The Gospel of the Living God
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Summary of Points
Summary of Points
What is the Gospel? The english word Gospel comes from the Greek Word “Euangelion” (yoo-an-ghel’-ee-on) as seen in the greek manuscripts that we have of the new testament writings, which our bible consists of. This foundational teaching of the Word of God is center to what it means to be “Christian” or “A disciple of Christ”.
So Gospel means, “Good News”, but what is the good news? To address the Good News, we need to lay some ground work.
Who is God?
Who is God?
This is quite a large area to explore as you can imagine, we do have a vast field of study known as “Theology” or the “Study of God” that spans over thousands of years of our history.
I have decided it best to quote a lengthy, but sufficient summary of the nature and Character of God for the purposes of our discussion today, without skipping over important details or on the opposite end of the spectrum, spending so much time as to not get to the point of our lesson today.
Here is what the Westminster Confession of Faith’s admission of God and the Holy Trinity are:
I. There is but one only living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty.
II. God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them: he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom, are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth. In his sight all things are open and manifest; his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent, or uncertain. He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands. To him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, he is pleased to require of them.
III. In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.
Hopefully this is a clear statement and though there are some technical wordage here, so questions may be raised, I want the focus to be on God’s infinitude in his perfection, purity, righteousness, justice, love, mercy, graciousness, glory and his hate for sin and the condemnation of sin.
Who is man?
Who is man?
Man on the other hand is a creature, made in the image of God (in the likeness of God), Male and Female, with the ultimate purpose of glorifying God and enjoying him forever, through communion and praise of God through and by all things that we do in accordance with his Word
Man was made with a will to make decisions, of which Adam and Eve, the first humans created by God, enjoyed. However This freedom of the will was not to last.
The Fall
The Fall
Adam, and later Eve, were created and placed in the Garden of Eden(Gen. 2:7-8; 22), a paradise given over to Adam and Eve to rule over, to cultivate the land and multiply humanity(Gen. 2:15), all while enjoying communion with God. Man was given the command to keep the garden, but also to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil(Gen. 2:15-17). This blessedness of God to be in communion with mankind is called the covenant of works, in which the blessing of eternal life and communion with God is contingent on the obedience of its participants.
However in Genesis 3 we see Satan, the enemy of God, come in the form of a serpent to deceive Eve(Gen. 3:1-2; 13). We know that the serpent is Satan by knowledge of the Apostle Paul (2 Co. 11:3) and of the Apostle John (Rev. 12:9; 20:2).
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Eve is the target of Satan’s deception as he cleverly misquotes the commandment of God to direct the conversation and plants in Eve’s mind mistrust of God’s good character, by giving her a half truth(Gen. 3:2; 4-5).
For it was true that the knowledge of moral good and evil would be reveled to them(Gen. 3:7), however spiritual death would occur immediately and physical death was to follow (Gen. 3:19).
God cursed the Serpent, woman, man, and creation due to the first sin of humanity (Gen. 3:13-19), which was the eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This is a violation of the covenant of works.
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
I want to demonstrate two points.
First, all of the world and it’s creatures are subjected to the curse by God as a consequence of sin.
Second, we get the first and most basic look at the gospel in V.15 know as the proto-evangelium, “proto” meaning “first and “evangelium” meaning “Good News” - This is the latin translation of the greek word “Euangelion”.
This first telling of the gospel is basic, but it shows the triumph of the seed of the Eve over the dragon, the Devil. This seed would succeed where Adam failed to protect his wife and lead spiritually. Adam did not resist nor slay the serpent and thus humanity needs a savior, one who can put death to the dragon, and sin, and overcome death.
God’s Righteous Standard And Sin
God’s Righteous Standard And Sin
How does the fall effect us? What is sin exactly?
First we will tackle sin - Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God (1 John 3:4)
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
What does “want of conformity unto the law of God” mean?
Well there are two types of sins: sins of omission, such as not doing a commandment given, for example Adam was commanded to exercise dominion over the garden of Eden and if he failed to do so he would have sinned by omission, or sinned by not doing what is required.
The second type of sin is called sins of commission, such as when Adam and Eve were commanded to not eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. This is a sin of when we do things God forbids us to, this is what it means to transgress against the law of God.
Whats the big deal about disobeying God? God is a Holy God, that is that He is set apart by His otherness/transcended being (though we relate to Him in bearing His image) , He is fully righteous, just, and pure. So when God gives His law, which is His standard of righteousness, and we fall short of adhering to His law, we have then commited an evil act, a morally wrong action and those who commit those actions must face punishment.
God being a fully just God must judge and punish evil.
So Adam, Eve, Satan, and creation were cursed as a result of sin and we humanity as a whole is effected to our very nature.
