Discover the Gospel 5.4
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Turn to Titus 2 … Our purpose over the last several weeks has been to discover or rediscover the Gospel. I hope your prayer has been, “God, make the Gospel come alive in me.”
The idea is that if the Gospel is alive in us and real to us, then it will be real to other people. It will be more than just a theological topic that we believe, but it will be a theological truth that we live.
And by living, there will be fruit - evidence - something produced in other people.
Remember, Jesus died and rose again not only to save the world, but to change the world and He changes the world through changed people.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
So, remember,
1. The Gospel is about Incarnation.
Jesus was the representation of God in the flesh. Now, we who have the Spirit of Christ go are the representation of God to the world.
2. The Gospel is about Inclusion.
The Gospel is for everyone.
3. The Gospel is about Transformation.
Turning from a life of unrighteousness to a life of righteousness. Instead of offering our bodies to sin, we now offer our bodies to God.
4. The Gospel is about Expectation.
The desire to see and be with present Jesus. When I was on Sabbatical, I took a two-week hiking trip and I was having a great time, but I missed my wife and family so much I came home 3 days early. Similar - I’m having a good time here, but I want to see Jesus.
Real quick, Rick made a bold statement last week about the possibility of the Lord coming back in 2028. I applaud him. That took a lot of courage and we had many conversations before he spoke. Is Jesus coming back in 8-years? Who knows? So I encourage you to take the information before the Lord, “God, what do I do with this?” Personally, I’m not necessarily jumping on 2028, but I do believe there is validity to Rick’s message about urgency and nearness of His return. I think that’s the big issue - truth be told, if Rick is correct, it doesn’t mean any of us are guaranteed 8 years.
The grace of God, the Good news, the Gospel has appeared … so now in verse 14, Jesus
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
What did Jesus do? He gave himself. We often fly through this without thinking. Jesus gave Himself - He offered Himself. Let that sink in. He chose to do this. This tells me …
5. The Gospel is about Willful Sacrifice.
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Think about it - Jesus didn’t die because He finally got caught. This was intentional. It was for this very reason that He came to earth.
Jesus gave himself for whom? Us! Jesus gave himself to do what? Redeem us.
To redeem is an action of transaction - literally “to release upon receipt of a ransom.”
Someone is captive and they are held captive until the ransom is paid. Think of a human captive in a slave market. The man or woman is nothing more than a commodity to be sold to a slave owner. But when Jesus walks in He says, “Look, you’re worth something to me. I’m going to purchase your freedom. Here’s the payment - my body, my blood, my death. My life for your life.” In Luke 4, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61 - “The Spirit of Yahweh is upon me because He has sent me to set the captives free.”
What does this tell us about Jesus? That His sacrifice, though necessary for us was not necessary for Him. He did not do this for Himself - He willingly went to the Cross of Calvary; allowed Himself to suffer and die. Why? Well, what does that tell us about us - humanity?
His willingness to die for sinful people tells us that sinful people have value.
If Jesus willingly sacrificed His life to save and redeem, and if we are to be imitators of God therefore as dearly loved children, then what does this tell us about how we should live? Sacrificially.
When we think of sacrificial living, it is my guess that we typically think of situational sacrifices. That when the situation is fitting, “Ok, I’ll make a sacrifice here.” I’m not saying that’s wrong, but it’s not entirely sacrificial living in the Biblical sense.
So what is sacrificial living? Let’s be honest - following Jesus will cost us.
No disciple can follow Jesus for free. The gift of salvation is free - but following Jesus is not, it will cost.
Jesus tells us in Luke 9 that following Him will cost us our lives. But we have a problem. The problem is not necessarily being busy, or having careers, or families to take care of or problems and issues to address. The problem is putting busyness, and family, and problems and issues ahead of the Kingdom of God. It’s when we seek the Kingdom of God first ….
Many Christians live like this - “Once I get my life straightened out … once I get my finances in order … once I get this issue resolved … then I can follow Jesus with all my heart - then I can make the Kingdom a priority - then ….
Then never comes. There’s always something. Jesus always says, “Follow now! We’ll get all that other stuff straightened out as we go. Take up your cross daily - not in three months, not in three years - now.”
To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
The Gospel is about willful sacrifice - of the whole life - not just situations that fit into our schedules. Next week is the Annual Meeting. We’ll be laying out the groundwork for our mission, our vision, where I believe God is leading this church - and the call will be to seek first the Kingdom of God. And I hope everyone says yes.
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
This tells me …
6. The Gospel is about Sanctification.
Not only did Jesus save us and redeem us, but it is His intent to cleanse us from all sin, from all lawlessness. Having no boundaries, no standards is chaos. Lawlessness and chaos are destructive. Look at society.
The Gospel is about Purity. Holiness. Virtue. Morals. Ethics. Integrity. Honor. Excellence. Maturity. Decency. Modesty.
Doesn’t mean we can’t have fun and enjoy this world - we should, but
The Gospel of Christ calls us to a higher standard of living.
Think about that. What is the Gospel of Christ calling you to? It should be calling us away from sin and to a higher standard of living than the people around us? The problem is not that Christians fitting in wherever they are, but that they’re blending - dressing like, talking like, behaving like a sinful world gone astray.
Ephesians 4:17-24
says that we must no longer live like pagans who have given themselves over to sensuality, greedy practices and every kind of impurity. But that’s not how Jesus lived. Put off your old self and put on the new which is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. The Gospel is about a higher standard of living.
who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Lastly, this tells me that …
7. The Gospel is about Perspiration.
I’m going to save this one for another sermon in a few weeks, but I’ll say this - The Gospel is about doing. It’s about effort. It’s about faith and works - good work - work that is beneficial. We were created to do good works. And when we’re not doing what we were created to do it leaves us frustrated and fruitless and it’s not beneficial to the world.
If you read the rest of Titus, we are to be ready for every good work and devote our selves to good works and learn how to do good works.
So what do we do now? The Gospel is about Incarnation. Inclusion. Transformation. Expectation. Willful Sacrifice-ation. Sanctification. Perspiration. The Gospel is expansive and there’s even more here that we didn’t cover. So what do we do with all this?
You tell me.
What are you going to do with this?
What Jesus wants me to do with this might be different than what He wants you to do.
Have you received His love, His sacrifice, His forgiveness …