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Benchmark - Gospel Essentials

Lexy M. Colon Grand Canyon University TR1100A: Christian Worldview Professor Koning November 22, 2020

2 Benchmark - Gospel Essentials The Christian worldview refers to the system of ideas and beliefs in which the universe is perceived and interacted by a Christian person, community or culture. The belief has to do with the nature of God, nature of humanity, nature of Jesus and restoration. The purpose of the gospel essentials is to believe in Christ. It is also to understand the concepts of how the religion is made up of. It is really important to have Christian faith because there is so much to be faithful and grateful for. Christianity teaches us so much that it allows us to be more encouraging in life as Christians.

Gospel Essential Beliefs Nature of God The nature of God is at the heart of the Christian worldview and Christians believe that God is the creator and sustainer of the world. The Christian belief that God exists a triune being. “A proper understanding of the trinity is that one God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (DiVincenzo 2013, para. 6). The trinity of God is important because it is an essential of the Christian worldview. God has many attributes, he is good, loving, faithful, and holy. Those attributes are accurate but those are not the only ones. Paul mentions in the scripture, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). There is a lot of things that can be known about God’s creation. God created the heavens and the earth. God took his time creating the world, he did it day by day. He started by creating light and then the heavens and the waters. After that, he created dry land,

3 moon and the sun, and all living things. When God was creating everything, he said that all was good. The world was nice because it was proclaimed to be so by God.

Nature of Humanity In Christianity, human nature is in the image of God. As an image of God, our purpose is to look after the world since we are created by God and we belong to him. It shows the special relationship between God and mankind and the role of God for humanity. Humans are the only creatures that are made as the image of God. “Then the Lord God formed a man from dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). That is the way human creation came about when it started with Adam and Eve. God created Adam first and then he took Adam’s rib and made Eve. They were kept in the Garden of Eden and worked there. God gave them a set of rules to live by. “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:16–17). Being part of God's kingdom, Adam and Eve were expected to be loyal subjects” (DiVincenzo 2012, p. 50). They ate out of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were the first humans to ever sin in the world which is the root of human problems.

Nature of Jesus The true identity of Jesus Christ is that he is the son of God. Jesus is a human being. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. (Luke 2:6-7) Jesus was born on earth because God wanted him to look after

4 us. He made a lot of miracles happen and spread the word of God. While Jesus was on earth, he assembled numerous followers and spread the uplifting news about God. At the end of Jesus’ life, he made a great sacrifice and died on the cross for all of our sins. This is the greatest act of love, dying for all humanity and this act was undertaken by Jesus so that we might all have a relationship with God. It is important to the Christian worldview because without Jesus, we would not have a connection with god. The Christian worldview would not be the same without Jesus, we would collapse.

Restoration Salvation by Jesus Christ is the only solution to human problems. “Christianity typically insist on conscious and explicit faith as a necessary requirement for salvation” (Vainio, 2016, para.1). It can be solved through salvation with the trinity: the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Grace, faith, and repentance play an important role in the redemption of Christians. Grace is the love and mercy granted to us by God. We need grace in order to achieve salvation. Through Jesus, we all need grace to grant us this path to heaven. When it comes to salvation, we still need faith. We need to have faith that he will provide us with salvation. Repentance in sorrow is turning from sin and turning toward God in Christ. In Christ, the gift of salvation helps us turn from sin and be redeemed. “God rescued people from torment and eternal separation from God by sending his son to be atoning sacrifice for our sins. We receive this gift of God by repentance” (Acts 3:19-21). The transformation of self and society happens through the creation of a bond with God. You will find a meaning in your life when you have that relationship with God. That can help you transform. Christian Foundations

5 These concept essentials constitute the foundation of the Christian worldview because of how meaningful they are and how it helps people understand more of God and we can have salvation to bring us closer to him. The nature of God is important to the Christian worldview because “we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16). The nature of humanity helps us a lot. “We humans are uniquely made in God’s image, so we can unpack that image by looking at attributes uniquely characterizing human beings, and even come to a better understanding of God in the process” (DiVincenzo, 2017, p. 56). The nature of Jesus is major because he died for our sins so that we can have salvation and be able to restore with God. The most important one is restoration. If Jesus Christ did not give us salvation, we would have never had a solution to our human problems. Each individual gospel essential has an important role and we need to have all of them in the Christian worldview because when they combine together, it makes sense. You need the nature of God in order to have the nature of humanity. Every part has a true meaning to it and gives us the knowledge we need to know as a Christian.

Analysis of the Implications of the Christian Worldview There are many benefits from having a Christian belief such as salvation, forgiveness, and community. Salvation is very important to Christianity. Christians believe that by having faith in Jesus, they obtain the grace of God. Out of every religion, this is the only religion that believes in salvation. Another strength is forgiveness. This strength is major in Christianity because Jesus died for our sins and it gave us forgiveness. “The relationship between confessing sins and forgiveness is clearly stated in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (DiVincenzo, 2014, para. 3).

6 The last benefit is the community in the Christian worldview. The community makes the religion stronger because it makes people come together to spread the word of God. It gives people the opportunity to experience the love of God. The Christian worldview’s most confounding feature is that many individuals believe that such sins are worse than others. They think that killing someone is worse than robbing a store. In the Christian worldview, it does not matter what you did. You still sinned and there is no level towards it. All sins are equal. Conclusion These gospel essentials are very important in the Christian worldview. God is our purpose in life, and we were all created in the image of God. Jesus died for our sins and made us closer to God. These essentials make up Christianity. Every Christian believes that they have to be good even though no one is perfect. The sacrifice that Jesus made for us out of grace and the love of God forgives every individual. The basic components are what people follow as Christians and they believe that it gives us a sense of God’s intention for this world and its meaning. References DiVincenzo, A. (Ed.). (2014). The beginning of wisdom: An introduction to Christian thought and life. Available from https://lc.gcumedia.com/cwv101/the-beginning-of-wisdom-anintroduction-to-christian-thought-and-life/v3.1/#/chapter/10

Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.biblegateway.com

Vainio, O.-P. (2016). Salvation and religious diversity: Christian perspectives. Religion Compass, 10(2), 27–34. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/rec3.12195

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Franklin, P. S. (2017). Dignity and Destiny: Humanity in the Image of God. Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 1, 56. https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login? url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.497487653&site=edslive&scope=site&custid=s8333196&groupid=main&profile=eds1...