When Adam fell in sin, sin entered to the rest of humanity that would come to be.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 and in the first half of v.18 “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men..” that Adam acted as a representative head of humanity and failed in his test against the serpent and fell to sin. Thus sin was imputed (to apply to one’s account) to his descendents, this is to say that humanity’s nature had fallen into a state of sin.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
While man’s free will remains in tact, our moral liberty was restrained by the fall and thus we by nature are enslaved to our sin nature.
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Paul is citing a number of passages through out scripture that demonstrate our fallen nature and a very clear statement in Rom. 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.
19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
Man’s will is to choose what he most desires and what fallen humanity desires is sinful and antithetical to God’s righteous law. Man establishes his will by doing what he desires, though his moral liberty is bound by his nature.
Hopelessness
Hopelessness
God will judge the unrighteous and we all are unrighteous. If this is where the story ended, we would be without hope for Rom. 1:18, Eph. 5:6, Rev. 20:11-15
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The Good News
The Good News
However there is good news and this gospel is throughout the vastness of the holy scriptures
The Good New of the gospel is often spoken of in two ways, first it is often referring to the historical fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies and promises, of which Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled. Second it often refers to the proclamation of that message within the New Testament, that is by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are his people made able to have salvation by faith in Christ and our enemy, death is put under the rule of Christ.
The Gospel is the central message of the Covenant of Grace, which is the promise God made with His people (present and future) of which He freely offers life and salvation to sinners by the works of Christ; requiring faith in us that we may then be saved from the righteous wrath of God upon sinners and of our own sinful nature, gifting us the Holy Spirit to give us life and empower us to walk in the ways of Christ.
The covenant of grace is in contrast to the covenant of works made with Adam and Eve in Gen.2:15-17
The covenant of grace was made after the fall in the proto-evangelium (Gen. 3:15), and immediately after pronouncing the curse of the fall and the covenant of grace, the gospel, God in v. 21 slaughters an animal as a sacrifice to cover the shame of Adam and Eve in their nakedness, pointing to God promised providence in providing the Christ, who would die for the sins of his people and by his blood cover the sins of his people.
21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
A resurrected Jesus appears to a man named Cleopas on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24.
What he does is call out their foolishness in their slowness to believe in all that the prophets spoke about Him in the OT (Luke 24:25-27)
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
So where else to we see this covenant of grace and the prophecies concerning Christ? We can not go through all of them, but we can see in Gen. 12.7 and Genesis 15:1-11, a covenant made with Abram, who later was called Abraham. 12:7 refers to the promise land in which the offspring of Abraham would dwell and Chapter 15 referring to the heir was his son Isaac, who would continue the line in which the promised Christ would come from, but also In 2 Sam. 7:12 we see King David, a descendant of Abraham also in covenant with God in which the promised Christ would come to establish his rule, this rule would be over all creation and death, a return to the garden state.
We also see highly detailed prophecies such as in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 in which was written 700 years prior to the coming of Jesus Christ
13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. 14 As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— 15 so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. 1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
There are over 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in his earthly ministry that confirms His Christ-ship and that throughout the OT scripture speak on His coming and work.
The Law and Grace
The Law and Grace
The Law of God was formally given to the Jewish people, the offspring of Abraham, in Exodus 19-20 on Mount Sinai in the Sinai wilderness.
This was given to the Jewish people at that time for a number of reasons:
1st, It was God’s holy standard that would set the Jews apart from other nations as God’s holy people.
2nd The law restrains evil with threat of judgement by God and by the sword of the government.
3rd It serves as a mirror for the individual to test their own righteousness against, with the conclusion being, as Paul as said in Rom. 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The Law then demonstrates man’s inability to fulfill the covenant of works that was made with Adam and Eve, but also that points us to the need of a foreign righteousness, that of which only God has.
So God the Father sent His only begotten son, Jesus, who is also God, who humbled Himself in the likeness of flesh and submitted Himself to the same law to do what we could not do for ourselves. The Apostle John says in the Gospel of John (John 1:1-18).
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
Jesus coming in the form of man is 100 percent God and 100 percent man, having both a Godly will and a human will in which submits to the Godly will. Being born of an untainted nature, Christ did what Adam could not do, by fulfilling the covenant of works that we could not do ourselves.
The Westminster Larger Catechism answers 4 questions on Jesus’ Godhood, manhood, and the necessity of being both in one person and how He, as God, became incarnate as man:
37. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
Christ the Son of God became man, by taking to Himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance, and born of her, yet without sin.
John 1:14; Matt. 26:38; Luke 1:27, 31, 35, 42; Gal. 4:4; Heb. 4:15; Heb. 7:26.
38. Why was it requisite that the mediator should be God?
It was requisite that the mediator should be God, that He might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God, and the power of death; give worth and efficacy to His sufferings, obedience and intercession; and to satisfy God’s justice, procure His favor, purchase a peculiar people, give His Spirit to them, conquer all their enemies, and bring them to everlasting salvation.
