The Gospel of Jesus, The Christ

John 3:16 - 21  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17  God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.

18  “There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God. 19 Their judgment is based on this fact: The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness. They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. 21But those who do what is right come to the light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants.”

[Matthew 9:35 - 38]  "Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, he healed people of every sort of disease and illness. 36  He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields.”

[John 17:1 - 5]   When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. 2  For you have given him authority over everyone in all the earth. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. 3  And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. 4  I brought glory to you here on earth by doing everything you told me to do. 5And now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

[1 Corinthians 15:12-23]   But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?   13  For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14  And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless. 15  And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.

16  If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. 18  In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished! 19  And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.

20  But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again. 21  So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ. 22  Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised.

1 Corinthians 1:18  I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction.   But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God. 19   As the Scriptures say,

    “I will destroy human wisdom

    and discard their most brilliant ideas.”£

20  So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters?  God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. 21  Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe. 22  God’s way seems foolish to the Jews because they want a sign from heaven to prove it is true. And it is foolish to the Greeks because they believe only what agrees with their own wisdom. 23  So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended, and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24  But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles,£ Christ is the mighty power of God and the wonderful wisdom of God.  25  This “foolish” plan of God is far wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is far stronger than the greatest of human strength.

26  Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you.

[1 Corinthians 15:12 - 23]   But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? 13For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. 14And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless. 15And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. 18In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished! 19And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.

20But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.

21So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ. 22Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life. 23But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised.