A brother recently tweeted:
“For every use of ‘gospel’ as adjective I want 3 explanations of the noun & if u bang on abt gospel-centred by golly u’d better centre on it”
Harsh but fair. Let’s give another explanation then….
- The gospel is not a system – I repent / believe /give / surrender and I get heaven / blessings / breakthrough / peace.
- The gospel is not Jesus as a means to an end – a solution to my problems – even the problem of my struggles with sin (a sort of ‘holy pragmatism’).
- The gospel is Jesus himself.
10 times in the New Testament the gospel is called the ‘gospel of Christ’. It’s not just that Jesus is the author and speaker and possessor of the gospel – it’s more that Jesus is the content and the substance of the gospel.
“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” (Acts 8:35)
500 years ago Luther rediscovered this Jesus gospel. Surprisingly, perhaps, he saw it clearest in the Song of Songs.
“My beloved is mine, and I am his” (SoS 2:16)
The gospel is having Christ and being his. It is a marriage, a union, which even death cannot break. In this marriage the husband says of his wife’s sin, “That is mine”, and the wife says of the husband’s righteousness, “That is mine”. In this marriage we are given a completely new identity and status. But best of all we have him – the infinitely beautiful, gracious, glorious Christ.
Jesus is not just a cog in a salvation machine. He is our foundation, our cornerstone, our portion, our life, our hope, our desire, our joy, our bridegroom.
There are loads of implications from this but here are three to start us thinking:
- Both relationship and justification. I’ve struggled with this personally. Some brothers seem to be the ‘relationship guys’. “It’s all about a relationship with Jesus.” They’re passionate about Jesus but it’s all a bit fluffy and it doesn’t seem to have a lot to do with the Cross and justification by faith. Other brothers seem to be the ‘justification guys’. “It’s all about the Cross and justification by faith.” They’re clear on doctrine, there’s a strong objective base but they don’t always seem to love Jesus very much or have much of a personal relationship with him – it’s all a bit theoretical. But once we see the gospel as Jesus – union with Christ – we see it’s both-and. Relationship and justification are inextricably linked. The marriage-union relationship is my justification and it should look just as passionate as in the Song of Songs (and that is some passion!).
- Preaching and evangelism is presenting Jesus. Paul says, “We proclaim not ourselves but Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:5), “Him we proclaim” (Col. 1:28), “In that I rejoice” (Phil. 1:18). Richard Sibbes (who, like Luther, found the gospel in the Song of Songs) turned away from the legalistic preaching of his day and counselled evangelists: “Woo for Christ, and open the riches, beauty, honour, and all that is lovely in him.” We need evangelistic preaching that is full of Jesus. What is the point of an altar call at the end of a sermon which has told me nothing about Christ? What Christ am I accepting? Give me Jesus! Tell me all about him – and not just bland statements, “He’s wonderful, he’s faithful” – tell me exactly what he’s done, what he says, tell me stories about him.
- We have fullness. That’s the message of Colossians: You have the one who is the fullness of God, the one who creates, sustains and sacrificially reconciles the universe. You have him in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. You have him who is the fulfilment and reality of all the shadows. So don’t let anyone come along and tell you that to live the full Christian life, to have the full gospel, you’ve got to have Jesus plus X, Y and Z. Jesus plus laws and principles. Jesus plus signs and wonders. You have Jesus! If you add to him you subtract from him. He is the fullness of God, the fullness of salvation, the full life, the full gospel.
More:
- What is the gospel? Christ given to us
- For more on Richard Sibbes, the Song of Songs and the gospel of Jesus have a look at Dave Bish’s blog: The Blue Fish Project.
fidelnyikuri
iServe Africa Webmaster
Utumishi Blog 
Insightful blod post there Andy. This is very helpful especially thinking in terms of how we present the gospel. Especially in the times nowadays when miracles and wonders have been exaulted above Jesus Himself. “Be saved and you will be rich, healed or suffering will stop” they will say. It is no longer a presentation of Jesus who is the gospel Himself.
I don’t know if am the only one but i a turn around to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullest. Which like you said, “If we add, we remove from it” In Romans 1:16, Paul says the gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. It is not the gospel plus miracles or riches. If they are added to our faithful presentation of the gospel, well and good, but we need to focus ourselves on presenting the true gospel and leave the affirmation with signs and wonders to God Himself.
Our hope in Christ Jesus cannot be contained by persecution, suffering or death. It is a hope beyond death. An assurance of a “new eden” and a glorious eternity with Christ Jesus.
Reblogged this on Rescuing Jesus.