The Beautiful Gospel

“He [Jesus] fought and conquered. On the one hand, He was man who struggled for His fathers and through His obedience cancelled their disobedience. On the other hand, He bound the strong one and freed the weak and bestowed salvation on His handiwork by abolishing sin. For He is our compassionate and merciful Lord who loves mankind ... Had not man conquered man's adversary, the enemy would not have been conquered justly. Again, had it not been God who bestowed salvation we would not possess it securely.”
― Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3

Today's blog is titled: The Beautiful Gospel. Why? Because the Gospel changes Everything!!! It is within the Gospel that we discover life, love, and liberty. The announcement of Jesus' coming (His Incarnation) was considered by the Angels, "Good Tidings of Great Joy." When Jesus was preparing His disciples for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple (Matthew 24), He stated that "this Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to the nations..." Gospel means "good tidings" and "the announcement of good news."

Over the last couple of weeks, I have not been able to get away from the beauty of this message. I even talked about it with you last Friday. Who could have believed this is what the Father had in mind? Even though the Prophets saw it coming, I don't think they even understood how BIG his coming would be. I also don't believe they understood all that He would accomplish.

Irenaeus, the church father quoted above, did a masterful job of talking about the incarnation of Christ, along with His vicarious suffering. He understood fully the finished work of Christ. His writings, Against Heresies, was meant to guard the faith and the beautiful gospel against the attacks of Gnosticism. It was the heart of this church father to preserve this wonderful good news. A fight that continues to this day. He saw within Jesus the summation of all things. He recognized within Jesus' finished work all that was needed for the salvation of humanity. And within the Gospel, He saw the unconditional love of God.

Read what author and speaker Brad Jersak has to say about the Gospel and our proclamation of it: "the Gospel is that Jesus is the Savior of the World, the Restorer of Hope, the Perfection of Love, and the One who would embrace all and redeem everyone from our enslavement to Satan, sin and death. Telling the world this fabulous news and inviting them to it is integral to how Christ is restoring the cosmos."

He is the Savior of the World
Is there any doubt that what Jesus did, He did for all of humanity?

He is the Restorer of Hope
All that was lost, all that we need, all that we could ever long for is in Him.

He is the Perfection of Love
He is love personified. God is love and Jesus embodied love. He gave Himself in spite of rejection, abuse, and shame.

He is the One who would embrace all and redeem everyone
This is a done deal. It's our recognition of this reality that allows us to experience it.

One of the reasons that I quoted an early church father today is because I want you to see how those closest to the Apostles understood the Gospel. They saw within the Gospel the hope of all humanity. They recognized Jesus' sacrifice as ONCE and FOR ALL. They saw within this Gospel the rescue, recovery, and restoration of mankind. All the failings of the First Adam were done away with in the Last Adam (Jesus).

As I type these words, I realize that so many among us may find this as a foreign gospel. Something that sounds too good to be true. Part of the problem is our understanding of Scripture. Because so many people are content to read the English rather than look into the Hebrew and Greek, we miss out on the power of so many words. We miss out on the tense of verbs. We miss out on the right pronouns. All things that matter to our understanding of the faith. Does the "faith of Christ" differ from "faith in Christ"? I believe so. Does a verb in the past tense differ from one in the present tense? I believe so. Does our understanding about being "born again" change when we see it in the original language "born from above"? Does our understanding change when we realize it is in a passive tense (meaning it is something that happens to an individual rather than something that an individual makes happen)? I believe so. All of these things matter. Which is why the early church fathers fought so hard to protect the beautiful gospel from those who would seek to do it harm.

The Beautiful Gospel is just that, It's BEAUTIFUL!!! It's full of wonder. It may sound to good to be true, but it is true nonetheless. This is our hope. This is where we find our value to the Father. This is where His heart for humanity is on full display. This is THE GOOD NEWS that is to be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to the nations. God is Good. God is Love. God has reconciled us to Himself. Be reconciled. Take down your walls. Remove any mindsets and irrational thinking. Repent (change your mind) and Believe that He is for you, not against you. You are included in the Father's love.