Acts 2:24-25; Rom. 1:4; Rom. 4:25; Heb. 9:14; Acts 20:28; Heb. 9:14; Heb. 7:25-28; Rom. 3:24-26; Eph. 1:6; Matt. 3:17; Titus 2:13-14; Gal. 4:6; Luke 1:68-69, 71, 74; Heb. 5:8-9; Heb. 9:11-15.
39. Why was it requisite that the mediator should be man?
It was requisite that the mediator should be man, that He might advance our nature, perform obedience to the law, suffer and make intercession for us in our nature, have a fellow-feeling of our infirmities; that we might receive the adoption of sons, and have comfort and access with boldness unto the throne of grace.
Heb. 2:16; Gal. 4:4; Heb. 2:14; Heb. 7:24-25; Heb. 4:15; Gal. 4:5; Heb. 4:16.
40. Why was it requisite that the mediator should be God and man in one person?
It was requisite that the mediator, who was to reconcile God and man, should Himself be both God and man, and this in one person, that the proper works of each nature might be accepted of God for us, and relied on by us, as the works of the whole person.
Matt. 1:21, 23; Matt. 3:17; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 2:6.
Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law and the prophets in it’s totality as we can see in Jesus states in Matt. 5:17.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Christ obeyed the moral law perfectly, thus fulfilling it and meeting the requirement of a sacrifice without blemish, Christ embodied all that the types and symbols pointed to in the ceremonial law (becoming an atone for our sins by His sacrifice on the cross), and the judicial law by personifying God’s perfect justice.
Paul tells us in Gal. 4:4-7
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
We see that at the right time in history God sent the second person of the Godhead, Christ the Son, who is God, but also born of woman, so He is also man, submitting himself under the law, to pay for the sins of those under the law, so that His elect can receive the adoption preordained for them from the beginning of creation (Eph. 1:4-8) and freed from our bondage under the law and sin to inherit eternal life with Christ who was raised from the dead.
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
This life that we receive is first, spiritual life(Eph.2:1-10), that is we have regained moral liberty to choose righteousness by the power of God, The Holy Spirit to do good works in obedience to Christ (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 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. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Our nature is fundamentally changed, we are a new creation in Christ Jesus(2 Cor. 5:17), no long slaves to our former master of sin, but slaves to righteousness and it’s end is eternal life in Christ (Rom. 6:22-23). We are saved from our sin nature.
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
However is also the hope of a bodily resurrection in which we will commune with God in eternal joy and work. All people will be resurrected on the day of judgement of Christ’s second coming, those outside of Christ will be subject to judgement based on their works and those in Christ will be covered in His righteousness to enjoy eternal life in communion with God (Dan. 12:2, John 5:28-29).
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
Note Jesus is speaking on evidence of faith - that being the good works of a new creation in Christ and evil works being those who reject the son of God
So Jesus saves us from our sin, by the process of sanctification - to make holy, or to grow in personal holiness - and He saves us from the wrath of God in the final Judgement by justification - to be justified is to be in right standing with God - But how do we receive these benefits?
If you recall that Adam was our representative and failed in fulfilling the covenant of works, but Christ came as the representative of the elect, that by faith his righteousness would be imputed onto us, but also our sin would be imputed onto him - that is put on our account. (2 Cor. 5:21, Isaiah 53:7,11)
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
You see God is a just God and sin must be paid for, so Christ did that for us by coming in the form of man and humbling himself under the law to fulfill the law so that by faith we could be made justified.
This concept isn’t new as we see it in Gen.15:6 where the trusting in God, not merely believing in his existence, is the basis for the covenant of grace. We trust that God actually fulfilled the prophecies and did the work that we could not do and that in conjunction with the works of Christ saves us.
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
In him we have the assurance of salvation in faith and by the Holy Spirit we persevere to the end
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 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, 39 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.
God’s gracious providence over the one’s He’s called gives us full assurance that the work He started in us will be brought to completion(Phil. 1:6), that is we will be glorified in the resurrection.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
The last major point I want to leave us with is that Christ rules as King, putting all enemies under His feet.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Christ was the first to rise in a glorified, undying body.
Death came by Adam, but life comes through Christ Jesus.
Christ has been raised as the first fruits of the harvest, then in his second coming all who belong to Christ will be raised, alongside the unbelievers, in which death will be destroyed and He will continue to rule under God the Father.
I will leave us with this last quote by R.C. Sproul
“The gospel is called the 'good news' because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I'm not. And at the end of my life, I'm going to stand before a just and holy God, and I'll be judged. And I'll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness–or lack of it–or the righteousness of another. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn't possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.” - R.C. Sproul