The Greatest Gift
Part 1. The Beginning
The importance of the Gospel
Knowledge of the Holy - AW Tozer Mid 20th century theologian:
“The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal
problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot
concern him for very long.
But even if the multiple burdens of time may be lifted from him, the one mighty single burden
of eternity begins to press down upon him with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the
world piled one upon another.
That mighty burden is his obligation to God. It includes an instant and lifelong duty to love God
with every power of mind and soul, to obey Him perfectly, and to worship Him acceptably.
And when the man’s laboring conscience tells him that he has done none of these things, but
has from childhood been guilty of foul revolt against the Majesty in the heavens, the inner
pressure of self-accusation may become too heavy to bear.
YET, The gospel can lift this destroying burden from the mind, give beauty for ashes, and the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.”
When we meditate on the gospel of Jesus Christ it breaks the bonds of stress, anxiety,
suffering, and it also increases our joy, hope, peace, and love!
No matter what your circumstance, the Gospel is good news to you today! Wether you have
been saved your whole life or you are new to the Gospel.
John 6:44
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on
the last day.”
Hosea 11:4
“I led them with cords of kindness, with ropes of love; I lifted the yoke from their necks and
bent down to feed them.”
Ezekiel 34:11
“’For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after
them.
The truth is that since before you were born God has loved you with an everlasting love, and
today is the day he wants you to experience him!
In romans 1:15 Paul tells the church of Rome that although they are established and mature
Christians he still desired to preach the gospel to them.
Because understanding the plan of God changes the way we view social trends, conflicts,
political tensions, global events, our own lives and those around us.
It gives us a gospel centered worldview, not merely a moral and therapeutic one.
The Gospel
For those that are familiar:
The gospel is the announcing of the reign of the God of Israel through the Person of Christ
confirmed and established by Jesus' ________, _________, __________, ________, and His
glorious __________ to the world.
Seven components to the mystery of the gospel
1. The salvation of all Israel – Rom. 11:25-27
25. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery,
brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has
come in. 26. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”;
27. “and this will be my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
2. Heaven and earth joined together – Eph. 1:9-10
9. making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth
in Christ 10. as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and
things on earth.
Col. 1:19-20
19. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20. and through him to reconcile
to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
3. Incarnation – 1 Tim. 3:16
16. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.
4. Jew and Gentile one – Ephesians. 2:13-14
13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the
blood of Christ. 14. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken
down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.
5. Gentiles in-dwelt by the glory of Christ – Colossians 1:27
27. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the
glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
6. The Bride reigning with Christ as co-heir – Ephesians 2:4-7
4.But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5. even
when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you
have been saved— 6. and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, 7. so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable
riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
7. Resurrection – 1 Cor. 15:52
51. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a
moment, 52. in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
The Gospel Overview
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
In the beginning the Father Son and the Holy Spirit together created a beautiful spotless world
where everything in it was good.
Then God created a man and he put man in a Garden to keep the Garden and he gave the man
a command and not to eat of the tree that was forbidden. He promised him life if he kept his
command but death if he ate it.
A serpent came and deceived Eve to eat the of the tree that was forbidden with the promise
that it would make her like God being able to discern Good and Evil. Her husband Adam ate it
too and because they disobeyed God sin entered the world and death through sin and
everyone through ordinary conception inherited that man’s sinful nature.
And because of that sinful nature sins proceed from it. And our world is broken because of that
sin and we stand Guilty before a righteous and Holy God craving justice but the problem is that
if God gives us justice we all die!
And so that same God in his Goodness and in his mercy sent his only son who was not born of
ordinary generation but was born of a virgin WHY?! because if he was born of ordinary
conception he would be born in sin. But because he is born of a virgin he is clean of sin, his
record is clean.
And as he walks the earth he keeps his record clean and he obeys Gods law. And because he
is fully god and fully man, god made him who knew no sin to be sin for us.
Because all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; BUT
the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
And Christ died for sin! One for all! The just for the unjust! And God imputes our sinfulness to
him and he nails our sinfulness to the tree and Christ dies and raises again on the third day for
our justification.
And there is another imputation the righteousness of christ is actually imputed to us so that
God can be both the just and the justifier of the one who places faith in christ.
So that all those who come to Christ may enter in. Who place faith in Christ might be saved but
not only saved, sanctified because he’s the first born of many brothers.
We’re justified and we’re adopted into the family of God and we’re sanctified and as children
we begin to bear the family resemblance and we’re further sanctified throughout this life by the
very same gospel that saves.
Until one day when its all said and done we’re not just saved from the penalty of sin we’re not
just saved from the power of sin but one day we’re glorified and saved from the very presence
of sin.
He did all that so that he could have you as his reward!........ and you’re telling me you are
stressing over work?
Over bills?
Money is low right now for Christmas?
This is the first holiday without that loved one that passed.
Your health is not where it needs to be!
Your relationship is struggling!
Matthew 6:25—33
25. “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more
than clothing?
26. Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27. And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
28. And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:
they neither toil nor spin,
29. yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown
into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31. Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or
‘What shall we wear?’
32. For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need
them all.
33. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added
to you.
If you have placed your faith in Christ you are betrothed to him!
That means you are engaged to him. And soon he is coming back for you!
Beloved the very God of all creation the darling of heaven. Came to earth in human form to
make a way for you to be reunited to him and you think he is not carefully orchestrating your
path?
You think he is going to let you fall?
You think he has left you alone?
Romans 8:35, 37
35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
37. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38. For I am
sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor
powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment