Redemption

The Gospel is a story of redemption. One of the simplest ways I know to explain it is through the relationship God created us to have with Him, what sin did to that relationship, and what Jesus Christ did to repair it.

Genesis 1:26–28 tells us that God created mankind in His image and likeness. We were created to know God, to live in relationship with Him, and to live in relationship with one another. Relationship with God is part of what we were created for.

But sin severed that relationship. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and Romans 3:9–10 makes clear that none of us is righteous on our own. We have all sinned, and we cannot repair that broken relationship ourselves.

That's where the good news of the Gospel comes in. Romans 5:8 tells us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In 1 Corinthians 15:3–5, Paul explains that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again.

Through His death and resurrection, Christ repaired the relationship that our sin had severed. That's redemption.

Because of what Christ has done, our sin can be forgiven and we can once again have the relationship with God that we were created to have.

John writes, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” — 1 John 5:13

God created us for relationship with Him. Sin severed that relationship. Christ repaired it. That's the Gospel.