The Gospel Part 1 - Royal

(We are going through a series on the Gospel in order to try to truly understand the whole Gospel and see how it counters prevalent false Gospels.  See all the posts here.)

The gospel begins with God.  This is appropriate, since it is a story that is about God.  Too often, in our self-centeredness, we begin the story with ourselves.  We want the story to be about us so we begin with us.  But the truth is that if we do not understand who God is then we will never understand the gospel.  If we do not understand who God is then we will not understand why Jesus had to die, how great is the privilege of relationship with Him, and whose renown we are compelled to spread.  The gospel must begin with God.

God begins the story.  He ends the story.  He is the center and the crux of the story.  He is the story.  God is the gospel.  It is a story about how He has shown Himself to us and drawn us to Himself.  Without seeking to know God we will never know the true gospel.

Too often we have sacrificed a lofty idea of God on the altar of ease and relevance.  Because when the gospel does not begin with God we do not have to think deeply about His character nor do we have to measure up to His divine standard.  But, an easy gospel will never be relevant, because it will never be true (think of all the time Jesus talks about the cost of following Him).  And a gospel that primarily seeks relevance will never transform us, because it will look too much like us to change us.  What we must understand is that a noble picture of the Triune Godhead is of infinite worth. 

So we begin the story of the Gospel with the simple statement that God is Royal.  He is Lord.  He is King.  His is mighty and sovereign over all things. In the beginning He was.  He is infinite and eternal, timeless and everlasting, faithful and true.  He loves justice and hates sin.  He has mercy on His people and judges wickedness.  He is greater than we could ever imagine and more glorious than we could ever describe.

There are over 100 billion trillion stars in the universe, and He made each one.  He calls them each by name and it is because of His great power and might strength that not one of them is missing.  The universe is about 40 billion light-years across and He can measure that with the breadth of His sovereign hand.  Every single living creature depends on His for life and substance.  When he open His hand they are feed and life prospers, but when He closes His hand there is death.  He controls ever mountain, volcano, river, ocean, continent, and cloud.

And He is holy.  He is righteous and pure, perfect and true.  Everything about His is wonderful, good, and deserving of praise.  Simply because of who He is He deserves all the glory, the honor, and the praise that is in all the universe.  And all of this is but a glimpse of the God who begins the gospel.

What is the Gospel?

(We are going through a series on the Gospel in order to try to truly understand the whole Gospel and see how it counters prevalent false Gospels.  See all the posts here.)

Most Christians know that the Gospel is at the center of the Christian life and faith.  After all, Jesus came to preach the Gospel ("good news" - Lk 4:18), Paul's life centered around preaching the Gospel (Col 1:23),  and the Gospel saves us (1 Cor 15:2).  But while many may know that the Gospel is important, many do not know what the Gospel is.  And way too often we may know one part of it but not the other, or focus so much on one part we forget about another.  But, as A.W. Tozer said, "it might be demonstrated that almost every heresy that has afflicted the church through the years has arisen from believing about God things that are not true, or from overemphasizing certain true things so as to obscure other things equally true."  We must know the Gospel, the whole Gospel.  And we must know what is not the Gospel, so that we do not make nonessentials essentials and divide the Church even more.

So, for the next few blog posts we will dive into the Gospel and try to discover what the true, complete Gospel is.  We will see the Gospel with five parts as follows:

Royal (Eph 1:19-23; Col 1:15-20):  The Gospel is a story that begins with God (Gen 1:1).  He is the royal king who rules and reigns over the whole universe and deserves all the glory in all the universe (Job 38).  He is majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, and working wonders (Ex 14:11).  He is righteous and holy, perfect and pure, and hates sin with all of His infinite being.  Everything in all creation is obedient to Him, every bird, wave, and mountain.

Rebel (Eph 2:1-3; Col 1:21):  Except for us.  We have rebelled against this holy God and sinned.  Instead of giving God the glory He deserves, we tried to exult ourselves (Rom 1:21).  Instead of being obedient to the Creator, we insisted on creating our own way.

Reconcile (Eph 2:4-5; Col 1:22a):  Even though we rebelled against this royal God, He loved us so much that He wanted to be with us.  So, out of His mercy, God became a man, lived among us, and died to take the punishment for our rebellion.  In doing so, Jesus reconciled (made peace) between God and us and destroyed the sin barrier that prevented us from being with God.

