At its most foundational level, evangelism is the communication of a message. This message is the good news that God has acted for the salvation of the world in the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus.1 To the Jew, the good news was the God's messianic promises, given to Israel, all found their "yes” in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). The long promised deliverance and blessings of the Messiah were now available through the death and resurrection of Christ. To the Gentile, previously separated from God, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and estranged from the covenant of promise (Ephesians 2:12), the good news was that he too could share in this Messiah's deliverance and blessing. But whether Jew or Gentile, the good news to all was the same: God had graciously intervened through Jesus Christ to save men and women from their sinful plight. If a person takes his lost, terminal condition seriously and sees the offer of a cure for his situation as alive option, this message would indeed be joyful, good news.

 It is not surprising then that the Greek word for gospel, evangelion, means “good news,” and that the word for evangelism, evangelizo, means “bring or announce good news.” We see from the close connection between these words that good news is for sharing and for being heard. The gospel and evangelism go hand in glove.

 The gospel message is designed by God to touch men and women at the core of their beings. It is God's instrument to elicit a response of faith from men and women as they realize that Jesus Christ is the answer to the deepest longings of their hearts. The gospel specializes in awakening lost sinners to the vacuum in their hearts that can be filled only by Jesus Christ.

 A Multifaceted Gospel

 The gospel is a multidimensional message speaking to the height, breadth and depth of the need of the human heart. Let us take a look at the gospel from this multifaceted perspective. As we do, you will appreciate how God has designed this message perfectly to meet man at his point of greatest need.

 The Gospel of Truth

 Colossians 1:5 says that the gospel is the "word of truth." It is the true story of Jesus, who is the truth (John 14:6). The gospel gives us correct answers to all the crucial questions of life. Who am I, what is my problem, who can solve it and why should I take this seriously are questions answered truthfully by the gospel.

I was sharing the gospel with a student one afternoon, and he was genuinely touched by the message of God's love and forgiveness in Christ. I asked him what he was thinking, and he remarked, “know this is true, I just know it is. This is just what I need.” In a world of shallow, false answers to the wrong questions, the truth of the gospel is a welcome relief.

 The Gospel of Hope

 Colossians 1:23 speaks of the “hope of the gospel.” The gospel says to every man, yes, there is hope for you. There is a future and you have a place in it. This life, as significant as it is, is not all there is. You can be with Jesus one day, in His Kingdom and you can live, joyfully in the here-and-now based on that future certainty and the present reality of His gifts of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit.

 The Gospel of Peace

 Ephesians 6:15 says that we proclaim a "gospel of peace." The gospel message tells us that a relationship of harmony with God is possible. I once counseled a young man who had had a close brush with death the previous weekend. I asked him what thoughts went through his mind during the close call. His response was, "I found out I wasn't ready to meet God. Things aren't right between us." The gospel of peace assures us that any alienation and strife between God and us can be resolved. Because of the cross of Christ, I do not need to be afraid of meeting God.

 The Gospel of Immortality

 We are told in 2 Timothy 1:10 that the gospel is the message of "life and immortality." You who fear death can live forever. The author of Hebrews tells us that "through death, He [Jesus] might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil; and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives" (Hebrews 2:14,15). The real fountain of youth has been revealed. It is the fountain of Jesus' blood, shed at the cross on our behalf, and because of it we can live forever. We will not be "food for the worms," but a glorious future awaits us.

 The Gospel of the Kingdom

 Matthew 24:14 tells us that we proclaim the "gospel of the kingdom." This was Jesus' message as He began His ministry in Galilee preaching, "the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). This kingdom of God is found wherever Jesus is present and reigns in a human heart. I am His subject along with millions of others, from every race and tribe on earth. It is a kingdom with privileges, responsibilities and a certain way of life. I am not stepping into a vacuum when I trust Christ, but into His kingly rule as a member of His royal family.

