Alive

Good News

Do you know who the gospel is for? It’s for everyone. Sometimes, we might think that the gospel is for non-Christians, that we save the gospel for evangelism. The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Corinth.

When you read the letter, you quickly realise that the church in Corinth wasn’t a perfect church, by any stretch of the imagination. People were showing favouritism. Sexual immorality was not only accepted, it was openly admitted, even possibly applauded. There were your usual conflicts, frustrations and chaos.

So, as Paul wraps up this letter, after explaining why and how their conduct is not in keeping with their confession of faith in Christ Jesus, he comes back to the gospel. The gospel is the foundation, not only for salvation—the process of coming to trust Christ’s completed work on the cross, but also for sanctification—the living the Christian life daily.

So what is the gospel, what is our foundation upon which Paul says we’ve taken our stand? What is this gospel by which we’re saved, which we hold firmly to, otherwise our faith is in vain?

Paul explains it starting in verse three. Christ died for our sins, as foretold in the Scriptures (God’s promise to Adam and Eve, His promise to Abraham and Isaac, the promised lamb of Passover), that he was buried, raised on the third day, also as foretold in scriptures, he appeared to several people, who were witnesses.

What is the gospel? Paul explains it starting in verse three.

The good news is this: though we deserve death, Christ died in our place. The wages of sin, the cost of doing what is wrong, the cost of not living as God created us to live is death. No one, not one single natural descendant of Adam and Eve could pay for the sins of others. What we needed was for God to step in, take on humanity, take upon himself that very thing he created, in such a way that he was still fully God, but also fully human. Then he could offer himself as a payment for sin.

And that’s what Christ did. That’s what we have reflected on during our Lenten Worship Wednesdays. That’s what we remembered and believed during Good Friday and Easter. Christ died for our sins according to the plan God laid out in the Bible centuries ago.

The resurrection, Easter Sunday, is proof that Christ’s sacrifice was accepted. That his payment was made in full, that it satisfied God’s wrath against sin. That he absorbed in himself, the punishment of death, but because he himself was perfect and without sin, death could not keep him, God raised him from the dead on the third day. The proof of his resurrection is recorded for us in the gospels, the acts of the apostles and the letters of the apostles. These are eyewitness accounts that would stand up in any court of law. They are reliable and trustworthy.

The gospel is not only for salvation, it is also for living the Christian life. This is why the apostle Paul mentions it again, at the end of his letter. You see, the key to living for Jesus, the key to living as Christians ought to live, living as we were originally created, before sin, to live, to live as new creations in Christ, to live as the church of Christ in Bradford, Bond Head, in the surrounding areas, is the gospel.

God created us to live in such a way that we bear his image. That is, how we live our lives ought to demonstrate and show God’s moral character. But the struggle is that we still live in the sin-tainted world, in sin-tainted bodies. We still have natural desires that are opposite of our new natures. We struggle continually with them. Jesus experienced everything we experience, but without sin.

So, what then is the logical conclusion? The only way to live is by having Christ living in and through you. The only way is to pray, “Jesus, I depend on you. I can’t do this, you can. You did it in the past, in leading up to your death and resurrection, and you can do it now, in and through me.” And that’s what Jesus does, through the Holy Spirit within us. Jesus lives his perfect live through you through me.

The gospel, that which you have received and have taken your stand, the good news, is that Jesus lived the life you could never live, though you were commanded to live it. Jesus offered that perfect life to pay for your sins. Jesus offers to live that perfect life in and through you.

The question for you, for all of us this evening is this, “Have I accepted Jesus’ work on the cross for me? Am I allowing Jesus to live in and through me, or am I still trying to do it all by myself?”

If your living wasn’t good enough to save you, why would you think that it’s good enough to display your obedience?

Live the life Christ died for you to have. Live with Christ alive in you! From the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep, may you pray, asking Christ to live in and through you. Only Christ is faithful enough. Turn to Jesus and receive him, today, and forever more. Amen.