Relationship (Eph 2:6; Col 1:22b-23a):  Now, since Jesus has reconciled us to God, we get the unbelievable gift of being in relationship with the King of the Universe (Matt 27:51).  The Gospel is not primarily about us getting to go to heaven, or being loved, or given purpose, but it is primarily about us getting God (Phil 3:7).  We love and are grateful for these gifts because they lead us deeper into relationship with Jesus.

Renown (Eph 2:7; Col 1:23b):  But, this relationship is not primarily for us (Eze 36:22-23).  God has a purpose for this relationship, that we would go and spread His renown in all the earth (Isa 26:8).  In all things we are to make disciples of Jesus (Matt 28:19) and glorify God in all we do (1 Cor 10:31).

May this Gospel transform us, our churches, our neighborhoods, and the world for His renown!

Gregory of Nazianzus and the Wonder of Jesus

The following is an expert from Gregory of Nazianzus' third theological oration preached in A.D. 380.  It an incredible piece that causes us to marvel and the wonder of Jesus.

For He Whom you now treat with contempt was once above you. 

He Who is now Man was once the Uncompounded.

What He was He continued to be;

what He was not He took to Himself. 

In the beginning He was, uncaused; for what is the Cause of God?

But afterwards for a cause He was born.

And that cause was that you might be saved…

He was born—

but He had been begotten:

He was born of a woman—

but she was a Virgin.

The first is human, the second Divine.

In His Human nature He had no Father,

but also in His Divine Nature no Mother. 

Both these belong to Godhead.

He dwelt in the womb—

but He was recognized by the Prophet, himself still in the womb, leaping before the Word, for Whose sake He came into being.

He was wrapped in swaddling clothes —

but He took off the swathing bands of the grave by His rising again.

He was laid in a manger—

but He was glorified by Angels, and proclaimed by a star, and worshipped by the Magi…

He was driven into exile into Egypt—

but He drove away the Egyptian idols. 

He had no form nor comeliness in the eyes of the Jews —

but to David He is fairer than the children of men. 

And on the Mountain He was bright as the lightning,

and became more luminous than the sun, 

initiating us into the mystery of the future.

He was baptized as Man—

but He remitted sins as God…

He was tempted as Man,

but He conquered as God;

yea, He bids us be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world. 

He hungered—

but He fed thousands; 

yea, He is the Bread that gives life, and That is of heaven.

He thirsted—

but He cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. 

Yea, He promised that fountains should flow from them that believe.

He was wearied,

but He is the Rest of them that are weary and heavy laden. 

He was heavy with sleep,

but He walked lightly over the sea. 

He rebuked the winds,

He made Peter light as he began to sink. 

He pays tribute,

but it is out of a fish; 

yea, He is the King of those who demanded it. 

He is called a Samaritan and a demoniac; —

but He saves him that came down from Jerusalem and fell among thieves; 

the demons acknowledge Him,

and He drives out demons and sinks in the sea legions of foul spirits, 

and sees the Prince of the demons falling like lightning. 

He is stoned,

but is not taken.

He prays,

but He hears prayer.

He weeps,

but He causes tears to cease.

He asks where Lazarus was laid, for He was Man;

but He raises Lazarus, for He was God. 

He is sold, and very cheap, for it is only for thirty pieces of silver; 

but He redeems the world, and that at a great price, for the Price was His own blood. 

As a sheep He is led to the slaughter, 

but He is the Shepherd of Israel,

and now of the whole world also.

As a Lamb He is silent,

yet He is the Word,

and is proclaimed by the Voice of one crying in the wilderness. 

He is bruised and wounded,

but He heals every disease and every infirmity. 

He is lifted up and nailed to the Tree,

but by the Tree of Life He restores us…

He lays down His life,

but He has power to take it again…

He dies,

but He gives life,

and by His death destroys death.

