Monday, February 2, 2009

A Perfect & Complete Gospel

Preached on our second value this week-- A Perfect & Complete Gospel.
Here is the statement undergirding that value:

We are wholeheartedly assured that the Gospel is a true message that must be declared, a power that changes lives, and a lifestyle that must be embodied. The gospel message is centred on the person, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Holy Bible. We believe Jesus is alive today, thus, the gospel must have the same rescuing, healing, and transforming effect that we see in the New Testament


In defining the gospel I borrowed very heavily from D.A. Carson who spoke on this at the Gospel Coalition in 2007. His summary is brilliant and he uses 8 words to define the gospel as revealed in I Corinthians 15.

It is
CHRISTOLOGICAL: It is totally, thoroughly, and primarily about Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
THEOLOGICAL: It is about God, it is about sin, the fall of mankind, the plan of redemption. It has theological depth.
BIBLICAL: From Gen 3, through the Psalms, and prophets the bible is littered with references to this coming redeemer and His work for mankind.
APOSTOLIC: They were divinely entrusted with the message, they passed it on, they were inspired to preach it & write it for us.
HISTORICAL: On a day in history Jesus Christ of Nazareth was born, he died roughly 33 years later (historically) and 3 days later He rose from the dead, literally and historically! THERE ARE NO BONES IN THE TOMB!
PERSONAL: This gospel paves the way for individual salvation!
UNIVERSAL: Christ, the New Adam had inaugurated a NEW HUMANITY, a new family of faith. People from every tribe, every tongue, every people can be part of this new family.
ESCHATOLOGICAL: There is a glorious end day that this gospel points to, when all will be restored to God's perfect requirements.

WHY DO WE VALUE IT?
THE ONLY ANSWER: There are no other answers to the problem of mankind's distance from God.
THE ONLY HOPE: We are stuck in a desperate situation and all around fails to bring hope, until we discover the hope in the gospel.
THE ONLY POWER: All other remedies to cure mankind's ills work outside in, the problem demands an inside out transformation only possible in the Gospel.
THE PERFECT LOVE: It is truly the most beautiful thing in history. If love is most to be valued, then the infinite love of God the Father, for His infinitely worthy Son, handed over to restore mankind as an act of love is truly beautiful (when understood in light of the total outcome of that moment (I mean don't see the bloody cross without the glorious resurrection))

HOW DO WE VALUE IT?
BELIEVE IT: Initially and as a continual act of belief. Believe it.
KNOW IT: Don’t just believe it, get it into the core of all you are and do!
LOVE IT: Be satisfied in the new life given by the gospel; live so no other thing completes you, no other thing is necessary for your happiness.
LIVE IT: A New life, a radically different life!
SHARE IT: Speak it; get it into any conversation.
HATE RELIGION: The gospel is the polar opposite of Religion!

A perfect & complete gospel. How marvelous.

Simon

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