right.
17. When I need to be carried, and when I foolishly think I don’t – it reminds me I’m always held in His everlasting arms.
18. When I’m in free fall – it sets my feet upon a rock.
19. When I feel I haven’t a prayer – it tells me that I have.
20. When I haven’t a clue – it reminds me I can trust the One for whom nothing is a mystery.
21. When everything’s changing far too quickly – it reminds me that God remains forever the same.
22. When others find me unlovable – it assures me that, despite my sin, I remain genuinely loved by God – whose love refuses to leave me as I am.
23. When I’m frightened – it assures me I do not face my fears alone.
24. When I’ve nothing to say – it gives me something to talk about. And when I’ve too much to say – it gives me something worth listening to.
25. When I think I’m in control – it reminds me that I’m not.
26. When I’m lost and all at sea – it leads me safely home. And when I’m scrabbling around in the dark – it offers me a guiding light.
27. When I wonder what the point is – it provides me with a purpose.
28. When I feel far from God – it assures me that He is near.
29. When I’m dissatisfied – it points me to an all-sufficient God.
30. When I’m full of complaints – it gives me something to be grateful for.
31. When I find everything dull and boring – it gives me something to be wonderfully excited about.
Furthermore, when I worry about those I love, those whom I can’t help, and those who are sad, suffering, or seemingly hopelessly lost, the gospel offers me something that I can offer them – the good news of Jesus Christ. Because, whilst it won’t put everything right at once, it can sustain them just as much as it continues to sustain me.
‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.’ [Romans 1:16]
