The Gospel
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The gospel is the good news that Jesus, by the will of God, purchased the redemption of physical creation, becoming its Lord. He overcame the sinful dominion of human essence in his own flesh, putting it—along with its curse—to death, and reclaimed that flesh sinless through resurrection, restoring it to his soul’s rule as intended. In doing so, he demonstrated victory over all physical creation—the shared essence of humankind—granting him dominion over all. By his victory, Jesus fulfilled God’s covenant commitment to create for everlasting love relationship with his creation and made possible the resurrection of all image bearers who, through repentance and faith, seek that relationship with their God.
Gospel Foundational Principles:
#1: Creation’s Purpose: God’s essence is truth, goodness, and beauty (TGB). He exists as three persons—Enactor, Word, and Breath—each operating in faith, hope, and love according to that shared essence. Within his Trinitarian self, God covenanted to create for the purpose of experiencing the relational joy of his essence through love with his creation.
#2: The Fall: The Fall occurred when Adam chose relationship with physical creation over God to satisfy his innate passion for truth, goodness, and beauty. As part of the first pair of image bearers, Adam’s soul was entrusted with possession and rulership of physical creation. Through his choice, he caused the separation of physical creation from God, resulting in (1) its curse by God and (2) the enslavement of his soul—and all human souls—to their cursed physical essence.
#3: Sin’s Dominion: Fallen image bearers are separated from God by sin, the missing of the mark of relationship with him. Sin creates two barriers to restored relationship: (1) activity—where the sinner uses controlled faith, hope, and love without God, and (2) status—where the sinner is enslaved by the dominion of cursed physical essence, perpetuating sin’s activity. The human soul cannot extricate itself from this enslavement to live in relationship with God. Thus, image bearers are destined by this corporate curse of essence for separation from God—everlasting death.
#4: Atonement: God’s goal in restoration is the return to love relationship with his image bearers. Restoration involves (1) forgiveness—grace extended to repentant souls individually guilty of sin, and (2) redemption—the reclamation of cursed human physical essence from its status in sin, restoring soul dominion as originally given at creation. God purchased redemption by coming as human in cursed flesh, bearing God’s image perfectly despite its influence. He put that flesh to death, conquering its dominion, and reclaimed it sinless through resurrection—the firstfruits of the full redemption yet to come.
#5: Resurrection Victory: By reclaiming his conquered flesh, Jesus demonstrated victory over the enslaving dominion of humankind’s shared physical essence. Redemption to newness of life restored the status of being blessed—living in relationship with God—instead of cursed and separated. By this victory, Jesus, the second Adam, reversed the consequences of the first Adam’s failure, reclaiming dominion over creation and fulfilling God’s design for his image bearers. Christ’s authority over physical creation, unattainable by any other human, is the gospel: the fulfillment of God’s covenant of creation and the hope for all who seek relationship with him.
Closing Statement: In the gospel, we see God’s eternal faithfulness to his covenant, the depth of his love in atonement, and the hope of redemption and everlasting life for all who trust in him. This is the story of restoration, a call to relationship, and the ultimate victory of love.
The gospel is not merely a story but an invitation to relationship with God. Through repentance and faith, we find forgiveness, redemption, and the joy of everlasting life in him.