The Gospel
What is the gospel?
The gospel (which means "good news") refers to the good news of what God has done for us through his son Jesus Christ. This news is in fact the greatest news anyone will ever hear, because it brings hope for all people in light of the the bad news.
Misconception of the gospel
Before continuing, let's address the current misconception of the gospel in the world today. Probably most people who call themselves a Christian would say something along the lines of: Jesus is God who came in the flesh, died for our sins, resurrected on the 3rd day, and if you believe this then you will go to heaven one day. The rest of your life here on earth you're supposed to try and be a good person, try not to sin, and go to church on Sunday, but for the most part your life here on earth remains unchanged.
This is actually a misunderstanding of the true gospel and the extent of it. However, it is actually true that if you put your faith in Jesus with all sincerity, you will go to heaven one day. But it's a part of the story, and not even the core message of the gospel that Jesus preached.
That being said, even if this was to be the entire gospel; that's already the greatest news there ever was. That we could go to heaven and be with God forever because Jesus died for our sins. As we know we deserve eternal death and punishment for our sins but God is so gracious that even completely missing the point of the gospel, He still has mercy on them that believe. But it gets even better!
The full extent of the gospel
The true full extent of the gospel is probably beyond our understanding, since we only know in part (1 Cor 13:9) we might not fully appreciate everything God has done for us until all is revealed at the day of the Lord.
However, God has given us more than enough to know and understand, to be transformed. In fact, God gave us the scriptures we have so that we can understand them, and we are expected to know God, know His heart, and know the gospel. So the rest of this theme we'll dive deep into what the bible says about the good news of Jesus toward us.