The Gospel

What an amazing week to teaching from Matt Chandler!  Based on his teaching, below are key points I think are important to understanding salvation and the Gospel. 

God is so immense we cannot fully grasp who He is and from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  (Romans 11:33-36) God is omnipresent (everywhere all the time) and omniscient (all knowing).  God created everything, everything belongs to God, and all that exists are His.  (Deuteronomy 10:14)  He is rich in wisdom and knowledge.  God is in control.  We must start with God in order to have a proper view of the Gospel.  It begins and ends with Him, who He is, what He has done, and what He will do.

If you talk to just about anyone they know something has gone wrong in this world.  There are three things wrong with Man.  First, all have exchanged the creator for creation. (Romans 1:21)  We don’t want God, we want His stuff and it doesn’t satisfy us.  God responds by giving us up to those things.  Second, we’ve exchanged truth for a lie. (Romans 1:25)  What is the lie?  I’m smarter than God.  My way is best.  I know better.  God responds by giving us up to dishonorable passions.  Third, we fail to acknowledge God.  (Romans 1:28) God knit us together and we are fearfully and wonderfully made, but we choose to boast about what we’ve done and take ownership of what is not ours.  This leads to a list of depravity God responds with a passive wrath and turns us over to these things.

God’s response to the defaming of His name is manifested in two ways.  First, there is hell. It is the absence of God.  It is an eternal fire and eternal destruction.  (Matthew 25:41) Our concern should be with the One who has the authority to put us there.  (Luke 12:4-7)  Second, He came to earth to make a way for us to be restored to Him, to atone for our sin, to reconcile the world and us as He intended.  (John 3:16)

Throughout the Old Testament there is anticipation and prophecy of a messiah, a savior to come. (Genesis 3:15; Genesis 12:3, Genesis 49; Numbers 24:17; Deuteronomy 17:14-20; 2 Samuel :12-16; Isaiah 7:14-15; Isaiah 9:1-7; Isaiah 53:1-12)  Jesus Christ was perfect and knew no sin.  (Hebrews 4:15) The cross of Jesus Christ covers even the sins of Old Testament characters. God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  (Romans 3:23-26)  The great exchange of Jesus’ righteousness is that He not only takes your sin, but also gives you His righteousness.  (2 Corinthians 5:21). As a result of putting our trust in Christ, we are holy and blameless in his sight. God loves us.  He sent His son, Jesus, to be the propitiation for our sins.  (1 John 4:10)  Christ died for us while we were sinners.  (Romans 5:8)  He knows every thought and motive in our heart yet no one can convict us. (Romans 8:1) Through the death of Christ the sins of the world are covered and taken from us.  Through the resurrection of Christ we have confidence in His power and complete atonement for our sin.  (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) Our salvation is done by Him. We’ve been brought into the kingdom of God by God, for the glory of God.  (Romans 8:29-30) You cannot earn the grace of God through your actions.  (Galatians 2:20)  The Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.  (Romans 1:16-17)   When we put our full trust in Christ, we are a new creation, old things are passed away and new things have come.  (2 Corinthians 5: 17-21) 

Christ will come again and we will be resurrected with Him.  (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)  When Christ returns to complete His work, He will also restore creation.  (Romans 8:18-25)  When Christ returns, there will be a global, universal, cosmic renewal.  No one will hurt.  Evil is vanished.  (Isaiah 11).  There will be a new heavens and a new earth.  (Isaiah 65:17)  HE WILL MAKE ALL THINGS NEW!  

Church History

For me, the most significant era we learned about this week the Age of Catholic Christianity – the Early Church (70 AD – 312).  I’m inspired by the first generation of believers by the depth of their devotion to Christ and to efforts make Him known. 

After Stephen is martyred in Acts 8, the early followers of Jesus started to disperse from Jerusalem as persecution spread.  Jesus told the early believers in Acts 1:8 to witness about Christ in all Judea, Samaria, and the to the remotest part of the earth.  I’ve had the privilege of doing a Journey’s of Paul trip on a boat with DTS led by Dr. Mark Bailey and Dr. Erwin Lutzer.  The Lord used that trip in a powerful way that solidified so much in my heart in trusting the Lord and developing a resolve to follow Him no matter what the cost.  We got to visit Troas, Patmos, Ephesus, and Philippi, and see the actual cities of the early churches.  I’m fascinated and inspired by the devotion and passion the

The flame of Evangelism at this time was rampant.  Hearing how people responded to the Gospel then is awesome and yet convicting for me.  The glory and freedom and dignity and restoration and healing and purpose and hope of Christ is still true today.  But am I willing to bank my life on it?  Am I so full of gratitude that a Holy God would make provision for my life, that He chose me, that He has redeemed my life?   Is His saving grace so profound that I can’t stop telling people what He has done and is doing?  The followers of Jesus at this time experienced such transformation and they couldn’t stop telling people about what had happened.  This transformation was powerfully portrayed in the early Christians by the way they cared for the hungry, provided for the poor, rescued children and buried the dead.  The early Christians offered purpose and dignity to all.  The Gospel is a transforming and liberating today as it was in the early church.  But do I live like the early Christians?

