For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
1 Corinthians 15:3-5
In this passage, Paul says that the Good News of Jesus Christ is of first importance to his ministry and his top priority as a missionary. Five words can change eternity. Christ died for our sins. But receiving the Gospel should do far more than just change eternity, and, tragically, a lot of us are failing to bear the fruit of living a life centered around Jesus Christ and His Gospel.
Just as Paul says in Romans, faith comes through hearing the Gospel. There is no other way to be made right with God other than hearing the Good News and receiving it by grace through faith. But that is where most of us stop. We receive the Good News, wipe the sweat from our brows, and take a deep sigh of relief being thankful that we were saved from that really hot place that no one likes to talk about.
If you notice in Scripture, the men and women who heard the Gospel and saw the glory of God reacted in a much different manner than the apathetic response of so many of us today. Take Isaiah for example when He saw the throne room in Isaiah 6. After being made clean, he practically screams at the top of his lungs "here I am, send me!" to make sure that his response was dynamic enough given the enormous gift of forgiveness and reconciliation. Or how about the Apostle Paul who went from being one of the harshest persecutors of the early church to a man who said that he would gladly be poured out as a drink offering for the sake of Christ and His bride! These are just two of many radical responses. Hebrews 11 contains a whole list of similar accounts of people whose lives are significantly changed by the power of God.
Now, in case you are like me and have a tendency to view the Gospel as only the means of salvation for nonbelievers and not useful to your life as a Christian, I urge you to think again as I have recently. The writers of Scripture definitively showcase the Gospel as the means of our sanctification as well.
Take Paul's words in Galatians 6:14 as an example. He says, "But far be it from me to boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." He goes on to say that everyone who lives in this truth receives peace and mercy from God! The Word of God is living and active and at the center of God's Word is the Gospel and the miraculous, divine power it has to continually transform lives from one degree of glory to the next into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Knowing the Gospel is a lifelong process. We should never grow weary of our efforts to deepen our understanding of God's grace poured out through Christ, and we should never consider that we have exhausted the Gospel's usefulness in our own lives. The Gospel is central to everything we do and everything we are as Christians.
As I have been learning at church, each truth of Scripture can be tied in with the Gospel. There is now no condemnation...why? Because of Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross. We have peace with God...why? Because Jesus Christ has atoned for our sins. We are heirs with Christ...why? Because we are bought by His blood.
These promises that extend from the Gospel lead into a lifestyle characterized by a joyful heart that is ever deepening in awe for what Christ has done for us. Take for example Philippians 2:3-4 which God has really been challenging me with lately:
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each one of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Without the whole context, these verses appear to be simply good moral advice. But when we see it in light of the verses that follow, we become aware of why Paul challenges us to put others before ourselves. Verses 5-8 tell of our Savior and the humility that He modeled by not only taking on human flesh but become a servant of man and dying in our place on the Cross. So why are we to be humble? Because our Master has displayed and modeled a humility that turned the world upside down and God wants to do greater works than that by shining through us the light of Christ.
The most amazing thing is that the power to be characterized by this type of humility is only found in the Gospel. No where else can we turn to experience the power of God at work like we can by turning to the Gospel. Everything else pales in comparison.
We can be strengthened by the Gospel. We can rest in the Gospel. We can rejoice in the Gospel. We can be transformed by the Gospel. WE NEED THE GOSPEL! I would rather go without air than go without the Gospel. Jesus Christ is the source of life. Nothing on this earth satisfies as Christ satisfies. How I long for the Good News to make me like Christ Jesus! God help me!
I'll conclude with a quote from C.J. Mahaney who speaks of the Gospel much more eloquently than I.
"If there's anything in life that we should be passionate about, it's the Gospel. And I don't mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the Gospel ought to be."
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