The gospel is good news. But we can only understand why any piece of news is good, when we think about it in context–in context of the story of our lives and the story of the universe as a whole.
The context, part one. Everything in the world had to come from somewhere. The Bible tells us that it comes from God, because He created the “heavens and the earth” at the beginning of the universe (Genesis 1:1). God is perfectly powerful, perfectly wise, and perfectly good. He created us as humans to serve as His representatives in the world He had made. To help with this, God gave us humans certain instructions or laws that match and flow from His perfect divine character.
The context, part two. The problem is that we have all rebelled against God and haven’t kept His instructions. Adam and Eve, representing all humanity, followed the serpent instead of God and ate from the forbidden tree. They broke God’s law. And we are each now born separated from God with desire to rebel against Him. After the fall of Adam and Eve, the great problem of humanity is that we are now all unholy, unwise, and unrighteous; but God is still perfectly holy and good. That’s bad news.
The good news. The most amazing part of the story of the universe is that–instead of destroying Adam, Eve, and all of us–God spared them and sent His Son to save them. Jesus Christ is the perfectly divine Son of God, but He entered this world and became a man. He did this so that He could live a perfect live as God’s representative, suffer God’s punishment for the rebellion of His people, and rise from the dead. Through His life, death and resurrection, Jesus can make unrighteous and unholy people righteous and holy before God.
The right response. In itself, the gospel doesn’t ask us to do anything. It is a gift that we must simply receive by faith with a repentant and humble heart. That is the first step, receive what God has done for you. But having received the work of Christ on our behalf, the gospel calls us to joyfully devote our whole lives to loving and following the God who created and redeemed us. As Christians, we want to glorify God in everything we do and especially seek to tell others about the good news of what Jesus Christ has done for people like us!