Sermon Cloud

INTRODUCTION

The Gospel is so much more than just a list of beliefs that you have to subscribe to in order to get into the kingdom.  It isn't less than these facts, but it sure is more than them.  Most people look at the Gospel as the minimum beliefs that you need to have in order to be a Christian.  Christians often assume that the Gospel is for unbelievers to get saved and then we grow through biblical principles for living. 

The Gospel is not just a set of facts, but an entire worldview.  A worldview is a set of beliefs that are the foundation for everything you do.  How you see the world, how you see yourself, and how you view God and all of reality.  These beliefs are so fundamental to who we are that we don't just look at them, we look through them to see everything else.

A worldview isn't just a thing you agree to, it is the interpretive grid that all things must agree to in order for your life to have coherence.  I can believe that dogs are better than cats, but this doesn't change the way I live.  Now, if I believe that all human religions are nothing more than social constructions that we agree upon to make life make sense, that's a worldview.  It acts as the lens that I look through to see all of life.  For many, that isn't a big deal because religion isn't a big deal to them.  Though it is not proven to them, it's a belief that they've committed to, which attempts to make sense out of this world.  The Gospel is more than just personal belief, however.  The Gospel is considered true whether or not you and I know it, agree to it, or desire to learn more about it.  We don't stand as the determiner of truth, since it is true with our without our opinion.  However, most people unfortunately see the Gospel as something you believe but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to change your entire life.

The Gospel for the Christian is supposed to be more than just a set of beliefs, but it is a whole new grid to see all of life through. 

If you were to ask someone to become a Christian and believe the Gospel, most people would think that it is nothing more than just an invitation to live in a particular moral and ethical way.  They see Christianity as a way of living only, and therefore it is only a set of moral beliefs to abide by.  We can't assume that people understand what the Gospel is when we tell them a brief version of it.  You might assume they understand, but they really don't.  They only see it as rules and regulations to adhere to.  If the person is a moral person, Christianity might sound attractive, and they may ever pray to receive Christ, but they will only be seeing through this moralistic grid and nothing more.  Then, when the pressure to enjoy life is on, they will abandon their new moral framework because it isn't compatible with their desires.  If they attend SDSU in San Diego, California, they will think its oppressive and outdated, and something to avoid since it will only limit their freedom.  This is why we need to explain that the Gospel is so much more than that. It is not just some ethical standard but an entirely new way of dealing with God, life, and yourself.  It is the power of God which can and will change us from the inside out in such a way that causes how we operate at the most basic level to be radically altered.  It truly is life changing.         

The Gospel grid is not a moralistic grid.  The religious person is nothing more than the elder brother in the prodigal story.  He or she is the person who by their own behavior attempts to prove their worth and holiness.  This causes them to disdain others not like them, or look down upon others who don't believe what they believe. 

The moralistic person is avoiding Jesus just as much as the irreligious immoral person is.  Moralism is one of the most subtle and deadly ways to avoid Jesus as Savior because your security isn't resting in His work, but in your moral life and actions. 

The irreligious person will write you off if they've tried this false Gospel because they may have tried it at one point and it simply didn't work.  They weren't freed by this kind of Gospel; they were burdened by the weight of it all.  I know many, many people who came into Christianity only to later reject it because they never really heard or understood the Gospel. 

If this is true, than the way we understand and articulate the Gospel to ourselves, to one another, and to a world that does not understand it must be more carefully nuanced and more clearly proclaimed. 

There is a fullness of meaning to the Gospel message just as there is a fullness of meaning to the Trinity.  The more we understand about the Holy Spirit, the more we learn about the Father.  The more we understand about the Father, the more we understand the Son.  The more we understand the Son, the more we grow in our knowledge of the Father and the Spirit.

Also, you have to read the entire Bible as the Gospel or you'll never understand it. Luke 24 tells us, "44 Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.'"   What Jesus is saying is that the entire history of the Scriptures is about the Gospel: Christ's suffering and resurrection, and earlier in the chapter His sufferings and glory which is His life, death, resurrection and ascension.  All of history is about the Gospel.  Genesis 3:15 is the early promise to Adam and Eve that a hero will come to crush the enemy of God, Satan, and the working out of history is to fulfill the promise of the Gospel! 

Historical- Change of Worldview

Doctrinal, Factual, News, Announcement

The Gospel is news about what Jesus has done, not primarily advice about how to live. Why? Because we are saved by grace! News is something that is done, teaching is something you do.  If I have news, I tell you something that has happened. Good news is that you are saved by what Jesus has done.  Why? Because we are saved by grace.  Good advice is that you are saved by following the advice you're about to receive. 

Every other religion asserts good advice salvation and that history is not all that important because you are simply to "do" the advice or teaching.  Christianity is different because it is linked to the person of Christ, who He was and what He actually did in time/history.  Christianity says that you are saved by what Christ has done, therefore, it is "good news."  It's not just a set of moral advice or ethical teachings.  This doesn't mean that there isn't any advice on morality, or any teaching for ethics, but that is not the center of gravity and it isn't the primary focus of the Gospel- Christ is. 

