The Gospel
In the beginning there was nothing outside of God. God is holy, sovereign, and good; one in essence and distinct in three persons; from the triunity of His power, God created the heavens and the earth and it was good, then He proceeded to create mankind in His image; male and female as the crowning glory of His creation with intrinsic value, dignity, and worth to have dominion, subdue the earth, and multiply, filling the earth with God’s glory. God and man dwelt together in unbroken fellowship; this fellowship was good, whole, and full. God created man and woman in innocence, but wanted them to learn righteousness through obedience; that obedience was to be exercised through abstaining from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But through the crafty temptation of the serpent, man and woman ate of the fruit and the glory of man became corrupted and sin entered the world through one man, Adam, and brought forth corruption to all his offspring. Because of this, man’s relationship with God resulted in brokenness, distance, and shame. However, God promised to send a redeemer from the seed of the woman to crush the seed of the serpent and reverse the effects enacted by its temptation. Furthermore, throughout redemptive history, humanity has degenerated through the ages because of the rule of sin, yet God called holy men to carry His message of hope and salvation through the law, prophets, covenants, sacrifices, signs and wonders, and ultimately Himself through the incarnation of the Son in which He enfleshed Himself and dwelt among us with the embodiment of two natures, divinity and humanity, neither mixed nor separated, but distinct in one person, Jesus Christ, born of a virgin and conceived by the Holy Spirit, walking the earth as the only savior of the world. Christ fulfilled all righteousness, observed the law without error, invited sinners to truly know God, and performed miracles. His greatest work was through his death on a cross, burial in a grave for three days, and ultimate resurrection, sealing the salvation for the regenerate in God, reconciling God’s mercy and justice through the cross of Christ, that men may be forgiven and God remain just. It’s by God’s grace, through faith in Christ and the repentance of sin that men may have life in Him without price. Christ will return again to consummate all things and usher in the kingdom of God with new heavens and a new earth and those who are made new in Him will live with Him for all eternity; those who reject the gift of God’s grace of salvation, remaining in Adam, will face His eternal wrath, judgment, and separation in Hell.