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What is the Gospel?

Note: Below are the summary notes from a sermon series on “What is the Gospel?” that Stewart taught from Nov, 2001, through January, 2002.

This is Christianity 101 - the gospel!

It is vital that we get this! It is vital that our understanding and declaration be as close to the biblical teaching as possible. Hopefully this series has helped us move in that direction and that the material today will help us further.

An opening statement

The Gospel (glad tidings) includes the fact that the long exile of oppression and bondage is ended for the people of God and through them for the world. Jesus, the true and final representative of Israel and of Adam has come and lived a perfect covenant life (which Adam and Israel did not do), died a death in which He took upon Himself God’s judgment that was rightfully upon God’s people, and was raised by God to the right hand of His throne to declare God’s victory for us and to make clear that all of God’s creational and Old Testament promises are “yes” in Christ Jesus.

In His life and rule God Himself has come to His people, as promised, for salvation and purification, including the judgment He brought upon ethnic Israel and earthly Jerusalem for their rejection of their king. In these works of faithfulness, God has fulfilled His promised new covenant, thus bringing a new day, a new creation, a new temple, and a new Jerusalem, into which we have been baptized. He has enabled the true children of Abraham and heirs of the promises, Jew first and then Gentile, to repent of their sin, to have faith in Him, and to be received into His final and completed forgiveness, forming a spiritual house prepared to worship and serve Him and be a light to the nations. He has poured out the promised Holy Spirit upon us and our children, giving us new hearts to turn from idols and bondage to self, Satan, and the world, in order to love Him, obey Him, and live out His righteous Law. A new creation indeed! The very glory of God! He has exalted Jesus as the promised Shepherd-King, the Prince, the true and just heir of David’s throne, to rule over us with love and righteousness as the fullness of His rule of heaven and earth. He has laid His chosen and precious Stone in Zion!

Through Jesus, our King and Prince and amazingly, through us, His brothers and co-heirs, God is declaring and spreading His rule and glory among the nations and down through history. This fulfills God’s calling and mandate to Adam, to Noah, and to Israel and it fulfills the many promises He made that grew out of this calling and were aimed at its realization. Jesus, the Lord and Christ, will continue to establish this kingdom and lift up God’s Name through the power of the Spirit until His victory is consummated in His final and visible return.

In the meantime we have good news to celebrate, to declare, and to walk in, which by its very nature encompasses all of life. As we and our descendants do this faithfully, by the power of the Spirit, God will use us to adorn the gospel, hallow His Name, and to spread the rule and glory of Christ that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Questions

Where did all the statement above come from? Well, the questions below, and then the positive statements in the next section, should help us see more of the gospel described above.

1. What is the gospel or “glad tidings” preached in Isaiah (40:9, 52:7, 61:1) and fulfilled in the New Testament (Rom 10:15-16 - as it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings. . .”; Matt 11:5, Mark 1:1-3, Luke 4:17-21, I Peter 1:22-25)? Remember - this is that (not “this is kind of like that” or “this is somewhat related to that”)! Therefore, can you explain this gospel in the context of Isaiah? Can you explain Isaiah in the context of the OT?

2. Can you explain how the gospel relates to having faithful and effective shepherds for God’s people (Matt 9:35-38 - preaching the gospel of the kingdom . . . like sheep without a shepherd . . . pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers)?

3. Would you ever preach the gospel and include the message that God sent Jesus “to turn every one of you away from your iniquities (Acts 3:26)?

4. Can you explain how the “gospel of the grace of God” relates to “preaching the kingdom of God” (Acts 20:24, also see Acts 1:3, 28:31, Matt 4:23 - gospel of the kingdom)?

5. What is the connection of the gospel and Jesus being the seed of David (Rom 1:1-3, 2 Tim 1:8)?

6. How does the gospel relate to Jesus being the judge of all men (Rom 2:16 - in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel, Acts 10:42, 17:30-31)?

7. Can you tell someone how to “obey the gospel” (Romans 10:16 - But they have not all obeyed the gospel; 2 Thess 1:8 - God’s wrath on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; also see Acts 5:32, 6:7, Romans 1:5, 6:7, 15:18, 16:26, Heb 5:9, I Peter 1:22)?

8. What is the connection between the gospel and Gentiles becoming an acceptable offering to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:15-16)?

9. In what ways was the death and resurrection of Jesus necessary for the gospel (I Cor 15:1-4 - died according to the Scriptures . . . was raised according to the Scriptures, Luke 24:26-27 - “thus it was written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day”, Acts 17:1-3 - for three Sabbaths [Paul] reasonsed with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead) and for the fulfillment of the OT story and promises? Can you identify the OT scriptures that would have been referred to in the noted Scriptures (above) and explain their significance in the context of the OT story and promises?