He is buried,

but He rises again;

He goes down into Hell,

but He brings up the souls;

He ascends to Heaven, and shall come again to judge the quick and the dead

Under Axe and Musket

In his autobiography, John Payton, a missionary to an island of cannibals in the South Pacific in the 19th century wrote:

"But my enemies seldom slackened their hateful designs against my life, however calmed or baffled for the moment.  Within a few days of the above events, when Natives in large numbers were assembled at my house, a man furiously rushed on me with his axe; but a Kaserumini Chief snatched a spade with which I had been working, and dexterously defended me from instant death.  Life in such circumstances led me to cling very near to the Lord Jesus; I knew not, for one brief hour, when or how attack might be made; and yet, with my trembling hand clasped in the Hand once nailed on Calvary, and now swaying the scepter of the Universe, calmness and peace and resignation abode in my soul.
"Next day, a wild Chief followed me about for four hours with his loaded musket, and, though often directed towards me, God restrained his hand.  I spoke kindly to him, and attended to my work as if he had not been there, fully persuaded that my God had placed me there, and would protect me till my allotted task was finished.  Looking up in unceasing prayer to our dear Lord Jesus, I left all in His hands, and felt immortal till my work was done.  Trials and hairbreadth escapes strengthened my faith, and seemed only to nerve me for more to follow; and they did tread swiftly upon each other's heels.  Without that abiding consciousness of the presence and power of my dear Lord and Saviour, nothing else in all the world could have preserved me from losing my reason and perishing miserably.  His words, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," became to me so real that it would not have startled me to behold Him, as Stephen did, gazing down upon the scene.  I felt His supporting power, as did St. Paul, when he cried, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  It is the sober truth, and it comes back to me sweetly after twenty years, that I had my nearest and dearest glimpses of the face and smile of my blessed Lord in those dread moments when musket, club, or spear was being leveled at my life.  Oh the bliss of living and enduring, as seeing "Him who is invisible"!

Romans 7 and Future Sin

Romans 7 has been on my mind a lot recently, especially verses 14-20 where Paul has his famous "what I hate I do" speech.  This is a passage that has been used by many to explain how the Christian life is one where we want to do good, but because of sin inside of us we do evil.  They then go one to explain that we will sin in the future and that we "aren't perfect, just forgiven."  The problem is, that is not what this passage is about.

Paul begins this passage, really, in Romans 6 when he says, "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.  You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." (6:17-18)  He makes is pretty clear that before you know Jesus you are a slave to sin and once you know Him you become a slave to righteousness.

Then Rom 7:14 begins with, "I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin."  Now, that's weird.  Isn't Paul a Christian?  If he is why would he say that he is a slave to sin since Christians aren't slaves to sin?  What Paul is doing is reverting back to his old self and talking about himself as if he hasn't come to know Jesus yet.  The "I" Paul is using is pre-Jesus-Paul.

So, after he reverts to pre-Jesus-Paul he explains the problem faced by all humanity: we cannot do anything but sin, even if we want to do good.  Romans 7 isn't about the Christian life; it is about the fleshly life.  This is the human dilemma.

But, after he explains the non-Christian life, he has a beautiful declaration of the salvation found in Jesus.  "What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?  Thanks be to God, who delivers me thought Jesus Christ our Lord!" (7:24-25)  We have been saved from the human dilemma though Jesus Christ.

And what is is the result of this salvation.  "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because though Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." (8:1-2)  There are two results of this salvation: 1) There is no condemnation; we have been forgiven. 2) We have been set free from the law of sin and death and obey the law of the Spirit.  The human dilemma is no longer a reality for us because we have been set free.

It is an amazing truth that we no longer have to sin.  The cross has forgiven us of our sin, yes, but more than that it has enabled us to live according to the Spirit.  We no longer have to sin because Christ has set us free.

This idea is all over Scripture:
Eze 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit in you."
Rom 6:7 "Anyone who has died has been set free from sin"
Rom 6:14 "For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace."
1 Jn 3:6 "No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning."

Now, I don't mean to say that we cannot sin after we are saved.  The grace that we find at the cross covers all of our sins, past, present, and future.  Nor do I desire for us to become legalistic about making always making "the right" choice.

But, I do want us to stop living with a defeated attitude toward sin.  If we think that we are destined to sin in the future then we will.  But, if we have deep faith that the cross has changed us and that we have died with Christ (Gal 2:20; Col 3:1-4) then we can live in righteousness for His glory.

May we be a people who always live in the Gospel so that we can live a life worthy of the Gospel.