| What is the Gospel |
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Paul is going back to basics in our reading today. He re-caps the heart of the gospel message, what is the Gospel? The word Gospel means “good news”, the good news which if believed has the power to save.
First, what is the good news and second why is it good news.
vv 3-8
1. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
2. Christ was buried – i.e. he really died, he really was dead.
3. Christ was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures
4. The risen Christ appeared to a lot of people.
In vv 9 – 11 we also learn that:
1. God’s grace changes us
2. We can then change others – or rather God working through us can then change others.
Sounds good? It should do because it is. Why and how is it good?
It’s good because there’s some give and take and it’s God who does all giving and all the taking. It’s us who benefits from God giving and taking. So: God gives and takes, but not in that order.
He takes and then he gives. What does he take?
He takes our sin.
How, what, where, when and why?
Jesus dying on the cross because God loves us even more than he loves himself. That’s what God takes and God gives. What does God give?
Grace.
How, what, where, when and why?
By the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead and who lives in the church to encourage, enable, equip and empower. So the word “gospel” doesn’t just mean “good news” it really is good news. It’s good because we get forgiven of our sins which are taken and taken away by Christ on the cross, and it’s good because we get given the grace of God and are changed for good. We are then meant to work in and under and with and for God to change others for good.
Let’s go back and look at the death of Christ. We’ve said: “Christ died for our sins” But what does that mean? It means Christ took and took away all our sin and all its consequences. What is sin and what are its consequences? Sin is rejecting or rebelling against God, and against his love and will and power and because God is the source of all life, and sin is separation from God then therefore the consequence is death. Not physical death but spiritual death. Physical life – the life of our bodies – is temporary. We are all going to die, but if, while we are alive in our physical bodies on the earth, we accept Christ’s death on our behalf, for our sins, then we have the gift of eternal spiritual life. Yes our bodies will wear out and we will die, but real, everlasting spiritual life begins when we stop rejecting God (which is the definition of sin) and start accepting him. Then Jesus becomes our person and the place where all our sin and all its consequences go. He dies with and for our sins.
Fortunately, that’s not the end of the story. But it is the end of the beginning, and his resurrection is the beginning of the end.
N.B. as an aside we shouldn’t say that Jesus was punished for our sins. He wasn’t, or at least that’s not what the Bible teaches. Jesus came to save us from punishment not by bearing it for us but by taking away our sins which are the just cause of our punishment. (John 3:36) and a few Christians even go a step beyond that by saying that not only did Jesus take the punishment for sin (which the Bible does not teach) but that Christ on the cross also took God’s righteous wrath against sin.
Well, the Bible doesn’t say that either. What it does say is simpler and stronger and more striking than that: Jesus, the innocent lamb of God, the son with whom the father was well pleased, came from heaven to the cross to take my sin away and that is more than enough for me and I do not want to go beyond what scripture says.
So: Jesus takes and takes away the sin of the world and that’s an offer that stands for you and me. If you accept and believe and receive that offer then you are saved. That’s what God takes.
Let’s end by having a look at what God gives:
Grace.
What is grace? Verse 10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me”. Grace is when God puts into credit with him and gives us gifts and blessings. Christ’s work on the cross cancels our debt, as it were. It neutralizes sin and we are out of out of the red but not really in the black, but grace is God giving us credit. So far he has already done everything for us. There was a problem, sin, which was our problem not God’s. We caused it and we suffered as a result of it. Yet God in Christ solves that problem. The problem was all from our side but the solution was all from God’s side and then as if that wasn’t enough he lavishes his love upon us, and that’s grace, we have got our part to play.
Verse 10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”
For Paul the grace of God inspired him, enabled him, equipped him, empowered him to work for and serve God, but this is not to repay God or to earn his love. No, this is us willingly imitating God’s work of love and participating with him in it. God made us and sent his son to save us and stays close to us even when we don’t stay close him. God guides and guards, God saves and heals, God challenges and convicts etc. etc. Why?
Because God is love and love is active. If you love someone you don’t stand idly by and watch them hurt themselves or others and so we too should be full of the love of God and be at work in the world. Not a driven, workaholic restless busyness that comes out of guilt or anxiety or fear or insecurity but a working in and under and with and for God as God does his work and please remember we are called do the work of love, not have the love of work.
We are God’s children, not his workforce and he doesn’t run a sweatshop, but he does choose to invite us and involve us in his work under him and with him. If we love him and are full of his love for the world then we will want to be part of his work, the work of love and what is that work? It is to listen.
and pray.
and care.
and serve.
and be patient and gentle and kind.
and to defend the oppressed.
and sometimes to challenge or rebuke.
and show and share the gospel – the good news – of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
and it’s hard work but it’s also God’s work and no work is too hard for him.
and because it’s God’s work we should be or become anxious or guilty or driven or workaholic about it.
Nor should we be lazy and selfish, either. We should want to work for and with and in and under God because of what God has done for us and when we do God’s work let’s remember that we are his children – not his slaves or servants. He’s not our employer who hires us, he’s our father who loves us. Sounds good?
So may God give us work to do and help us to do it in the church and in the world. |
Amen |
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1 Corinthians 15 : 1 - 11 |
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