Gospel Above All
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But I contend that what we really need isn’t anything new.
Jesus said his gospel—the events of God the Son coming to earth, living the life we were supposed to live, dying the death we were condemned to die, and rising from the dead to defeat sin and death and offer humanity a way to God through his sacrifice—contained such power that not even the gates of hell would be able to resist its advance.
Think about this: The gospel is the one thing in the New Testament, other than Jesus himself, that is referred referred to directly as the power of God.
Not contains the power of God. Not channels the power of God.
The gospel is itself the raw, unstoppable, death-defeating power of God.
The apostle Paul explains in his letter to the Romans that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who would believe
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.
). When dynamite was invented in the eighteenth century, its name was derived from the Greek word Paul uses in for power—dunamis. Now, Paul, of course, didn’t know anything about dynamite, but I think it’s still a good image to use when thinking of the gospel. The gospel is God’s power to create, to redeem, to heal, to bring back from the dead. It doesn’t offer insights on a new or superior technique. It is raw, explosive power. My dad told me that when he was a boy, one of the worst whoopins he got was when he broke into his dad’s company’s shed and “borrowed” some dynamite. He wanted to go fishing. (I know that raises a lot of questions. Suffice it to A stick of dynamite doesn’t give you instructions on new ways to fish or tell you the best places to cast your line; it is the power that does all the work. In a similar way, the gospel doesn’t give you instructions on how to change: it is itself the power to change. This is the power the church needs. And the most important question before us is this: How can we get the gospel back into the right place in the church? The gospel is more important than our programs.
When dynamite was invented in the eighteenth century, its name was derived from the Greek word Paul uses in for power—dunamis.
Now, Paul, of course, didn’t know anything about dynamite, but I think it’s still a good image to use when thinking of the gospel.
The gospel is God’s power to create, to redeem, to heal, to bring back from the dead. It doesn’t offer insights on a new or superior technique. It is raw, explosive power.
The story about the guy that went fishing and handed the dynamite stick to the game warden.
A stick of dynamite doesn’t give you instructions on new ways to fish or tell you the best places to cast your line; it is the power that does all the work.
In a similar way, the gospel doesn’t give you instructions on how to change: it is itself the power to change. This is the power the church needs. And the most important question before us is this: How can we get the gospel back into the right place in the church? The gospel is more important than our programs. The gospel is more important than our preferences. The gospel is more important than our priorities. The gospel is more important than our politics. The gospel is more important than _____ . It doesn’t matter how you fill the blank; the gospel is always and will always be most important!
The gospel is more important than our preferences. The gospel is more important than our priorities. The gospel is more important than our politics. The gospel is more important than _____ . It doesn’t matter how you fill the blank; the gospel is always and will always be most important! My guess is, if you picked up this book, you believe the gospel. You believe that God is holy and glorious and worthy and that you’re sinful. You believe in what Jesus has done for you. But like many believers, when it comes to the pursuit of abundant life, you believe in other things as well. The gospel is one alternative among many. Here’s the reality: if the gospel is not above all, it loses its power to change us, our families, our neighborhoods, our places of work, and our world. In fact, if the gospel is not above all else, it’s not even the gospel anymore.
We live in a a world with plenty of choices. The gospel is one alternative among many.
The gospel is one alternative among many. Here’s the reality: if the gospel is not above all, it loses its power to change us, our families, our neighborhoods, our places of work, and our world. In fact, if the gospel is not above all else, it’s not even the gospel anymore.
Here’s the reality: if the gospel is not above all, it loses its power to change us, our families, our neighborhoods, our places of work, and our world. In fact, if the gospel is not above all else, it’s not even the gospel anymore.
We need the power of the gospel—the raw power of God—to bring transformation to every area of our lives. And then to our communities and our churches.
The only way to save the future is by going back to the very beginning.
Martin Luther famously said that to progress in the Christian life is always to begin again.
If we truly want to progress in our mission, we need to begin again with the gospel. We need to go back to the start. Back to where we first saw the glory of God’s grace and mercy and love.
Back to where Jesus humbled us, saved us, and gave us new life.
Power is not found in the brilliance of a new strategy but in the emptiness of an ancient tomb.
What Is the Gospel?
What Is the Gospel?
The word has been used so commonly for so long that it’s become all but stripped of its meaning. There’s gospel-centered preaching, gospel-centered kids Sunday school, gospel-centered worship.
Share with my dad and his initial response was: Isn’t the gospel like Music?
But “the gospel” has become shorthand for whatever is important to us in Christianity at the moment. It’s also become a label we slap on things to assure newcomers that our church is hip, up-to-date, and theologically certified.