 The Gospel of Salvation

 Paul writes in Romans 1:16 that the gospel is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." In 1 Corinthians 15:2 Paul states that it is through this gospel that we are saved. Salvation speaks to man's three most essential needs. First, and primarily, salvation speaks to man's need for forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit. Second, salvation speaks to the image of God in man longing for completion. Third, salvation speaks to man's humanly impossible pursuit of wholeness and fulfillment, due to the fragmentation in his life caused by sin.2 The gospel of salvation speaks to man as he really is: created in God's image, deeply fallen, but greatly loved by his creator.

 It is impossible to comprehend the grace and magnitude of God's offer of salvation through the gospel without first understanding man's awful condition before God as a result of the fall. The fall of man recorded in Genesis 3 has thrust all people into the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13, Acts 26:18) and there they are held in bondage to sin (John 8:34, Romans 6:17), blinded by Satan to their spiritual plight (2 Corinthians 4:4) and helpless to remedy this situation (Romans 5:6).

In addition to this, men are undergoing a perishing process (1 Corinthians 1:18) and a destruction (John 10:10) due to their subjugation to sin, which deceives and kills them (Romans 7:11). This present state of rebellion and alienation from God will lead inevitably to a reckoning with God's righteous judgment (2 Thessalonians 2:8,9), where man's alienation from God will be drawn out to an eternity of separation from Him. It is from this very real present and future danger that God rescues men through Jesus Christ.

 The New Testament authors used two Greek words to describe this divine rescue project. Rhyomai means "to rescue, deliver, preserve, save."3 This term is often used to speak of a rescue from physical danger, as when the Lord delivered Paul from physical harm (2 Timothy 3:11; 4:17). Paul used the word in Colossians 1:13, however, to speak of an even more dramatic rescue: God intervening to save a person from the kingdom of darkness and the penalty of sin.

 The second word family used to describe this rescue is sozo and soteria, meaning "to keep from harm; preserve, rescue; salvation and deliverance."4 These terms also mean to be rescued, saved and kept from harm in a physical or circumstantial sense. But the New Testament writers used this word primarily to describe God's intervention to rescue individuals from the results of the fall.

 Seven Word Pictures

 Salvation is a multidimensional, multifaceted concept. The new kingdom citizenship of the saved carries with it a dazzling variety of implications that touch on our new identity in Christ, our behavior, our attitudes and our interpersonal relationships. Not surprisingly, salvation as a theological concept forces us to consider the many dimensions of the ultimate reality it describes. Let us look at seven word pictures the New Testament authors use to describe the richness and depth of God's gift of salvation.

 Regeneration: From Death to Life

 In his interview with Nicodemus (John 3:1-15), Jesus told him, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Now Jesus was speaking to one of the most moral, religious men of His day, but He also knew the spiritual condition of man. All men are in need of a change that will penetrate to the core of the human heart and break the dominion of sin, a change that will replace the self-centered bent with a new spiritual center of gravity. Man is helpless to make these changes for himself. God must do this for him, because man is dead in his sin (Ephesians 2:1-2) and cannot remedy his condition of separation from God. In short, man needs the gift of eternal life.

 Alexander Pope, the English poet, was overheard to mutter, "0 Lord, make me a better man."

To which his spiritually enlightened page replied, "It would be easier to make you a new man."

 Regeneration is the divine act of making the repentant believer a "new" man or woman in Christ by the imparting of new divine life through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The believer is thus "born again." He now has the life of God in him, is "born of God" (1 John 2:29, 5:4, 18), and is a "new creature in Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

 George Whitfield, the great English evangelist, preached on John 3:1-8 over 300 times. When asked why he chose this text so often, he said simply, "Because you must be born again." He understood what a beautiful and powerful word picture regeneration is, describing the monumental event of a lost, dead sinner graciously being given the very life of God through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Being born again is not for the emotionally predisposed few, or for those with the right denominational background. It is an absolute necessity for all those who seek to "see the kingdom of God" (John 3:8). The gospel of salvation is the offer of new life to the lost.

 Reconciliation: From Enemy to Friend

 Reconciled is a common word used to describe a relationship of animosity that has been changed into a relationship of friendship and harmony. Someone who was once an enemy is now a friend; two parties once separated for whatever reason have been brought together.

