INTOWN IS A GOSPEL-CENTERED CHURCH

The gospel is the “good news” of Jesus Christ, the proclamation that Jesus, the crucified and risen God, is the one, true and only Lord of the world.

Often, the church has missed the goodness of the news in restricting it to primarily the personal realm - it is the way in which an individual can be in right relationship with God. This is certainly true, and an important aspect of the gospel; Jesus says, “repent and believe the gospel so that you may be saved.”

But, the gospel is much more expansive than that. The Bible says that God created all things good and desired for all people to live in a loving relationship with him, but that we turned from him to live according to our own desires. As a result, not only are individual relationships with God severed, but the whole order of the cosmos is upset.

The Old Testament points to a coming King, a redeemer, who will not only draw individuals back to a right relationship with God, but that he will inaugurate a whole new world. He will draw people into relationship with God, unite them together, and even utilize them in undoing all the effects of sin and human rebellion.

When Jesus comes preaching the “good news”, he is providing the one true pathway to joining the family of God, while also inviting people into a crusade against darkness, injustice, conflict, violence and sadness. When someone “repents and believes the gospel”, it is not simply so that they can have eternal life (though the importance of this cannot be overstated!) but it is to be united to Jesus and his entire family in living out the implications of the gospel in the present age, while awaiting the “new heavens and the new earth.”