Yesterday I listened to this sermon by John Piper on the gospel and the glory of God (click on “listen” and you can either listen to it online or download it). His revised title was “God is the Gospel,” and I beleive this message was the foundation for his book by that title.
The essence of the message is this- the gospel is about God being glorified and us gaining God (the best and most glorious treasure to gain). All the things that we think of as good in Christianity and theology- propitiation, sanctification, heaven, etc.- have value because they give us and are about God.
As a church we talk alot about the gospel- and well we should- and yet in this Piper gives us helpful encouragement to remember that the goal and beauty of the gospel is God Himself.