10. In what sense is the gospel preached through Abraham when God told him, “In you all the nations will be blessed”? (Gal 3:8)

11. How is “standing fast in one spirit” conduct worthy of the gospel (Phil 1:27)?

12. How are we preaching the gospel in saying, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (Rev 14:6-7)?

13. Could you explain what gospel “glory” Jesus came into? . . . I Peter 1:11 - searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow, John 12:41 . . . and that we come into? . . . 2 Thess 2:14 - to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

14. What is the relation between the rebuilding of the fallen “tent (dynasty) of David” and the gospel (Acts 15:6-17)?

15. In what way does the gospel fulfill the “hope of the promises made by God” to the OT “fathers” for which the tribes of Israel yearned day and night (Acts 26:6-7)?

16. Does your gospel preaching include the call to “repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20)?

17. Would your preaching and proclamation of the gospel be much like the proclamation of the apostles and of the early church (see blue book - “What is the Gospel?” Especially see speeches from Acts)?

18. What “gospel” were the apostles preaching in Luke 9:6? Could you explain how the OT themes below would fit into the conversation and how the apostles would relate these themes to what they had heard and seen, up to that point, from Jesus? Could you then relate the events that followed, especially the death, resurrection, and coronation of Jesus, to these themes, showing how these events were necessary for the fulfillment and furthering of these OT themes?

· Israel’s long exile is over
· God is coming to Zion for salvation and judgment
· True Israelites are repenting
· Our sin is being forgiven
· The Spirit is being poured out upon us and our children to restore us to life and glory (heaven is opening up!)
· We and our children are being given new hearts for God
· The great Shepherd/King (Son of David, Son of God, Son of Man, Messiah, Prince, etc) is being installed in Israel and over the nations
· God’s Name is being lifted up among the nations through Israel and their King
· All of God’s covenant promises to us are being realized

The Gospel . . .

1. is explicitly announced in Isaiah and implicitly announced in many other OT passages (Romans 1:2, I Peter 1:10-12)

2. is the development and completion of God’s works of creation and covenant through Adam, Noah, Abraham and the other OT “fathers” (with the consummation now guaranteed in Christ victory and Lordship)

3. was announced by Gabriel to Zacharias (Luke 1:19), the father of John the Baptism, and included the good news that God was turning many of the children of Israel to the Lord and their God and that he would turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just (Luke 1:16-17)
4. brings repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31)

5. was preached in part, but truly, by people who did not yet know, or understand the significance of, the cross of Christ (Luke 9:6)

6. is the message of the kingdom of God (Matt 4:23, Acts 20:24-25)

7. includes God bringing a true Shepherd to God’s people and raising up faithful shepherds under Him (Matt 9:35-38; also see John 10:1-30, 21:15-17, Acts 20:28, Heb 13:20, I Peter 2:25, 5:1-4)

8. was announced not only in word but also in deed through healings, just as Isaiah had prophesied (Matt 11:5, see Isa 61:1, 35:5-6)

9. is about the messenger of God coming to purify God’s temple (Mark 1:1-2, see Malachi 3:1-2)

10. demands repentance or a turning toward God (Mark 1:15, Acts 20:26)

11. is the message of God’s grace (Acts 20:24) and the completion of His grace given in and through creation and the old covenant

12. shows the fulfillment of the promises God gave to David (Acts 13, 15:16, Rom 1:3, 2 Tim 1:8)

13. reveals the righteousness of God in holding true to His promises (Rom 1:16-17, I Peter 1:22-25)

14. declares that Jesus will judge the secrets of men (Rom 2:16, Acts 10:42, 17:30-31) as he rules over history and brings vindication to God, the Creator and Sovereign Lord over nations and history

15. leads to Gentiles becoming acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:16)

16. declares that Jesus is Lord (2 Cor 4:3-5)

17. brings obedience to the will of God (2 Cor 9:12-13)

18. shows us that Jesus gave Himself for our sins (Gal 1:3-6)

19. was preached through Abraham (Gal 3:8)

20. makes Gentiles fellow heirs with Jews of God’s promises and partakers of the same body (Eph 3:6)

21. brings remission of sins along with love, knowledge of God, understanding, good works, deliverance from the power of darkness, and joy (Col 1:4-14)

22. must be obeyed (2 Thess 1:8)

23. brings Christ into glory (1 Peter 1:10-12) and those who are in Christ into glory (2 Thess 2:14)

24. was preached to Israel in the wilderness (Heb 4:2)

25. includes the call to fear God and give glory to Him (Rev 14:6-7)

26. comes in the power of the Holy Spirit (I Thess 1:5, Acts 10:44)

27. is the means through which Jesus Christ abolished death and brings life and immortality to light (2 Tim 1:10)

28. establishes a people, the sons of God, the seed of Abraham, the holy nation, the royal priesthood, through whom God’s Name is exalted and his salvation spread . . . a people who had not known mercy, but now know the mercy of God.

A closing request

May God bless our church with great joy and zeal for Him as He opens the eyes of our hearts to grasp all of His glories in Christ Jesus and in the gospel that proclaims Him as Lord and us as His people.