Bring a Friend Home
Notes
Transcript
For the last few weeks, we have been in this teaching series called “You Belong: The Great Invitation of the Gospel.” First, we looked at the story of the prodigal son and how God forgives us and welcomes us home when we come to the end of ourselves and turn back to him. In the second week, we looked at the elder brother in that same parable and how sometimes we run away from God, even though we are still doing all the Christian things, and how God our Father comes out to us and invites into the celebration of salvation.
Last week, we looked at the story of the thief on the cross and how Jesus welcomes outliers into the kingdom of God - people that don’t really fit in.
What all all of these stories have in common is that they are invitations to believe the gospel and put our faith in Jesus.
But I wonder if we really understand what the gospel is?
We use the word “gospel” to mean truth. - “it’s a gospel fact.”
Some Christian organizations use it in their name creating an association that can colour our understanding.
We use the word as titles for some books of the Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, The Gospel of Mark, and so on.
We even use it to define a specific genre of music - a genre that slaps as the kids say today.
But what is the gospel? The gospel is the redemptive narrative of how the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus impacts those who believe.
The word “gospel” simply means “good news” and it was often used in the Old Testament to refer to the news that a military victory has been won. The New Testament continues that idea that the gospel is good news - in particular, as victory over sin and death which was won by Jesus through his resurrection. The apostle Paul, writing about the resurrection says,
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
To proclaim the gospel is to proclaim the good news that Jesus has won!
But why are we talking about this today?Why is it important that we understand the gospel? Not to be too dramatic, but it’s because lives are on the line. Without Christ, people are without hope. This life will the best they will get. We believe Jesus when he says,
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
and we believe Paul when he says,
Romans 6:23 (NLT)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are called to be Christ’s ambassadors here on Earth - we are called to proclaim the gospel to the world so that they can be rescued from spiritual death and become fully alive in Christ. But how can we proclaim it to others, if we don’t know what it is or how to articulate it?
For those who haven’t heard my story, I didn’t grow up in the church. I didn’t start coming until I was a young adult. I spent a year and a half going to youth group every Friday, and going to church every week, sometimes twice and I can’t recall anyone ever simply telling me what the gospel is and inviting me to believe it. And while God worked in me to receive him anyways, it saddens me to think that there might be people who miss out on the good news simply because we don’t share it.
Inviting people to follow Jesus is the most loving thing we can ever do because in Jesus there is abundant spiritual life but apart from Jesus is spiritual death. So why don’t we share the gospel more, if so much is riding on it?
In North America, I think we have two problems: first, we don’t share the gospel because we don’t really know it. We spend a lot of time inspiring each other to grow in our relationship with Jesus - which is a good thing - but we aren’t always great at equipping people to share their faith with others. A lack of equipping leads to a lack of confidence. Second, many of us are afraid to share the gospel.
We are afraid of being associated with the angry person on the street corner yelling at people to repent. We are afraid we don’t have the answers to people’s objections or questions. We are afraid that we will be rejected by people we love if we do try to share it. We are afraid of being associated with those people who passionately embrace telling others about Jesus, but have zero concept of appropriate time, place and situation.
Our fear often overrides our faith. But, beloved, this should not be. Let us be a people who love God so much we live by faith, not fear, and who love others so much that we share the good news with them.
So, today, using Ephesians 2 which Margaret read for us earlier, I want to outline the gospel like a book that has four chapters and my hope is that you will memorize the title of each chapter so that you can be confident as you proclaim the good news to the people in your life.
Chapter 1 - Dead in our sin
Chapter 1 - Dead in our sin
Before we can get to the solution, we need to identify the problem.
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.
Obviously, Paul is talking about how before we were saved by Jesus, we were spiritually dead. What he means is that we were detached from a functional relationship with God.
We were like the prodigal son, who had spat in the face of his father when he demanded his inheritance and then wasted it on wild living. The father says of that son that he was dead, but now he is alive. That’s us before we put our faith in Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit
What’s life like when we are spiritually dead? Paul gives us three descriptions:
1. We disobey God
1. We disobey God
God says worship him alone - we worship everything else from our families, to material goods, to carved idols. We even worship ourselves.
God says love one another as Christ loved the church - in other words, sacrificially. But we love selfishly - we need to get something from others in order to love.
God says forgive one another and we hold grudges.
God says take a day off to rest and we work through it because nothing is more important than work.
We constantly disobey God as a people.
2. We obey the Devil
2. We obey the Devil
When we live self-centeredly, when we worship false idols and we reject the love and salvation of God, we are obeying the devil. The apostle John puts it like this:
8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
3. We are subject to God’s anger
3. We are subject to God’s anger
God’s anger is his emotional response to our sins against him. That anger manifests in giving us what we are asking for: a life apart from him.
