The word “Gospel” appears 75 times in 72 verses, and across 17 of the 27 New Testament books. At its heart, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour, has defeated our enemy and now reigns as a new King (Acts 2:36; 3:20-23; 10:36).

The Gospel is that God took on human flesh, died a substitutionary death, paid for our sins, conquered sin and death by rising on the third day, ascended into heaven, He now sits at the right hand of God, and has sent us His Spirit. Through all this, Yahweh reigns, and God’s kingdom is here (Mark 1:14-15; Luke 4:43). Because of Jesus’ substitutionary work on the cross, our sins are forgiven, we are reconciled with God, and justified by faith.

Jesus lived the life we could not live, died the death we could not die, defeated our enemy, and won salvation for us—completely by His work, not ours.

The Bible’s storyline shows our first head (Adam) lost the battle in the Garden (of Eden), and as a result allowed sin to enter the world. We needed a new head, and Jesus, who won the battle in the Garden (of Gethsemane), brought righteousness into the world. The climax of the Gospel therefore, is that Jesus is our King! As King, He stands in place of His people, endures suffering on their behalf, defeats their enemy, and secures their salvation.