What is the gospel?
Barry P. Boucher
Luke 10:17-20, Jesus reminds His disciples not to rejoice that spirits are subject to them but rather to
rejoice that their names are written in heaven. Is your name written in heaven?
We have to go back to the beginning of the Bible to better understand the story of God and His dealings with us.
As we open the pages of Scripture, it reveals a God who speaks and enjoys interaction with His creation and especially with the first human family - Adam & Eve.
God is more than a concept, or idea, He is a loving Person intent on relationship with us by creating for Himself a forever family.
When we look at human beings in varying stages of growth we understand the need to teach age appropriate lessons. So too in God’s dealing with humanity - we see a process of revelation.
This is the foundation for the rest of scripture.
Miss this and you will misunderstand the gospel.
Let us compare the first 5 books of the Bible to how a baby develops to maturity.
GENESIS 1:1
Genesis is conception.
We are introduced to the creation of the heavens and then the earth. Also, to the desire of God to have a people who love Him as much as He loves them.
(What we don’t see in Genesis 1:1 is a sinless Lamb slain before the foundation of the world which will allow God to forgive us our trespasses and restore us to innocence before Him - past, present, future.)
Luke 10:18 shows Jesus saying, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” That is how fast he was removed from God’s presence when he chose to rebel against God. You can see that in Isaiah 14:12.
We also are introduced to Adam and Eve and their willful disobedience to God and His command which left them spiritually bankrupt.
We also learn about judgment upon sin; what is an acceptable sacrifice; and the glow salvation brings to the life of one forgiven.
God conceives a people to whom He will reveal Himself as the God of salvation to them and through them, over time reaching out to the whole earth.
He begins small with one man - Abraham - the first Jew with a covenant promise.
The embryonic people of God are growing in his loins. Just like a child in the womb, parts of the story are added, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob (Israel), Esau, Joseph and his brothers.
Like all pregnancies, lots of details are unseen but growth continues until...
Exodus
Birth and infancy.
Gestation has lasted a long time, their numbers have grown and birth pangs are beginning. The initial contractions while in slavery have begun.
Moses is chosen by God to oversee the delivery.
The ten plagues on Egypt accompany the contractions until travail is complete. At the Red Sea the waters break and the Israelites tumble out of the womb onto dry ground as His free people.
Moses leads them as we would a child learning to walk -slowly and sometimes painfully as they stumble.
They are learning that God cares for them everyday. He is feeding them. Clothing them. Protecting them. Revealing Himself as a parent does to a child.
He leads them to Sinai to begin learning the lessons of freedom and salvation. A word here. A word there. Ten words, or commandments form their basic vocabulary.
Signposts go up - do these things, don’t do these things.
This stage is all about relationship with the Living God. They are learning what is expected of them as the people of God.
Worship is central to their life together as His people and training them to be a worshipping community is a big part of this stage of their growth.
Leviticus
Going to school.
They are no longer infants but now they are the children of God and formal training needs to take place.
They need to learn about what it means to be His people and the requirements of building a sanctuary to meet with Him, as well as learning and mastering the procedures required for worship.
This will be their basic curriculum. Their relationship to and with God.
Leviticus reveals the rituals, sacrifices, feasts, priests and the way to meet with God. Also, why they needed to understand sin, sacrifice, forgiveness and innocence ( the result of salvation) is central to their being a holy people.
Numbers
Adolescence.
These years are critical to understanding who they are as His people. They have grown physically enough to begin acting responsibly.
They’ve developed their minds to begin thinking for themselves. They are learning that they are not just extensions of their parents or mirror images of their culture. But, who are they as God’s people?
In Numbers we see lots of mistakes being made as the people of God wrestle with who they are in relationship to God and each other.
We also see rebellion, rejection of their identity and especially the path chosen by their parents. The emergence of the ‘me generation’ is seen in this stage of immaturity.
More growing lessons are needed as they wander for 40 years in the wilderness until there are signs of maturity.
Maturity requires integration, not amputation of what we have received through conception, birth, infancy and schooling.
Deuteronomy
Adulthood.
Maturity is complex.
Growing up is a long process. Growing up in God is a life long process.
From conception in Egypt, birth at the Red Sea, entering into the wilderness and being led, carried, nourished and protected under Moses, has brought them to Sinai where they are taught and trained, disciplined and blessed.
Now they are ready to live as free and obedient men and women as God leads them into the Promised Land.
They are ready for adulthood having grown both inside and out. They are ready to live as free people, formed by God to be holy and transformed.
His conditions for their maturity are in place.
The rest of the Bible shows us that there is nothing new under the sun.
Lessons are learned and sometimes forgotten or rejected. God is patient with them as He is with us.
The process of becoming a child of God is the same for every generation.
The five books of Moses end with song, blessing and an understanding of GOD’S love.
Love is the most important part of being fully human.
We can be most ourselves when we love as God loved us.
Loving maturely means we live in a fallen world understanding everyone’s need of forgiveness before a holy God.
We enter His story of salvation and freedom by becoming familiar with His signposts of learning a life of worship and service to God and to those He is seeking to reach.
The bible begins with a foundation of truth to build upon until the full revelation of what God has done for Jew and Gentile is fully understood.
What started as a promise to Abraham has been fulfilled through the blood of Jesus Christ - the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
Let’s look at how systematic God is in revealing his plans for us...
1 PETER 1:18-20
A LAMB SLAIN BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN
You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.
GENESIS 3:21
A LIFE FOR A LIFE IN BLOOD SACRIFICE
...and the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
Leaves were not acceptable to cover them because they were spiritually bankrupt and totally dependent on God’s mercy.
An animal’s blood was shed to begin mankind’s understanding of the gravity of sin, the need of a substitute ( someone takes your place) and the only means of being restored to innocence is through blood.
GENESIS 22:8
A LAMB FOR A MAN
“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering..”
When God needed to teach Abraham the lesson of sacrifice, he called him to sacrifice his only son on Mount Moriah. Isaac was Abraham’s son of promise.
A foreshadowing of Jesus - the lamb slain in our place.
EXODUS 12:3
A LAMB FOR A FAMILY
“Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household.”
Exodus 12:13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood I will pass over you...
LEVITICUS 16:34
A LAMB FOR A NATION
“And this shall be a statute forever for you, that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins.” And Moses did as the Lord commanded him.
JOHN 1:29
A LAMB FOR THE WHOLE WORLD
John the Baptist declared when Jesus approached him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
HEBREWS 9:22
NO BLOOD, NO FORGIVENESS
“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
EPHESIANS 1:3-10
REDEMPTION THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. AMEN!
REVELATION 5:9-10 WORTHY IS THE LAMB
“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
There is only ONE unpardonable sin - it is unbelief by rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation. The cross and blood of Jesus cannot forgive our rejecting the gospel.
In this message I used a pair of red mittens to illustrate that we are either covered by the blood of Jesus and therefore blameless before God, or we are still in our sins. What about you? Is your name written in heaven? Are you trusting in the blood of Jesus to cleanse your sins?