News means history matters, advice means history doesn't.  Muhammad, Buddha, and any other world religion can claim miracles by the founder, but it doesn't really matter whether the miracles happened or not.  You're not saved because Mohammed moved a mountain.  In Islam, you're saved by following the advice of Islam, which are the five pillars.  Your salvation doesn't hinge upon whether or not those things happened because you're not saved by grace but by what YOU do.  But in Christianity, you're only saved if what Christ did actually happened.  If Jesus didn't die, didn't raise from the dead, then you are in your sins because you are saved by grace and not by works.  You are saved by what someone else has done.  This is why it is such good news, because it is in fact "news" about something which has really happened in history that has changed the world forever, and it will radically change your life right now in history if you trust this news.  This aspect of the Gospel stresses doctrine because it is important that Christ died in my place and rose from the dead and therefore defeated my enemies. 

If someone says that doctrine doesn't matter, then facts aren't important.  It really is not critical whether or not Christ raised from the dead; what they are telling you is that they believe in salvation by advice or works.  It is a belief that you are saved by what you do, and not by what Christ has done.  Christ is pictured as a moral example and whether or not he lived is not important to these people.  The assumption is that we can follow a mythical example which may or may not have actually existed and through following this figure's advice we can be like him or have favor with God if we try really hard.   

This aspect of the Gospel requires cognitive knowledge.  It requires "true knowledge" (verse 3:10).  Christ lived the life you should have lived, but didn't.  He died the death you should have died, but didn't.  And He did this not for your glory or for your righteousness, but for His. 

This requires that we proclaim/announce that Christ actually died, He was actually raised from the dead, He actually ascended to the right hand of the Father and was crowned as a King and given all authority on heaven and on earth, and He actually is the Lord of the Universe. 

Crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and coronation, and reign-this is why the Gospel is first and foremost an announcement of news rather than an example of living.  Many individuals want to say that you can show the Gospel through your life and that is sufficient.  But that is not news; that is living in response to that news, but it doesn't tell the person you're "showing" the Gospel to what Christ has done and how it's good news to believe.  This doesn't mean we don't think it's vital that what we say is in agreement with how we live, it means that simply living as a good person isn't the full Gospel.  As a matter of fact, it we think our example is sufficient we are actually offering a works-based religion because the person we are showing our example to will think that being a Christian means following a code of conduct.  That isn't good news; that's masked moralism. 

In every other world religion you're saved by the teaching or advice of the founder; in Christianity you're saved by the founder.  Since it's by grace, the only one capable to do this work was Jesus Himself.  He doesn't point to a way and then say, "live it."  He says, "I am the way."  He doesn't just tell you some truths and then call you to believe it, He says that He is, "the truth."  He doesn't point to an example of a life and say, "live it."  He says, "I am the life." Jesus is in every way everything that man should be.  He then gives to us everything man should be by becoming for us everything that man is already (ref. 2 Cor. 5:21). 

Sonship-

Identity, Child not Orphan, Change of Identity

The Gospel is a status you receive now, not just a reward you receive later.  Why? Because you're saved by grace.  Just like you're not saved by advice, yet advice is present, so too you're not saved by rewards, yet you do look forward to future rewards.  Every religion in the world also believes that you receive a reward later, but what they can't give you is a promise about your status now.  If you're saved by works and not by grace, you're never really sure where you stand.  Your status fluctuates and is dependent upon your performance.  You never really have confidence in your status because your past failures continue to remind you that you will probably blow it again and this causes you to live without any form of security today.  In works-based religions, no one ever really tells you when enough is enough.  You never know!  It's left to the scales at the end of your life.  You weigh your good deeds against your bad and hope that your good ones are heavier than your bad.  You don't really have a standing until you die.  Then you know, but it is too late to do anything about it.  Every religion makes you doubt your current status and your condition. 

In modern Christianity we view the Gospel as our second chance. We think that when we accept Jesus we are getting another pass at life and can try really hard to now live up to what we're supposed to.  That is not the Gospel!  The Gospel is a change in identity now and forever.  You become something entirely new, not just a refurbished version of a better old you.  If you are saved by grace, you can not maintain it by works.  The Gospel says that you are not only forgiven of your sins by Christ taking your sins upon Himself, you are also given His righteousness and He puts it upon you.  It isn't that if you try hard you'll make it into the family of God, but that you are in the family of God and now you can live like it.  It is a putting on of the new self (verse 10).  Jesus got what you deserved so that you get what He deserved.  Jesus is treated as if He did everything you have done, so that you are treated by the Father as if you did everything that He has done. 

