Of First Importance

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures…

1 Corinthians 15:3

In his book, The Cross Centered Life, C.J. Mahaney writes, “Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the Gospel ought to be.”

In The Discipline of Grace, Jerry Bridges writes, “The Gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history.”

To put the words of the Apostle Paul and these two modern saints into other words…if I could only possess knowledge of one thing, I would choose to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). Through the Gospel, we know God. Apart from the Gospel, we do not know God. And it is because of the central Figure of the Gospel that any of this is possible.

CrossWay Community Church uses five words of 1 Corinthians 15:3 as the essential message of the Gospel.

“Christ died for our sins.”

This is glorious truth. It is THE Good News. And if we don’t understand what it means, we miss out on the riches of our loving God. With that in mind, let’s break down these five words even further in hope of gaining a clearer perspective on the only essential message in history. If you know the Gospel, I pray that it become increasingly functional in your life. If you don’t know the Gospel, I pray that this provides a clear understanding of the salvation that God offers through faith in Jesus Christ.

Before I begin, I think it is important to make the case that the Gospel is not just an Evangelical tool. It doesn’t simply function as the message that non-Christians need to receive through faith in order to go to heaven and be with Jesus. The Gospel is necessary for the Christian who is still battling with sin (which is all of us!). Why do I say this? Because if someone wrongs you, where do you go to find reason to forgive? If you don’t go to the Cross to see how you’ve been forgiven, you won’t be able to truly forgive. If you are suffering and see a way to escape that would compromise your Christian faith, where do you turn to endure? If you don’t turn to the Cross and see Jesus suffering in your place, you won’t find the strength to endure. The Gospel keeps us strengthened and resting in God’s grace on a daily basis. And we should strive to know it more and more each day. It brings life while everything else, even good intentions and sound logic and a good night’s sleep, bring death and decay to our souls.

I would encourage anyone to find some resources that make this claim and consider it for yourself. C.J. Mahaney’s The Cross Centered Life is probably the most accessible book on this. Jerry Bridges The Discipline of Grace is meatier, but it is very helpful. Perhaps the most helpful book I’ve come across is A Gospel Primer for Christians by Milton Vincent. This book has short meditations on different aspects of the Gospel and has proven to be helpful time and time again since I bought it last fall. The Gospel Coalition has a website that is centered around this idea as well. On the site you can find a lot of sermons that speak of the Gospel being primary in the Christian’s life.

With all that being said, let’s break down these five words and consider them.

Christ

Jesus Christ, truly God and fully man, is the most prominent person in the message of the Gospel. Philippians tells us that Jesus was equal with God but chose to empty Himself and take on human form in order that He might fulfill the Law and satisfy God’s righteous demands that we failed to satisfy. Colossians tells us that Jesus created all things and it is only through Him that all things hold together. You and I were created for Jesus Christ. He is the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price. Without Christ, life does not exist.

Died

This Jesus died. He didn’t simply die a physical death, although the physical agony of the Cross is impossible to comprehend. He died a spiritual death as well. He experienced separation from His Heavenly Father and the weight of all of our sin. He died so that we might live. And He was raised from the dead as proof that God the Father was satisfied with His Son’s sacrifice. Scripture promises that all those who associate with the death of Jesus Christ will be raised to new life when Jesus returns to establish His eternal Kingdom. And all of us want to be associated with Jesus on that Day. When Christ is standing before you, it won’t matter what you believed in this life unless that belief led you to repent and put your hope of forgiveness for your sins at the foot of the Cross of the crucified Christ.

For

This Jesus didn’t just die. His death wasn’t simply a great example of love that we should take to mean that we need to lay down our lives for others. His death is a great example, but it is so much more. Jesus died for a reason. There was an eternal, sovereign purpose of God for which Jesus came and for which Jesus died. He died for our sins. Because we rebelled against God, His wrath is upon us. The fury of that wrath was directed at Jesus at the Cross so that we might be forgiven and made righteous in God’s sight. Jesus died for this purpose: to bring many sons to glory.

Our

There is not a person excluded from this. Scripture is clear that salvation is for each and every person that would believe on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. However, Scripture is also clear that one must put their faith in Jesus Christ because apart from Christ we stand condemned by a holy God. This may seem like an arrogant claim. Some will reject it simply based on that assertion. However, if God really did send His only Son to die in our place to redeem our lives and save us from our certain death due to sin, then perhaps He wouldn’t take lightly to other truth claims that don’t acknowledge the great, superior sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When you strip everything away, Jesus was a real man who lived a supremely righteous life and He was killed for the things that He said and labeled a blasphemer. Three days after He died there was an explosion of news that quickly spread all over the world that people had seen this same Jesus risen from the dead! I can’t think of anyone short of God Himself who can predict His own resurrection. This is historical. A messiah was promised by God and Jesus Christ is that Messiah. How can truth be arrogant? That claim contradicts itself.

Sins

Sin has been our problem since the very beginning. When Adam sinned, we became guilty by association. Sin entered the world through Adam, he died, and all of us have died since then because we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Sin is more serious than we can imagine even though our logic wants to tell us that being imperfect isn’t a big deal, getting mad at the car in front of us doesn’t really make us a bad person, and our impatience with our coworker is justified because he’s a jerk. Sin has blinded us to reality. Sin has kept us from knowing God. Sin has brought us under the righteous judgment of the God who created us to know Him. Sin is so serious, because, where it exists, God cannot be present. So for a God who created us to be with Him forever, sin must be dealt with. It cannot be swept under the rug or overlooked. It demands justice. God would be just to end our lives and banish us from His presence forever. And yet it was His prerogative to send Jesus to die in our place so that we might be restored to right relationship with Him. Sin is serious enough that the Son of God died! If we think lightly of sin, we will think lightly about Christ crucified. And what a shame to think lightly about the greatest display of God’s love in all of history!

May we think rightly about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. May we treasure the Good News more and more each day. May the Gospel function in every area of our lives providing hope and endurance and patience and the ability to forgive and love others. May it be of first importance in our lives. It’s essential that it be so.

For the glory of Christ who died for our sins…