So, we have learned that Jesus is God, manifest in the flesh to redeem us, His creation. Which for us is really good news. And interestingly, that’s actually what the term gospel even means.

The Gospel = GOOD NEWS.

In this chapter, we are going to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ, what it is, and what this good news means for us.

In the previous chapter, we laid out a pretty dense foundation for the conversation that we are about to embark on today. So, let’s do what we always do when attempting to learn more about God: lets dive into the Bible to learn what it has to say about the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

In his first letter to the church in Corinth, in chapter 15, Paul writes to them with the goal of detailing the gospel of Jesus as clearly as possible. I would say that this is probably a great place to start. So, let’s dive in and read what he has to say:

“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1–4).

This is the gospel.

Simply put, this good news is the true story that God was manifest in the flesh, taking on the form of His fallen and lost creation (that’s us), living a sinless life, dying a death that He didn’t deserve to cover for our sins on the cross, being buried in a tomb, and then three days later rising up from the dead, leaving behind Him an empty tomb where there once was a corpse.

In doing this, Jesus proved to all who became witnesses of His resurrection that His victory over the curse of sin and death that entered into the world through the fall of the first Adam in Eden was now secure.

This is the good news.

We learned in the last chapter that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh. But let’s examine what God did as God in human form to bring this “good news” to our doorstep.

As we have already detailed: on the cross, Jesus took all of the judgment and all of the penalty for all of the sins that we deserved to pay by death and placed it on Himself. All of the sins of humanity, paid for in full by the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

We made a purchase through sin that we could not afford. But Jesus picked up the tab so that we could walk free.

Through what Jesus did in sacrificing His life for us on the cross, any wrong that I have ever committed and would henceforth ever commit was completely atoned for by Jesus.

In doing this, Jesus flipped the narrative for His creation, turning what once was hopelessness into pure, accessible, unadulterated hope through Him and His gospel. Without this perfect sacrifice of the sinless life of Jesus, there was no one that could meet the requirement to fully pay the fee associated with the price of our redemption.

This is the ultimate display of mercy, of which the Scripture says, "triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).

Let’s look into this a little bit more as we seek to understand the power of Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection, and what it means for us.

In a previous chapter, we pointed out that until Jesus came to be the final sacrifice for the sins of humanity, in order to temporarily atone for (that’s just a big theological word that means “to make amends for”) the judgment due to mankind for its sins, an offering in the form of an animal sacrifice had to be made.

This sacrifice was officiated by what was called a “High Priest.” This High Priest, on the “Day of Atonement” (the day on which this sacrifice was to be offered to God), would facilitate this sacrifice on behalf of the people, making an offering to the Lord.

The sacrifice was to be made on what was called “the altar.” The altar was a piece of furniture just inside the entrance of a temporary structure that God had instructed His people to build, called “the Tabernacle.” This tabernacle was the place that God would meet with His people, albeit imperfectly, and at arm’s length.

In the Tabernacle, there was a final room in the tent all the way at the end, the last room in the back, which was called the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies. This was a sacred room where God’s presence would dwell in His pure Holiness. And it was only the High Priest who, when he had gone through the proper ritual process of cleansing, could be granted access to enter in.

After carrying out the sacrifice on the altar and then going through this ritual process ordered by God in the Tabernacle, the High Priest would be taken by what many believe was the divine, supernatural assistance of God, through what was called “the veil.”

This veil was a thick, door-less fabric that served as a wall, separating the Most Holy Place from the rest of the Tabernacle structure. This veil ensured that the pure, unadulterated Holy presence of God remained separate from unholy humanity.

This was an act of mercy.

In this “Most Holy Place” dwelt a singular piece of furniture called “the Ark of the Covenant.” This Ark was a wooden structure made of gopher wood and was overlaid with gold.

Inside the Ark were three items that God instructed His people to place inside of it, all of which were symbolic examples of God's active covenant with His people: the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded, and a pot of manna.

On top of this Ark were two sculpted angels (cherubim) facing one another, whose wings arched over the top of a small seat that rested on top of the Ark of the Covenant. This seat was called the Mercy Seat.

This Mercy Seat was extremely important, and for the purposes of this conversation, will help us unearth the meaning of what true mercy really is and how the gospel of Jesus was the complete and total fulfillment of God’s mercy toward us all.

When the High Priest, after making the sacrifice on the altar, having passed through the rest of the ritual process to get beyond the veil and into the Most Holy Place… once in the Holy of Holies, he would approach the Mercy Seat and apply the blood that was taken from the animal sacrifice back on the altar in the outer court to the top of the Mercy Seat.

At the very moment that this act would take place, as the shed blood of the sacrifice was applied to the seat of mercy… God would respond to such an act of obedience and faith by pushing back once again the impending judgment that was to come upon all of His people for their sins.

Mercy in the Old Testament was delayed judgment. But in the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross, which was a typification of the altar, by shedding His sinless blood as a sacrifice offered up to God on behalf of His people, this sacrifice did not just delay judgment. But for all who would by grace receive salvation through Jesus through faith in His gospel, this sacrifice would quench judgment completely and entirely.

That my friends is the mercy of God, found in the gospel.

Back to the High Priest.

As we have just seen, the High Priest was a type of mediator. And the job of the High Priest was to facilitate the process of atonement for the sins of the people, standing in a place of mediation between them and God.

This is significant as it pertains to understanding Jesus and His gospel, because in Hebrews 4:14, the Bible tells us that Jesus actually became our “great High Priest,” by whom we obtain mercy.

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14).

In 1 Timothy 2:5–6, Paul also writes that “there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.”

In Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, he writes the following very insightful truth:

“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:18–19).

On the cross, Jesus, who was God in the flesh, reconciling the world back to Himself, was not only the sacrificial lamb on the altar but also the High Priest and mediator, applying the blood to the Mercy Seat.

He was the sacrifice and the one making the sacrifice—all at the same time.

This is why He could so boldly declare in His earthly ministry that, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Because He knew who and what He was, and what He had come to do… as the Lamb of God, High Priest, and mediator.

I hope that through this picture, you are beginning to see how powerful this gospel message actually is and how significant it is for us. That it is not only good news to hear but good news to experience.

The gospel is powerful. And the gospel is accessible.

It’s not just good news because of what happened two thousand years ago, but it’s good news because of how what happened two thousand years ago is still actively producing something amazing in the right here and right now.

We will talk about this part more in the next chapter.

Reflection Questions: