God is the Gospel - Lesson 6

Defining the Gospel

Event - Death and Resurrection

Achievement - Atonement/Payment

Offer - Salvation by Faith

Application - Living in Light of the Gospel

1 Cor 15:1-4 

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

When Christ died the wrath of God was absorbed by Him. 

Gal 3:13  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"—

Christ paid the debt for our sins.

1Pe 2:24  He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 

Christ's life of perfection opened the door for us to own His righteousness.

Rom 5:19  For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 

Christ purchased eternal life for us.

Rom 5:20  Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 

Rom 5:21  so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through (Christs) righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God is the Gospel - Lesson 5

"For God so loved the world..." 

What is is about this statement that is remarkable? Is it because it shows the inherent value of the world? We are so great that even God loves us? No! rather it is a statement about the remarkable nature of God, that He loves us even though we are inherently unlovely.

God derives joy from us finding our joy in Him. God delights in us delighting in Him. I should find my joy in every gift because I find my joy in God. God likes to see me deriving pleasure from His gifts. And even seeking pleasure in His gifts but never to the point where the gifts are the focus. 

I can glorify God by being. If the heavens can declare God's glory by simply being, how much more can I declare Gods glory by just being. The heavens are beautiful even though they are lifeless. I am created in the image of God, full of life, with a will, emotions, passions, actions, thoughts, and desires. 

God is the Gospel - Week 3

Philippians 1:19-21

For I know that through your prayers and the help of the 

Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 

as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all 

ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will 

be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Being ashamed and being courageous are put at odds in this passage. The reason we can be courageous is that living means more of Christ, He is glorified and His nature is exemplified, and dying means more of Christ, we see Him face to face. Whether we live or die we have great gain. So I am not ashamed, not because I am being honored, but because Christ is being honored. 

22-23

If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. 

Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 

I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is 

to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

Philippians 3:7-8

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of 

Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing 

worth of knowing Christ Jesus my lord. For his sake I have

suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, 

in order that I may gain Christ.

What is Love? 

Commonly to be loved is to be made much of. To me made to feel good about yourself. A person feels loved when they are made to feel significant. 

Biblical love means: God loves us by doing everything he need to do, at great cost to himself, to remove every obstacle that keeps us from knowing Him. God's love has no place for boosting egos and making people feel falsely good about themselves. God's love is a love of absolute truth. God is the only one who can perfectly love by pointing to Himself as the end-all. 

How do love and glory relate to each other? God's love and His desire to show His glory are work perfectly together. Because the expression of God's glory is best for us, God's perfect love is perfectly fulfilled by showing us His glory. Jesus purposefully let Lazarus die because he loved Mary and Martha. He knew that it would be better for them to see him raised than to see him healed. 

Love is when God gets you to God.