This article has been written by a member of Whiddon Valley Evangelical Church, Barnstaple, Devon, and is used here with their kind permission.
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The Gospel in a Nutshell
If there are 3 words that can express the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a nutshell, it is these 3 words from Colossians 3:11: “Christ is all”. But what does that mean exactly, and why, you may ask, is Jesus Christ so uniquely important, as these 3 words seem to suggest?
Why Christ is All
From the rest of the verse in Colossians 3:11 we can see what the apostle Paul meant when he wrote these words. “Christ is all” in respect of: nationality (“there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision”): culture (“[there is neither] Barbarian, [nor] Scythian”): and social status (“[there is neither] bond nor free”). In Galatians 3:28 Paul also mentions sex (“neither male nor female”). There are many differences among the various people in the world. Paul is not saying that these differences don’t exist; what he is saying is that, if we belong to Jesus Christ, none of these distinctions matter. As Paul says in the same verse in Galatians quoted above, “ye are all one in Christ Jesus”. All that matters to God is that a person is in Christ, and that Christ is in them. Why is this?
The Problem of Sin
It is because we are all in the same boat, as far as our relationship with God is concerned, regardless of nationality, culture, social status or sex. As Paul says elsewhere, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We have all broken God’s law. Jesus summed up what God requires of us all when He said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). So, if we don’t love God with all our innermost being, and we don’t love our fellow-humans with a compassionate, self-giving love (see Jesus’s Parable of The Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29-37), then, as far as God is concerned, we are guilty of having broken His law; and, as none of us has met that standard, that means we are all sinners before God. It doesn’t matter what you think of yourself, or what other people think of you; in God’s eyes none of us are good enough; and, after all, it is what God thinks that matters, as He is the Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25). Romans 6:23 explains what our sin deserves, “The wages of sin is death”: that means eternal separation from God. God is holy and cannot look on sin with approval (Habakkuk 1:13). Sin is abhorrent to God’s holy character, and His justice demands that it be punished. This is really bad news for you and me because, as we have already seen, we are all sinners.
The Remedy of God
But the Good News is that God Himself has done something about the problem of man’s sin. There is one way, and one way only, whereby sinners can be forgiven. That one way is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man (or woman) cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Romans 6:23, quoted above, reads, in full, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead, came into this world as a man (the only one without sin), lived a perfect life, and then gave His life on the cross in order to pay the penalty for our sin. And, to show that His sacrifice was accepted by God the Father, He rose from the dead, and then ascended back into heaven, from whence He had come. From heaven He sent the Holy Spirit, Who was sent to take Jesus’s place in the world (John 14:16), and, by His Spirit, He is now calling sinners everywhere to repent (confess and turn from their sins), and trust in Him and His work of redemption upon the cross. Jesus paid the ransom price to set us free from the guilt of our sin, and God offers a full pardon to all who turn to Christ. The apostle John tells us, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16); and, in Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden (with a sense of the burden of your sin), and I will give you rest”. What an offer! Will you accept it?
Is Christ Your All?
Can you see, now, why Jesus Christ is so uniquely important? To the Christian believer He is everything! Without Him there is no hope of salvation from sin, no hope of eternal life, and no hope of a place in heaven when we die. No wonder the Christian can sing, “Christ Jesus is my All-in-all” (from the hymn “I’ve found the pearl of greatest price”, no. 135 in Christian Hymns). Is Jesus Christ your “All-in-all”? your answer to this question has eternal consequences; compared to this question, your individual nationality, culture, social status, sex, and everything else that makes you and I distinctive in this world is of no importance; what really matters is: are you a “(child) of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26)? is He the one on whom all your hopes of going to heaven depend? Seek God today, through His Son Jesus Christ; if you search for Him with all your heart, He promises that you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Come to God humbly, come to Him repenting of your sin, come to Him trusting in the only Saviour of sinners – Jesus Christ; and then you will experience what another hymn-writer says, “To them that seek Thee Thou art good; to them that find Thee, all in all” (from the hymn “Jesus, Thou joy of loving hearts”, no. 134 in Christian Hymns). May you come to know Jesus Christ as your “all in all” today. Amen.
