Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Hello, I'm Josh.
[00:00:25] Speaker A: And I, Gabriel.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: And today on Reading the Gospel, we have come to the end of season three, and we're doing things a little different. And so we're going to be reading from a bunch of different verses today, and we invite you to follow along and join us. You'll need your Bible, and you need to be prepared to flip through or do it at a later time if you're driving and can't.
But let's start with First Corinthians 15, verse 1 and 2.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: 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.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: So this is a great summary, isn't it?
[00:01:10] Speaker A: Excellent. Amazing.
[00:01:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
The purpose of the gospel is our salvation.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: Mm.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: What is.
How would you define gospel? What. What is. Like, let's break down that word again.
[00:01:25] Speaker A: So we said that the gospel is more than a story about the life of Jesus Christ.
It is a summary of everything God does for our salvation to bring us back into the state that we lost as humanity. It is God's initial plan when humanity was created for joy and happiness and peace.
The second step is the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden.
The third is Jesus Christ, who died for our sins instead of us. And number four, if we believe in his death for us, if we believe in him, his life is being appropriated to us, and we come back to the original plan that we lost in the garden.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Yeah, that. That joy, eternal life and peace.
[00:02:15] Speaker A: And peace and happiness.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
We receive this gospel, but it does more than just grant that gift of eternal life. It's not something that just comes in the future because, you know, we can accept it. And God doesn't leave us just where we're at. He starts the work now, doesn't he?
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Someone has to preach the gospel, right? In a way or another, we have to hear the gospel. It is a podcast like ours.
It is a sermon in a church. It can be a conversation with a friend or a mentor, spiritual mentor.
It can be any book reading the Bible.
The gospel has to be preached or presented.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: It can be your personal testimony with the gospel included in it. So it doesn't have to come from a pastor or someone.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: It can come from or directly from the Holy Spirit, who talks to you and reveals new realities.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:17] Speaker A: And the second stage in this verse is the gospel have to be received.
And we discussed that receiving the gospel is receiving Jesus Christ in our lives, in our hearts.
The third stage is to stand in the gospel and we'll Connect this later with Romans chapter one.
And the last one is to be saved by the Gospel.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: Yeah. And so we have this life changing experience when we accept the gospel.
[00:03:51] Speaker A: We.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Hear it, it changes who we are and we start experiencing transformation now.
And that's the good news. We don't need to wait till heaven for our reward. We can receive our reward now.
[00:04:05] Speaker A: And maybe this is the time to link to Romans chapter 1, verse 16.
Would you like to read it?
[00:04:12] Speaker B: The Bible says, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also the Greek.
[00:04:23] Speaker A: As you said before, this is the power of the gospel. The power to transform, to change the mind, to transform life. That means change behavior and habits and most likely to change the direction of our life to turn around.
And that can happen. Now.
I connect this concept In Romans chapter 1, verse 16, the power of God. Gospel is the power of God.
I connect it to the third step or stage in First Corinthians 15 that it says in which you stand, we should stand in this power of the word of God, the power of the gospel, the power to transform.
Because only being transformed by God and noticing this and not only ourselves, sometimes people around us realize that we are different.
We speak differently, we react differently, we have different priorities.
We go to some places or parties or events and we don't go to others.
Those transformation happened by the power of the gospel. The power of God.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: Yeah. And it's important to know that this is the work God does in us as a result of accepting the gospel. He changes us. And so when we read Romans 2:16, this the Bible says on that day when according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. So there comes a time where our actions are judged.
Now that's not what gets us into heaven. We don't get into heaven based on have we done more good than we've done bad?
No, we get into heaven based on the gift of Jesus Christ only.
But our actions show that we let Jesus Christ into our life as our Lord and Savior, that God had been changing us, that God has done that work in us. And so the judgment that comes reveals that God has been faithful to do the work that he said he would do in us.
[00:06:41] Speaker A: So if we include Romans chapter two, we have these five dimensions or stages of the gospel.
Is preaching the gospel number one, two, receiving the gospel, three, standing in the gospel. That means living your life by that power of God that comes through the gospel next in being saved by The Gospel. We believe in Jesus Christ, and if we believe in him, we have eternal life.
And number five, being judged by the gospel. So the Gospel is an overarching theme of the Bible.
It covers everything.
It's not just a part of the Bible. It's not just a story in the Bible.
It is an overarching concept.
And we'll see later.
Right from the beginning, from the Garden of Eden, right after falling into sin, all the way to the end of the Bible, the Gospel is all over.
Is the golden.
[00:07:40] Speaker B: The golden strand.