 In Romans 5:10, Paul states that the lost are enemies of God. This is strong language. But this condition certainly follows if the unregenerated are citizens of Satan's kingdom, the general course of their lives is described as being after "the prince of power of the air that works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2). The sin principle which controls those who are citizens of this kingdom of darkness will necessarily bring them into sharp conflict with God's holy character.

 Man's reconciliation to God is made possible by the cross of Christ. All of God's claims against us were settled through Christ's death (Colossians 2:13,14). "The certificate of debt has been cancelled," Jesus has borne all of our sins (1 Peter 2:24). Our holy God has nothing against us. He is waiting with open arms, ready to restore us to friendship with Himself. God has been reconciled to us through Jesus' death. All of the obstacles preventing our fellowship have been removed, except one: man's rebelliousness.

 It remains for us to agree to be reconciled to Him. Therefore, Paul saw the evangelist as an ambassador of reconciliation (1 Corinthians 5:19-21), inviting men to step from the precarious ground of animosity toward God onto the safe ground of a restored friendship. The gospel of salvation is the offer to the lost of friendship with God.

 Propitiation: From Wrath to Mercy

 Propitiation was a common religious word in biblical times, used in relation to heathen religious rites to win the favor of the gods or to avert the impending wrath and disfavor of the gods. The first-century Christians adopted this word for their own use in picturing how Christ's work on the cross had dealt with the righteous wrath of God toward all who have sinned.

 Propitiation describes that facet of our salvation which takes us out from under God's righteous judgment (Romans 1:18) and places us under the safety of the cross of Christ. The believer is no longer an object of God's wrath but a recipient of His mercy. Thus, the publican in Luke 18:13 got up from his prayer of confession having been "propitiated." He had gone from being under God's wrath to being under His mercy. This word picture suggests that what was once offensive to God and deserving of His righteous judgment has now been covered by the blood of Christ, an overflowing fountain of constant mercy and forgiveness (Hebrews 8:12, 1 John 2:2; 4:10). The gospel of salvation is the offer of mercy to the lost.

 Sanctification: A Change in Ownership

Sanctification in Old Testament terminology meant to separate an object (or a person) from the world, declare it as belonging to God, and to dedicate it to God's exclusive use. This term was commonly applied to all objects associated with the nation of Israel's ceremonial worship. It was extended to speak of the assertion of God's rightful claim over the lives of those He created and sustains (Ezekial 36:25; 26:30).

 The New Testament uses the term sanctify to describe God's exercise of His option to rescue the lost from the kingdom of darkness and to claim them for His exclusive possession and use (Acts 20:32; 26:18; Hebrews 10:29; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 6:11).

 The word saint literally means "sanctified one," or one who now belongs to Jesus and no longer to Satan. This word reflects the radical change in our spiritual status. Kingdom lines have been crossed over. A new Christian I knew in college wore a button that said "under new management." This expresses well the change that sanctification brings. The gospel of salvation demands that God be allowed to exert His rightful claim of ownership over the lost.

 Redemption: From Slavery to Freedom

 The word picture of redemption was a common one to the Hebrew mind and to the first-century world. The word redemption comes from the Hebrew word meaning "to tear loose, to rescue."5 This idea originated in the Old Testament practice of a kinsman redeemer, the one who came to a relative's aid by purchasing the relative's land that had been lost to the family. This property was then returned to those who had a rightful claim to it. God is said to be the redeemer of Israel because He acts as its kinsman redeemer, the one who tears Israel loose from her oppressors and restores her to her proper owner: God Himself.

In the New Testament, men are seen as captives of an array of forces that lay an illegitimate claim to man. Sin, death, the law and Satan hold men in their deadly grip. Men need to be "torn loose" from these oppressors. In a sense they, like apiece of land in the Old Testament, must be purchased out of this situation. They must be bought back by their rightful owner.

