If you were to randomly ask people in your neighborhood why Christ suffered, you would probably hear many unique responses. But what about in your local church? Last night I spoke with the youth about the goal of the Gospel and how many often share Christ without mentioning His main objective for giving His life. John Piper addresses this in his book entitled, God is the Gospel.The final and greatest good of the gospel (according to Piper) is not included in (an) array of gospel gifts…Preachers can preach on these great aspects of the gospel and yet never take people to the goal of the gospel. Preachers can say dozens of true and wonderful things about the gospel and not lead people to where the gospel is leading. People can hear the gospel preached, or read it in their Bibles, and not see the final aim of the gospel that makes the good news good.
What makes all the events of Good Friday and Easter and all the promises they secure good news is that they lead us to God. ‘Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3:18). And when we get there, it is God himself who will satisfy our souls forever. Everything else in the gospel is meant to display God’s glory and remove every obstacle in him (such as his wrath) and in us (such as our rebellion) so that we can enjoy him forever. God is the gospel. That is, he is what makes the good news good. Nothing less can make the gospel good news. God is the final and highest gift that makes the good news good. Until people use the gospel to get to God, they use it wrongly.
Piper, John. God is the Gospel. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books. 2005. 41-42.
