The Gospel Story:
Here at Union Avenue we emphasize the gospel story (creation, fall, redemption and restoration) taken from the very pages of Scripture. How can we know absolute truth? Ask yourself why things are the way they are in the world today? Why is it from the moment we are born, when new life is celebrated, we begin to die? Why is there suffering in the world? Why is there evil? These are foundational questions that we all ask at some point in our lives.
We believe that the Scriptures contain the answers to life’s most difficult questions. The true story of the fall of Adam and Eve in the Old Testament book of Genesis reveals to us how sin, suffering and brokenness came into the world. It affected not just Adam and Eve, but every person born since Adam and Eve has inherited a sinful nature. We are separated from our holy and loving Creator God because of our sin. Soren Kierkegaard once said that sin is trying to be one’s self apart from God. Who among us has not tried to do things his or her own way? Scripture tells us that all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23).
Creator God in his providential plan of salvation and in his love for humanity shows us the way to be reconciled with Him even while we are dead in our sins. In Genesis 3:15, God first showed us that he would send one from the seed of Eve who would ultimately defeat the devil with a death blow. Hence, the story of redemption begins in the Garden and unfolds throughout the Old Testament. God calls on Abraham to trust Him by faith, and He makes a promise to Abraham that He will make him the father of many nations. God places Abraham in charge of the Israelites, and He promises that he will send the Messiah, the Savior, through this group of people. There are hundreds of prophecies concerning the coming Messiah (Christ) in the Old Testament. Even the exact location of his birth (Micah 5:2) and the fact that his Mother, Mary, would be a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), are predicted hundreds of years before Christ’s birth. As the gospels tell us, Christ was born from the virgin Mary just as God predicted (Matthew chapter 1).
Christ is God’s only son, who has always existed as the second person of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—three persons in one Being). Christ is not just one way among many to find our way back to God. We do live in a pluralistic society which cries out for acceptance of other religions which also claim exclusivity, but Jesus Himself said that He is the only way to know the Father (John 14:6). Furthermore, think about Christ’s exclusivity this way: why would God come into this world Himself to die a sinner’s death on our behalf through the person of Christ if there were numerous ways to know Him? Would not Christ’s coming be superfluous?
God is holy and without sin, and He is a just God who does not tolerate sin. Christ’s death on the cross some 30 years after his birth was an atonement (an appeasement) of God’s wrath toward sin. God physically raised Christ from the dead to defeat death, hell and the grave. He is alive today, and He is calling you to come to Him in faith and repentance. God is looking for us to repent and believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. ("Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out" Acts 3:19, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved" Acts 16:31). There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation from God. Christ did it all for us already. Look to Christ for salvation from your sins. The gospel says we are forgiven in Christ when we repent and believe in His finished work on the cross on our behalf.
You may say, “Well, I am a good person, I don’t need a Savior.” How good is good enough in God’s eyes? Wouldn’t you hate to reach the end of your life and be told by God that you were one deed or one good work short of making it into heaven? The gospel of Jesus Christ says that He makes us right with God—He is our reconciliation, and He says come to him today for salvation (Matthew 11:28-30). (For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast Ephesians 2:8-9).
If you have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, you are now made right with Creator God. We are glorifying Him in the here and now—day to day life, and we are awaiting Christ’s second coming when He will resurrect those who are dead in Christ to receive glorified bodies. He will also make all things new. Death will cease as we know it both for humans in Christ and for the animal and plant life as well. Those who do not accept Christ in this life await eternal separation from God in a literal place called hell. Christ will tell all those who have rejected Him in this life: “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” Matthew 7:23). (Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him Luke 12:5 Jesus speaking).
If you would like to talk further about the gospel or your recent decision to follow Christ as Lord and Savior, please call us at the church office. We would love to pray and talk further with you!