A central figure in this era that we learned about this week was Polycarp.  Polycarp lived between 70 and 155 AD, and was a direct pupil of the apostle John.  He served at the bishop at the church of Smyrna and combated Gnostic heresies that were beginning to spread throughout the Christian church at that time.  He wrote letters to the church at Philippi encouraging members to remain strong.  Persecution of Christians was intensified, and Polycarp was arrested for being a Christian.  He was asked to make a declaration to Caesar and pay tribute in order to avoid torture and death. Polycarp responded, "Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and He never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"  His unwillingness to compromise his beliefs resulted in being burned alive.  With further reading, I found stories of how under the fire, Polycarp did go under fire, but did not burn.  An executioner was commanded to stab him with a dagger, and when he did the fire was extinguished with his blood.  All the while, Polycarp is proclaiming about this temporary fire versus the eternal fire of judgment.  The result of his martyrdom was thousands of people choosing to follow Christ. 

I want a faith like that.  I pray for an unwavering faith in Jesus.  I strive to find resolve in Christ no matter what the cost.  So many early Christians were killed because of their devotion and declaration of Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection.  They were able to die for Christ because they lived for Christ.  A life that has been transformed by Christ can live radically because, in Him, we live eternally. 

Faithful

As we’ve studied the Kingdom Era (Israel’s Monarchy and the Divided Kingdom) this week, God’s faithfulness to His people and His promises is wonderfully overwhelming.  It is also devastating to see how unfaithful the Israelites were (and how unfaithful we are today) as they constantly and continuously sinned against Him.  God makes it clear to His people that if you are faithful to Him and obey His commandments, He blesses you. (1 Samuel 12:14-15, 1 Kings 6:12)  If you disobey God, there are consequences. The same pattern repeats throughout the Kingdom Era, and all of history.

God continues to prove His faithfulness and patience throughout the Judges Era, and the people continue to be unfaithful during the subsequent Kingdom Era, which begins with the people rejecting God as their leader. They cry out to God for a king (1 Samuel 8), and despite His warnings Saul is chosen.  Saul appears impressive on the outside, but his pride and insecurity cause him to disobey God (1 Samuel 13:13-14). 

After God rejects Saul, He places David on the throne. David, has a faith and heart for the Lord like no other.  David trusted the Lord and waited on God to fulfill His promise to make him king.   David falls by committing adultery with Bathsheba, then has her husband killed to cover it up (2 Samuel 11).  Even so, God still calls David a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). God does not expect us to be perfect, but like David, as soon as we recognize sin, we need to repent before God.  He is faithful to forgive.

David’s son Solomon experiences both the gracious and just sides of God during his life. Solomon initially follows his father’s example, and God blesses him with unmatched wisdom and wealth (1 Kings 3).  Solomon’s weakness for women and wealth led him to worship others gods.  Because of Solomon’s unfaithfulness, God divides Israel into two kingdoms (1 Kings 11:9-13) and raises adversaries against him.

The Northern Kingdom, first led by Solomon’s son Jeroboam, consisted of ten of the tribes of Jacob. It lasted for about 210 years until it was destroyed by Assyria in 722 BC.  There were 19 kings in this era under a succession of dynasties outside of David’s line.  Every king of Israel during this time was evil.  That said, God continues to show faithfulness, for example when Ahab momentarily repented and humbled himself before the Lord (1 Kings 21:29) and the Lord spared him. While Israel experienced a level of prosperity and power, they also experienced constant internal strife, worship of idols and false gods, and sin resulting in judgment from the Lord for their disobedience and unfaithfulness.    

The Southern Kingdom, first led by Solomon’s son Rehoboam, consisted of two tribes (Judah and Benjamin).  It  lasted almost 400 years until it was taken into exile by Babylon in 597, 586 and 539 BC.  Only eight of twenty kings of Judah's served God.  In the Southern Kingdom there was only one dynasty, that of king David.  God’s sovereign plan and faithfulness to His promises is consistently evident especially with the Southern Kingdom.  This is portrayed beautifully through Asa, a good king with a heart like David, but later relied on his own power and suffered the consequences.  (2 Chronicles 16:9-13)  Also through one of the most evil kings, Manasseh, who reversed all the good reform of his father Hezekiah to worship idols and partake in child sacrifices.  At the end of his life, Manasseh cries out to the Lord in humility and the Lord faithfully forgives him.  (2 Chronicles 33:14).

The monarchy's failure and deserved judgment is also a story of God's unrelenting commitment to His people through divine words of hope, judgment, and commands.  God is faithful to keep His covenant and fulfill His promise to His people.  Despite the sin pattern of His people over time, God proves faithful then, today and tomorrow.  (Romans 5:8)