But is that all the gospel has become? A label?
What does it mean for the gospel to function as the power of God in our churches?
If the gospel is truly God’s raw power, we had better have it in the right place. After Paul declares to the Romans that the gospel message is the power of God, he spends ten chapters explaining how the gospel works.
We might summarize Paul’s chapters by saying the gospel is the good news that:
We were dead in our trespasses and sin.
Religion couldn’t help us.
New resolutions to change couldn’t help us.
Jesus, the baby born of a virgin in Bethlehem, was the Son of God. He did what we couldn’t do.
He lived a righteous life that pleased God.
Still he got crucified on a cross under the curse of sin. He did that for us. He died in our place.
But Jesus was raised from the grave to offer new life in his Spirit.
Jesus gives this new life to all who call upon him in faith.
The beauty of the gospel is that those who trust in Jesus need never again fear alienation from God.
In Christ you are secure. In Christ you are loved. In Christ you are whole. In Christ you are pure.
In Christ you are pure. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (). And now Christ has redeemed us to a life of a love and service where we can reflect to others what he has done in us. Simply believing this, Paul says, releases into us the power of God to make it so. Renewing our minds in this message, he tells the Romans, transforms ordinary, sinful people into the kinds of people who accomplish the very will of God (). In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul says the gospel’s inherent power means there’s nothing more important to talk about to the church than it. It is, literally, “in the first place.” It is primary (). Paul even goes as far to say there is nothing else he really cares about the people in his churches knowing. Christ and Christ crucified is enough ().
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,
). And now Christ has redeemed us to a life of a love and service where we can reflect to others what he has done in us. Simply believing this, Paul says, releases into us the power of God to make it so. Renewing our minds in this message, he tells the Romans, transforms ordinary, sinful people into the kinds of people who accomplish the very will of God (). In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul says the gospel’s inherent power means there’s nothing more important to talk about to the church than it. It is, literally, “in the first place.” It is primary (). Paul even goes as far to say there is nothing else he really cares about the people in his churches knowing. Christ and Christ crucified is enough ().
In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul says the gospel’s inherent power means there’s nothing more important to talk about to the church than it. It is, literally, “in the first place.” It is primary
1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
). In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul says the gospel’s inherent power means there’s nothing more important to talk about to the church than it. It is, literally, “in the first place.” It is primary (). Paul even goes as far to say there is nothing else he really cares about the people in his churches knowing. Christ and Christ crucified is enough ().
). Paul even goes as far to say there is nothing else he really cares about the people in his churches knowing. Christ and Christ crucified is enough ().
). In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul says the gospel’s inherent power means there’s nothing more important to talk about to the church than it. It is, literally, “in the first place.” It is primary (). Paul even goes as far to say there is nothing else he really cares about the people in his churches knowing. Christ and Christ crucified is enough ().
Paul even goes as far to say there is nothing else he really cares about the people in his churches knowing. Christ and Christ crucified is enough
2 I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
).
Believing the gospel is not only how you get released from the penalty of sin, it’s how you get released from the power of sin, also.
Believing the gospel is not only how you get released from the penalty of sin, it’s how you get released from the power of sin, also. Because of the unparalleled power of the gospel, it is not something the biblical writers expect us to learn on the Romans Road and then leave behind. It contains everything necessary for success in the Christian life. It’s not just the 101 class of a four-year Christianity major. Not just the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity. Not just the milk that nourishes us until we are mature enough for meat. The gospel is the meat. And the dessert too, for that matter. More than just the 101 introductory class to Christianity, it’s the entire campus at which classes are held. More than just the diving board, it’s the whole pool. The way you grow in Christ is the way you began in Christ: faith in the finished work and the empty tomb. To progress is always to begin again.
Because of the unparalleled power of the gospel, it is not something the biblical writers expect us to learn on the Romans Road and then leave behind. It contains everything necessary for success in the Christian life. It’s not just the 101 class of a four-year Christianity major. Not just the diving board off of which we jump into the pool of Christianity. Not just the milk that nourishes us until we are mature enough for meat. The gospel is the meat. And the dessert too, for that matter. More than just the 101 introductory class to Christianity, it’s the entire campus at which classes are held. More than just the diving board, it’s the whole pool.
More than just the 101 introductory class to Christianity, it’s the entire campus at which classes are held. More than just the diving board, it’s the whole pool.
The way you grow in Christ is the way you began in Christ: faith in the finished work and the empty tomb. To progress is always to begin again.