 Just as a man could be released from jail by payment of money, cancelling out the certificate of debt against him (Colossians 2:13), and could be set free from the darkness of prison into the light and freedom of day, and just as a slave in ancient times might be legally purchased by a generous man and set free, so God has paid the purchase price of the blood of Christ to release sinners held captive by spiritual oppressors (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18; 1 Corinthians 6:18). The gospel of salvation is the offer of release to the lost.

 Justification: From Guilt to Acquittal

 "Justification expresses the judicial action of God apart from human merit according to which the guilty are pardoned, acquitted and then reinstated as God's children and as fellow heirs with Jesus Christ."6 As this definition indicates, justification is a legal term taken from the courtrooms of the first century. Very simply, it means to be declared not guilty by a judge, whose word is final.

 To the Hebrew mind, Yahweh was the supreme judge who presided over the affairs of Israel (Jeremiah 11:20, Psalm 7:7-11). “As judge, Yahweh supremely distinguishes between those who are 'in the right' and those who are 'in the wrong.' Those who are in the right are delivered and those in the wrong are punished.”7

 Justification as a word picture presents the drama of God as judge, with a guilty sinner before Him, one whose guilt is not in doubt. As the Judge pronounces His decision, instead of soberly announcing, "Guilty as charged" and sentencing the person to eternal death, He calls out in a tender voice, "Not guilty, you are set free."

 God, as judge, has declared us to be righteous, not guilty. To be declared righteous means to be seen as conforming to a standard of acceptance. It is "The state of him who is such as he ought to be."8 We are now in a spiritual state of not having our sins counted against us. We have escaped condemnation, but more than that, we have been declared righteous in Jesus Christ. As long as sinful men must deal with a holy God who will judge, justification will be a beautifully relevant picture of the cure that only the gospel of salvation in Christ can bring. To the lost, the gospel of salvation is the offer of right standing before God.

 Adoption: A Change in Families

 Adoption refers to the fact that in Jesus Christ we have become sons and daughters of the living God. We are in His forever family. The word picture of adoption communicated a change of families. Consider that the New Testament describes the lost as being children of the devil (John 8:44; 1 John 3:10), and children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). But as we step into the state of salvation by responding to the gracious offer of the gospel, we claim a new set of family relationships, and anew set of affections which reflect the character of our heavenly Father. As children of God, we are said to be children of wisdom (Matthew 11:19), children of obedience (1 Peter 1:14), and children of light (Ephesians 5:8).

 Obviously, Paul was familiar with adoption in Roman and Greek culture. In extreme cases a man who had no son but needed an heir to his estate would actively seek out a young man willing to fulfill the obligations of a son. The legal requirements would be worked out, and the adopted son would be brought into the family with all the rights, privileges and obligations of any true son by birth.

 This picture combines nicely with the themes of regeneration and redemption, reconciliation and sanctification. They touch, like the sides of a geometric figure. We have been born again into God's family. We are sons because we have the Father's life within us. We have a new relationship of intimacy, trust and dependence. Indeed, we can cry out, "Abba, Father" (Galations 4:6) an Aramaic term for "daddy," a term of the utmost intimacy and personal endearment. The legal arrangements of the adoption were taken care of in our justification; the fact that our former family affiliation was lived out in rebellious disobedience is taken care of through our reconciliation. All of these themes touch on the fact of our adoption.

 The Relevance of Salvation

 These seven word pictures begin to give us some insight into the multifaceted nature of God's gracious provision for fallen human beings. In fact, every problem that I have as a result of the fall is spoken to in God's offer of salvation. Man has died spiritually, but God offers him regeneration and new life in Christ. Man is God's enemy, but God offers him reconciliation through the cross of Christ. Man is a slave to the law, sin, death and Satan, but God intervenes to purchase him out of his prison and bring him to a place of freedom. Man finds himself in Satan's family, but God reaches down and adopts him as a son. Man finds himself an object of wrath, but God sends His Son to be the propitiation for his sins. Man finds himself standing guilty before the righteous Judge, but God mercifully declares him not guilty because of Jesus' work on the cross and resurrection. The moment the nonbeliever embraces the gospel, these seven word pictures become a reality in his life. The radical spiritual status change becomes his experience.