The Gospel of C.H.R.I.S.T.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Context
Context
Over the past couple of weeks, we have been discussing sharing our faith. We have looked at a couple of different things concerning this, including: The Great Commission, Prayer, what the Gospel is, and the importance of living out that Gospel. This week we are going to focus on sharing our faith with others.
Many times, we in the church, continually ask ourselces two questions:
Why is it so hard to lead lost people to Christ?
Why is it so hard to get those who are already in the church more involved and dedicated to the cause of Christ?
There have been many theories created to remedy both of these issues and over the years there have been many things put on a drawing board to figure out a way to solve these issues, but I have come to the conclusion that both of these questions have the very same answer: The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simply not taught in depth anymore.
The reason it is so hard to lead the lost to Christ in our generation is because they do not realize that they are lost in the first place. They do not realize that they are sinful, by nature, with sinful hearts, and that this sin, if gone unrepented of, will ultimately be the cause of their eternal separation from God. Because of this lack of understanding of being a sinner, they also do not realize that they need a savior. Because they do not realize their need for a savior, they also fail to realize who exactly this savior is and what He had to go through on their behalf. Because they do not realize what Christ has done for them, they do not understand His love for them and His desire to have a relationship with them. In other words, they simply do not understand the Gospel.
The reason it is so hard to get those within the church to be more involved and dedicated, is because they too, do not fully understand the Gospel. A preacher once upon a time preached that they were lost in their sin and that they needed a savior. The Holy Spirit convicted them of this sin and so they made the journey to an altar and repented of their sin. That is absolutely fantastic and praise God for it, but the fault lies with what happened thereafter. Though God forgave them of their sin and wiped their slate clean, noone ever took that individual under their wing and took them deeper into their understanding of who God is. They were already saved, right? What is the worst that could happen now?
These same individuals continued to come to church, and may have even possibly started attending the Sunday and Wed night services, but they, by natural circumstances, quickly devolved into the average modern-day lifeless Christian who never goes to the altar, who is never foundpraying, who is never spiritually moved by worship or the Word of God. They were left to fend for themselves and quickly became a product of their environment.
Because of this, they continue to go to church to this very day, but they rarely feel a movement of God within the depths of their souls. They have rarely, if ever, lead someone to Christ. They do not study the Word of God for themselves, and they pray just a few minutes a day, if that.
They were given a surface level understanding of the Gospel, which was enough to lead them to Christ, as it is with anyone, but they were never showed how to go deeper into their walk with God. They were told salvation comes by grace and then after being saved, they were given a list of expectations that should be met now that they are Christians. That is doing nothing more than putting them right back under the law they were just saved from. It is about building a relationship with Christ, which in turn takes us deeper into our faithful walk for Him.
Because they do not understand the fullness of the Gospel, it is very unlikely that they are going to share their faith with others, which is not only the way to lead others to Christ but also how you grow the Church. It is just as unlikely that they are going to move past the Gospel and dig deeper into God’s Word on other matters, which is exactly what takes us deeper into our relationship with Christ. They are forever stuck at square one in their spiritual journey and will never fully experience the blessings that God has for them because of it.
Content
Content
The Report of the Gospel
The Report of the Gospel
1 Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand
2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
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,
We have here a the Biblical breakdown of what the Gospel is: The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is the Gospel in a nutshell.
To start with, the term Gospel simply means “The Good News”. That’s it. That Gospel of Jesus Christ, is the Good News of Jesus Christ. What is the good news? He came, died, was buried, and rose again. That is the good news. Ok. That’s great.....but why? Why did he have to come? Why did have to die? Why all of this for me?
Those are some great questions, but to fully understand the answers, we are going to have to go deeper.
The Revelation of the Gospel
The Revelation of the Gospel
Creation
Creation
Man was created in the Image of God
27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.
Man was Created Perfect
25 Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.
Adam represented all of Mankind
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.
22 For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Hesitation
Hesitation
Man Disobeys God
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden,
17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Sin Causes Separation From God
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
1 Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear.
2 But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.
Reconciliation
Reconciliation
God’s Standard is Perfection
10 For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her
26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word.
27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.
There is always a price of Reconciliation. This is known as the atonement.
18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold,
19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb.
6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace
Imputation
Imputation
The word “Impute” means to lay to the account of someone else.
Our sin is imputed to Christ while His Righteousness is imputed to us.
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Salvation
Salvation
Salvation comes by faith in Jesus.
9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.
Transformation
Transformation
We are sanctified through an ever growing relationship with God.
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.
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
The Result of the Gospel
The Result of the Gospel
One must receive the Gospel of Christ.
One must take a stand on the Gospel.
Our eternal salvation depends on us doing there two things.
Commitment
Commitment
If you are here today and you are lost, I beg you to receive the Gospel of Christ. Let today be the day your name is burned into the Lamb’s Book of Life. Let today be the day your sins are forever forgiven. Let today be the day that your heart is made new and secure. Let today be the day that your future is secured with God Almighty. Let today be the day you gain a peace that goes beyond this world. Let today be the day that you give yourself to God for all eternity.
If you are here today and you have already received it, I beg you to take a stand on it. Plant your feet and stand firm. Make it a point to go deeper into your relationship with Jesus Christ. Let today be the day you stop living a surface level Christian lifestyle. Let today be the day you stop putting everything else in the world before Jesus. Let today be the day you make your spiritual mark within the depths of your heart. Let today be the day that changes your future.