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Big Idea of the Series: This ten-week series traces the story of the gospel from Genesis to Revelation. God’s plan of redeeming a fallen creation is woven throughout Scripture.

Big Idea of the Message: The gospel is the good news of redemption found in the life and work of Jesus for all of God’s creation.

Good News

Who likes to hear good news;

Who likes to share good news;

But do we limit what good news we share;

Here in v. 1-2 Paul starts with a reminder of the “good news” (the gospel) that he had shared with the church of Corinth;

But why would he have to remind them of the gospel - it was actually more of a rebuking (chastising) because some of them had become overly confident in their knowledge and spirituality;

Through out chapter 15 Paul is focusing on the resurrection of Christ and how this effects the believer - then and now;

He wants them to remember the effect of the gospel on their lives - because sadly people can forget;

1 Corinthians 1. The Centrality of the Resurrection to the Gospel (15:1–11)

Paul’s description of the gospel consists of four verbs: two aorists (I preached, you believed), one perfect (in which you stand), and one present (through which you are being saved).

The gospel is more than a hear and done component of life - it is life changing as can be seen in Paul’s life;

But what does the word “gospel” mean;

Concise Oxford English Dictionary Gospel

■ noun

1 the teaching or revelation of Christ.

2 (Gospel) the record of Christ’s life and teaching in the first four books of the New Testament.

▶ each of these books.

3 (also gospel truth) something absolutely true.

4 (also gospel music) a fervent style of black American evangelical religious singing.

—DERIVATIVES gospelize (or gospelise) verb

—ORIGIN Old English gōdspel, from gōd ‘good’ + spel ‘news, a story’, translating ecclesiastical Latin bona annuntiatio or bonus nuntius, used to gloss ecclesiastical Latin evangelium, from Greek euangelion ‘good news’.

The gospel is something wrapped in the absolute truth of Jesus Christ;

N. T. Wright clarified gospel, stating, “Since for Jesus and Paul the announcement of God’s inbreaking kingdom was both the fulfilment of prophecy and a challenge to the world’s present rulers, ‘gospel’ became an important shorthand for both the message of Jesus himself, and the apostolic message about him. Paul saw this message as itself the vehicle of God’s saving power” (Tom Wright, Hebrews for Everyone [Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003], 185–86).

Paul is attempting them to get the church of Corinth remember what they had been told about Jesus Christ;

Do you remember what you where told about Jesus?

Redemption

God’s good created world and the people in it rebelled and brought sin into the world, and God has been working to redeem that world through his Son, Jesus. The redemption found in the gospel is a process woven throughout the Bible. (Ministry Pass - The Big Picture sermon series)

From the very beginning God has desired redemption;

But what does this mean;

Easton’s Bible Dictionary Redemption

the purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom.

God knew that a price had to be paid for redemption to be possible - the price was Jesus’ life;

Paul is going back to the key of the gospel which was, and is still, the death and resurrection of Christ because without this component Christianity falls;

Paul also wanted them to know that he did not start the gospel, it has been present throughout the Scripture;

Who is the most important character in Star Wars? The story of Star Wars centers around Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader). The story is about the rise, fall, and redemption of Anakin, from his introduction as the young boy in The Phantom Menace(1999), to his turn to the dark side in Revenge of the Sith (2005), to his eventual redemption, sacrificing himself for his son Luke in Return of the Jedi (1983). (Ministry Pass - The Big Picture sermon series)

Redemption always follows a fall, they cannot be flipped and redemption always costs something;

Stories are powerful in describing a person’s redemption; we get to see where they started off, how they fell, and how they were brought back to some form of hope. The Bible gives us the story of the gospel by showing us creation, fall, redemption, and the hope for the future. (Ministry Pass - The Big Picture sermon series)

Where did you come from in your walk with Christ from where were you redeemed?

Application Point: We must be people who live a life shaped by the gospel.