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The Glory of the Gospel

I Tim.1:11 - According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God...

We live in a technologically superior age in which pictures coming from the surface of Mars are only minor curiosities. A nuclear submarine with enough warheads to literally destroy an entire nation is not as news worthy as the next sporting event. Animals have been cloned from a single cell and that does not stir our beings. Wars rage all over the world, millions die of starvation, and the front page of the newspaper will shout the latest escapade of some movie star. We have grown complacent and even ambivalent about the incredible strides in knowledge and science that have come about in the span of our lifetime. We are sophisticated.

And in this sophistication we expect answers to problems to be just as technologically sophisticated. No home remedies, no divining rods, and no simplistic superstitions will be accepted as authentic remedies for the problems we face. We are enamored with our human intellects and we award prizes to men and women who through ingenuity and perseverance establish advances in science and invent ways to make our lives better and longer.

And this is also true in the broad landscape we refer to in an extreme generality as Christianity. Sophistication has found its way into the church as well. Not only technology, but intellectual sophistication otherwise known as philosophy. Simplicity is considered backwards and “so yesterday” when it comes to understanding Biblical truth. There are now many and varied views of truth and in fact it is fashionable to question the ability to be certain about any truth itself. In other words, underlying the current movements that are departing from historic Christianity is the presupposition that truth either cannot be known with any solid certainty, or that truth itself is something that changes to accommodate itself to certain times and cultures.

And at the very core of this trend is the retooling and rethinking of the nature of the gospel and what it means to be a Christian. The old view of atonement is no longer completely relevant to our sophisticated society that now has so many psychological tools and whose expansive information about all the varied and seemingly logical presentations of gospel truth have spearheaded an inclusive view of a variety of doctrines. And these views are usually not embraced by praying, fasting, and investigative seekers who are both desirous to be faithful to God’s Word and also have a healthy wariness of new doctrines that subtly eviscerate the teachings of historic Christianity.

No, the masses that are being slowly and systematically drawn to these new and untethered teachings are the result of the best communication, the best technologically superior media, the most relevant teachings of self enhancement, and the touching of the emotions, self esteem, and the insatiable desire for significance. Christianity and the gospel have been pressed into a post modern world complete with all the nuances and intellectual accoutrements that elicit interest to the carnal mind. The old time gospel no longer has the spiritual attraction for much of the modern and post modern success seeker.

And as Babylon has presented the church with a list of desires and grievances, the church has not only acquiesced to its demands, she has continued in that process to conform to cultural parameters rather than solid Biblical truths concerning the gospel. As Hezekiah gave the king of Assyria the gold from God’s temple, so has much of the modern church handed over the gold of God’s truth to the modern Assyrians. Most of the faithful preachers of past generations would not recognize what passes for the gospel in today’s evangelical world. If the gospel changes then it is no longer Christian at all.

But in the midst of retreat and intellectual acquiescence, and among the humanitarian gospel that trades the atonement for the works of man, stands the gospel still. The glory of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Incarnate God Himself, all of which was motivated by love and culminated with an offer of atonement for the sins of mankind. It is the story of simplicity and depth, a narrative which took place in time and space and yet lives victorious throughout history. It cannot satisfy the carnal sophistications of modern man, but it can and continues to satisfy the fallen need of every sinner who trusts it message and by faith embraces it Author.

This gospel is trans-generational in its understanding and trans-cultural in its power. This gospel has been planted once and for all through the very act of the Savior and preserved in the pages of what we call, quite appropriately, the gospels. It is not just a narrative, but within the truth of its events lies a hidden and potential power that is available to every sinner who seeks Him by faith, and in fact, eternal life is in its very message. The story of the death and burial of a Jew from the loins of Judah is no unique event, however when that Jew resurrects from the dead, then the entire account must be reviewed in a divine light. For now we must take inventory of the gospel account in the light of who this man was and just what has transpired through this narrative.

If indeed this man, Jesus, resurrected from the dead then He was God in the flesh since only God has power over death. But just what was He accomplishing here, and why did He come in the likeness of a man, and why did He die? In order to extract the meaning of His labors as it pertains to us, we must understand His purpose. Was it just to show a better way? Was it just to show sacrificial love? Was it just to exhort us in our dealings as human beings? Just what was the mission of the man fashioned God and was it accomplished in those last three days?

And many today would have include the earthly works of Jesus as part of the gospel. Of what benefit was the turning water into wine to us? When Jesus healed the blind man, was that part of the gospel? When He fed the five thousand, was that part of the good news? All the works that Jesus did were a revelation about who He was, but they are not the gospel. The gospel that is good news to every sinner is that Christ has paid the price for the sins of the world, He has resurrected from the dead, and offers eternal life for anyone who fully trusts His offer of redemption. And His works before the cross are examples to every believer, but they do not make believers. Only the gospel produces believers.

The heart of man has always held out a hope of a life after death, even sometimes as an offset to the fear of that same death. But the fallen intellect of man has stood in the way by concocting many different theories, usually based upon a distorted view of good works or a place universally prepared for every human being. But continuing to stand in the midst of centuries of change and the ebbs and flows of doctrinal detours is the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There is a glory that abides within the gospel message, and that glory is God’s alone. The intellect of man has been laid waste by the atoning majesty of God’s gospel message. It cannot be gained by works nor wisdom or even sincerity, it can only be fully embraced by a genuine, childlike, and genuine faith. What glory is this? Has God provided an eternal escape from judgment and an eternal life with Him simply by faith in His gospel? Surely there must be more, and yet any touch by human hands renders the message useless. This is the absolute core of God’s glory, that all salvation flows directly through Himself, with the sinner the object between the beginning and end which is Jesus Christ the Alpha and Omega. In a sense, God sends forth His glory which returns unto Him with the fruits of His grace, the church. And the entire process is camouflaged within the simplicity of the gospel.

And so Paul exhorts all of us,

“Let no one move you from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.”.

The glory is all of God, and the simplicity?

It is the glory of God in His condescending redemptive love.

The glory of the gospel is in two words…

Jesus Christ.