3 For only we who believe can enter his rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’ ” even though this rest has been ready since he made the world.
God’s anger - his righteous indignation at our sins - sits upon each of us until we choose to accept his free gift of mercy. This leads us to…
Chapter 2 - Loved by God
Chapter 2 - Loved by God
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
Now, it’s one thing to believe that there may be a god - even a God who created everything. It’s another to believe that God loves each of us personally.
Many people look at the problems in our world today and at their own traumas and pain and struggle to believe that God actually loves us. So how is his love manifested?
There are a myriad of ways that God reveals his love for us. From bringing certain people into our lives that bring us hope and light, to providing for our needs, to allowing us to dwell in his creation and enjoy it. God’s love knows no bounds. But the primary way that God has shown us his love is through his mercy.
God’s mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or deprive the sun of his light, or make space too narrow, than diminish the great mercy of God. - Charles Spurgeon
Even though we were dead in our sins - in living for ourselves alone - Even though we deserved this spiritual death we were in, God looked upon us with love, not condemnation, and he showed us mercy when sent Jesus to give his life as a ransom for us.
So many people look at the horrible circumstances of the world - most of which are our fault as humans because we don’t obey God and live the way he tells us to - and they believe that if there is a God, he must be cruel or uncaring. But that’s not who God is.
15 But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, because of God’s mercy, those who put their faith in Jesus are resurrected to spiritual life, Paul says.
Chapter one of our gospel book says that we were dead in our sins. Chapter two says we are loved by God and shown mercy. Now we move on to chapter three:
Chapter 3 -Saved by Grace
Chapter 3 -Saved by Grace
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Mercy is God withholding the punishment that we are due. Grace is God giving us a gift we didn’t earn.
A lot of people relate to God like he’s an accountant - that if they do enough good things to outweigh the bad things, then they get to go to heaven. But that’s not how God relates to us. God sees us, sins, flaws, mistakes and all, and he still chooses to give us the free gift of salvation.
What good news! Can you imagine living without the assurance of God’s grace - unsure of whether you were good enough to earn God’s acceptance or bad enough to be turned away by him? What a horrible way to live! But we are of those blessed enough to know Jesus as our saviour and Lord and by our faith in him, not by any good works we do or by any sins that we commit, we experience peace in the present, knowing our future is secure by Jesus’ work in the past.
We are saved by grace.
Chapter 4 - Given a New Purpose
Chapter 4 - Given a New Purpose
Now, before you say anything, I need to clear up something: for years, when I have read this passage, or heard someone talking about the free gift of grace, I pictured a box with wrapping paper and a bow, like a Christmas present - but I think that’s a misleading picture. It relates salvation to a treat to be enjoyed.
I’ve realized, even as I was writing this sermon, that the gift is more like getting a citizenship card and passport to the kingdom of God. Salvation isn’t a toy to play with, it’s a privilege that comes with responsibilities. Although I couldn’t earn my citizenship by being good, I couldn’t buy it with money and I didn’t deserve it and getting it didn’t cost me anything, now that I have it, I have the responsibility obey my new king and live out the values of his kingdom.
That’s why Paul says,
10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
God’s masterpiece is us, redeemed by his grace. A couple of verses earlier Paul wrote about our redemption from God’s perspective.
7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
We are the masterpiece that God has painted with His glorious grace. His grace recreates us - transforming us from being dead in our sins to alive in Christ.
And when we are alive in Christ, we are given a new purpose - a new mission. Paul writes,
20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
As citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we now represent our King in this world. God has prepared works for us to do as His ambassadors -
Works like empowering justice for the poor and oppressed
Works like teaching the principles of our King and his kingdom to the next generation.
Works like leading people closer to Jesus through worship and teaching.
Works like loving both your neighbour and your enemies.
God has placed you in a very specific place - your workplace, your neighbourhood, your family, your team - all of it ordained and organized by God so you can be His ambassador where you are.
God not only rescues us from the power and the penalty of sin, he transforms our hearts by his grace and he gives us a new purpose in life.
Conclusion
“The Gospel shows people their wounds and bestows on them love. It shows them their bondage and supplies the hammer to knock away their chains. It shows them their nakedness and provides them the garments of purity. It shows them their poverty and pours into their lives the wealth of heaven. It shows them their sins and points them to the Savior.” ― Billy Graham
The gospel is good news. It’s the good news that you no longer have to live under the tyranny of sin and death but that through Christ you can be free.
The gift of God’s grace - your citizenship in the kingdom is yours, if you would just accept it.
And I realize that for most of you listening, I am preaching to the choir. You already accepted that gift. But my hope for you is that you will memorize the four chapters of our gospel book -
We are dead in our sins
We are loved by God
We are saved by grace
and we are given a new purpose
and share them with the the people in your life who need some good news.
Let’s pray.