[00:07:42] Speaker A: Yeah, the golden strand that goes through the whole story of salvation. Genesis, chapter 3, verse 15.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. The Lord speaking to the serpent in the presence of Adam and Eve.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: Yeah. And so this is the. We call it the proto Gospel. Right. This is.
It's not that we were left alone until the book of Matthew was written and Mark Lutheran John. No, this is from the very beginning when Adam and Eve departed from God's will. When they ate the fruit, the forbidden fruit, the foundations had already been laid for their salvation.
[00:08:33] Speaker A: So this is the proto Gospel. That means the first one, the essence of the gospel, the first presentation of the Gospel. And it's very interesting that Jesus Christ pronounced these words after he did a demonstration.
God has brought a sacrifice, a lamb or maybe two of them. One for Adam and one for Eve.
After that, when Adam and Eve are looking how death happens for the first time, the blood is flowing.
Eventually that beautiful lively animal remains motionless and cold on the ground, on the grass.
I imagine that Adam looked at the Lord and said, why did he do that?
Are you going to do that to us?
And the Lord will answer, this demonstration was not primarily about you.
It is about me. One day I will come as a lamb.
I will lay down my life as a sacrifice for you.
So if you believe in me, you will not have part of this kind of death that eventually is a complete annihilation from death universe of God. But you'll have the eternal life that you just lost.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: Yeah.
And it's good news that we do not have to face eternal death.
Was preached to Abraham.
We can read in Galatians 3, 8.
And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, in you shall all nations be blessed.
[00:10:28] Speaker A: The gospel preached to Abraham. We do not think about that. We link the Gospel to the New Testament and to the Christian community.
But it is the same gospel which was presented to Adam and Eve in the garden was preached to Abraham.
And I like this expression, preached. Right. Was presented, was communicated, was revealed.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: So did it stop there? Did it from there?
[00:10:59] Speaker A: Did it in Hebrews chapter four, verse two.
We see, let's read for good news. That is, the gospel came to us.
The Apostle Paul is talking to the Christians, just as to them, to them, the Jews.
So the good news, the gospel was preached to the people of Israel, so it was presented to Adam and Eve, it was preached to Abraham, it was preached to the people of Israel.
And at the beginning of this series of the podcast, we saw how the gospel was found in the writings of the prophets of the Old Testament, in the book of Psalms, and even in prophecy, like Daniel.
The gospel is that golden thread that links all those events and centuries and stages of the plan of redemption, the overarching theme of the whole Bible.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: So it's foundational to the Bible.
And it doesn't end when John writes Revelation, you know, when the last apostle dies in Matthew 24:14, the Bible says, and this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
So we as Christians have carried on this tradition of presenting the gospel. It's not that we have this secret that we hold to us, we share it with others because it is so life transformational. I remember the first time I gave my heart to God. And I remember the. The burden of sin being lifted from me. It was almost physical. I could breathe easier. It felt like a weight was taken off my shoulder. The world seemed lighter.
And that experience was amazing. And, and that was just the beginning. God's taken me through some phenomenal experiences, and so why would I want other people to not go through this?
[00:13:10] Speaker A: And Revelation chapter 14 talks about the everlasting Gospel. The same gospel. It's not another one. Yeah, because the apostle Paul wrote that there is no other gospel.
[00:13:23] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: And it says, then I saw another angel flying directly overhead with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation and tribe and light language and people, and said with a loud voice, fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.
This is the climax of preaching the gospel.
It is not a new stage. It is not a new gospel. It's an everlasting gospel, everlasting good news. And everything is related to the Jesus Christ.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: And it brings us back to worship when we receive the gospel, we desire to worship. And worship is a function of humanity. It's coming to God and letting God know we love him. It's bringing out praise and thanksgiving and worship. While it can be individual, there is a value to corporate worship where we in a community, gather together and praise God together.
And so, as we wrap this up, as we conclude season three, I want to encourage listeners to continue to read their Bibles daily, to continue to witness, to continue to pray, continue those connections, but go a step further.
Find a community that believes the same thing you do and worship God together with them. Come in corporate worship and bring him Thanksgiving. Bring him your requests, bring him your. Your prayers, but be present with others in that, that worship of God.
So thank you for joining us on this journey. Let us pray.
Father, we are so thankful for the gospel.
It is more than just the four books. It is more than just the Bible.
It is the truth that Jesus Christ came to die for our sins, to be our substitute so that we might have everlasting life, that our lives might be changed from lives of pain and suffering and selfishness to lives of service and love and joy.
And I pray that you will work in us, help us to find peace and rest in you, and help us to find a community that we can worship with. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: Amen.
