By Jim Mettenbrink
Earlier, we considered that the apostle Peter opened Jesus’ kingdom to the gathering of Jews from 16 nations offering salvation from sin, i.e., forgiveness and the promise of eternal life with Jesus (Acts 2). The apostle Paul later opened this kingdom to the gentile world (Ac 13-28). He called his message the gospel – “good story.” And that is actually God’s “good story” calling mankind to come to the kingdom through Peter and Paul (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Earlier, Jesus said that the entrance into salvation in His kingdom was very restrictive (strait; difficult) (Matthew 6:32; 7:13-14). He went on to say that a lot of folks think they are saved when in fact they are not (Mat 7:21-23). Thus it is vital for us to know the exactness of what it means to enter the kingdom and live eternally in heaven. And Paul said he declared this gospel to the Corinthians by which they were saved (1 Cor 15:1-2). What was it?
Paul continued, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:
(1) that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
(2) and that He was buried,
(3) and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (vv3-4).
So the gospel is the death, burial and resurrection (from death) of Jesus. What is the reason Jesus had to die and rise?
The reason goes back to man’s dilemma in the garden of Eden. Something God called sin, the result of which was (1) physical death (Genesis 2:17) and (2) separation from God (Gen 3:22-24), and (3) eternal life (eating of the tree of life) (Gen 2:9; 3:24). Man lost his innocence and rebelled against God because he disobeyed God (Gen 3:1-7).
Man’s propensity is to be his own master, being in rebellion against God rather than in submission to Him, our Sovereign Creator. This fact is borne out by the destruction of mankind in the worldwide flood, after God declared, “wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen 6:5). If anything, the flood is an image of God’s judgment. He has a red line and will not tolerate sin. Thankfully, because of His mercy, He does not strike us dead the first time we sin. So what is the import of Jesus’s death (the first part of the gospel) regarding mankind’s sin?