Think about this in relation to what happens when you sin.  When you sin, why do you want to confess your sin?  Why do you want to get right with God?  If you know that you are accepted by Him through Jesus, that you are fully loved and welcomed by Him as a son, then the reason you want to get back to Him is because you miss Him.  It's because you want Him, because you can't stand to be away from fellowship with Him.  If your motivation is because of a fear of losing your salvation, or blessing, or heaven, then your motivation is a fear of losing things.  Your motivation is really fear and not God.  I said this last week and will say it again in a different way: if when all fear is gone, you lose motivation to follow Christ, then your motivation all along is not love but fear.  This doesn't mean that your assurance at times may not wane.  It certainly does, especially when we are in sin.  But if you are a true child of God, God will always see to it that your assurance is restored since you will be reminded that you're already accepted and this will cause a difference in how you relate to the Father.  If our Father has loved us in such a way as for us to experience true salvation, nothing but the love of the Father will do for our satisfaction and joy.  Even when we might give in to the lie of the promises of sin, because of the truthfulness of God, we will always return if we are truly His children.  The change of our identity is so powerful that as we have become something new, and since our status has changed, we live in humble confidence that God loves us, that He really has accepted us, that He is pleased with us because He is pleased with His Son, and that nothing we can say will make Him love us any more than He already does.  This is powerful because it rightly orients our security, our gratitude, and our understanding of grace.

Now, a child experiences his status by his fathers embrace.  Though his status doesn't change, he experiences his status.  He isn't more of a son through his experience, he experiences it. 

Kingdom-

Reversal of values, Kingdom Orientation, Change of Values

The Gospel is a complete reversal of the world's values, not just strength to live according to the old values.  Think about this in terms of administration.  The kind of administration that is present when a president takes office.  The old administration is done away with and a new administration comes in.  The world has its administration and values, and the Gospel brings an entirely new administration, a whole new structure.  In the kingdoms of the world, you get in through something of value.  Either information, money, something you do that is valuable, etc.  The entrance is based upon something you possess which is valuable.  School, work, clubs, etc. all work this way.   Religions work according to the same principles as the world.  They operate in such a way that you have to bring something of value in order to gain entrance or access or favor.  You go to God in religion and tell him you did "X" and now God should give you eternal life or heaven or a blessing.  The Gospel is completely different, because in the Gospel of the Kingdom your entrance is received by declaring bankruptcy.   It reverses the world's values because you must come to a place where you admit you haven't lived a good life, you don't deserve anything.  Why?  Because it is by grace and therefore there is nothing you can do to recommend yourself.  You come to the difficult reality that you are spiritually bankrupt and have no power or value in and of your own resources.  The world tells you to give it something valuable, or to use your influence or power or resources. 

You now take on values that are totally contrary to the world.  You lay down your power, you declare your inability and inadequacy, you realize you're essentially the walking dead and you can't do anything to fix it.  God then gives you His power, Jesus' full sufficiency, His life and it is all by His grace.  You then find yourself seeking out the people that the world shuns, spending your resources on the things the world thinks are foolish, and no matter how intelligent, financially secure, or educated you are, you realize that when you see a homeless person, you are essentially looking at yourself apart from Christ.  You are without resources and in desperate need.  The Gospel shows you that you must move away from an identity of personal power and admit your weakness.  This changes the way you view those who don't know Christ and haven't understood the Gospel.  This also changes the way we view one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.  We realize that we are all recipients of God's favor and have nothing to brag about, and it causes us to see each other as fellow recipients of God's goodness and love.  This affects relationships in a major way.  This is how Paul can say in verse 11 "there is no distinction between...." Essentially he is saying there is no difference because we were and are all dead, lost, powerless, and orphaned without the goodness of God found in His grace.  Does this mean that I'm as bad as the worst person on death row?  Perhaps worse!  The difference may only be that he was caught and you weren't, or that his sin was obvious and yours is hidden.  But through Christ, we are now new, different, changed, and our old ways are long gone. 

A view of Kingdom values, in which Christ is King, sitting upon a throne, and reigning over His Kingdom and subverting worldly values radically affects our three great idols: money, sex, and power.  Since we now are given Kingdom values, we are concerned about those things that are important to our King in His Kingdom.  We give for the advance of the Kingdom, we see sex as a blessing and seek it as would be best honoring to our King, we give up our fleshly power and seek the power of God's Spirit to be at work in and through us.  God has freed us from the bondage of financial self-worship, sexual self-worship, and position of self-worship through power.  We now take on our King's agenda and put to death our own.  We take on His priorities and put to death our own.  We are His glory and not our own, His fame and not our own, His plan for the world's future and not our own.  It is a complete reversal of thinking and being human.  This is why it is so difficult and yet so necessary to check ourselves to see if in fact we are still idol worshippers.  If we are not comfortable with God declaring that every penny we have is actually His and was given to us as a gift, if we are not comfortable with God declaring that sex is actually an expression of glory to Him, and not for our own self-worth, if we are not comfortable with God calling us to abandon our pursuit of power and trust fully in His-we are still struggling with idolatry.  The Gospel comes and replaces those idols by placing Christ in the spot they once occupied.  Christ then becomes the focal point of our values, and our life begins to look like it more each day. 

---

I want to thank Tim Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church (http://www.redeemer2.com/) for his great communication of Gospel-Centeredness.  This study was shaped in large part to a message called "What is the Gospel" taught by Tim Keller.  It is also shaped by a study Redeemer Presbyterian produced for small groups called "Gospel Christianity."  I strongly suggest that you check out their website and download and listen to or read material, which discusses the Gospel and its implications.