WEBVTT 00:00:05.508 --> 00:00:06.750 My name is Neil. 00:00:06.750 --> 00:00:08.872 I'm not on the pastoral staff. 00:00:08.872 --> 00:00:19.368 I serve on the oversight team, which is a team consisting of me and Clem Ferris giving oversight another set of eyes to guard the church, and we love our church. 00:00:19.368 --> 00:00:25.233 I have the privilege of this being my home church, so I get a double blessing. 00:00:25.233 --> 00:00:37.911 Turn in your Bibles to the book of Philippians, chapter 1, and I'll read the text and then tell you what we're beginning this morning. 00:00:40.140 --> 00:01:00.509 In Philippians 1, this wonderful letter that Paul wrote to a group of Christians in Philippi, I want to read the opening verses, verse 3 and 4 and 5. 00:01:00.509 --> 00:01:16.528 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always, in every prayer of mine, for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 00:01:16.528 --> 00:01:18.240 Let's pray, father. 00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:23.233 Thank you that you've brought us eternal life through the gospel. 00:01:23.233 --> 00:01:31.972 Thank you this morning, lord God, that we have passed from death to life, that we have come to know your Son, jesus Christ. 00:01:31.972 --> 00:01:35.667 And this morning, father, I pray for eyes to be opened. 00:01:35.667 --> 00:01:50.027 I pray for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him that our eyes would be open to understand the length, breadth, depth and height of Jesus Christ and his gospel. 00:01:50.027 --> 00:01:53.733 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:01:57.346 Well, we're starting a new series here at Trinity this morning. 00:01:57.346 --> 00:02:05.793 If you've been with us over the last few weeks, a couple few months, we've been in the book of 1 Peter, a series called Grace Under Fire. 00:02:05.793 --> 00:02:15.725 This morning, we're starting a new series entitled Gospel-Centered Community and it's based on this book, the Gospel-Centered Community. 00:02:15.725 --> 00:02:21.366 We're not going to preach right out of the book, but this book will serve as a guide and you can purchase it. 00:02:21.366 --> 00:02:27.986 Now we're at the coffee bar, you can purchase it for $10, I think, and you want to get this book. 00:02:27.986 --> 00:02:39.115 It's really a phenomenal book and we've been using the previous book, the Gospel-Centered Life, to disciple people in the church. 00:02:39.115 --> 00:02:43.191 In fact, our community group is going through it again. 00:02:43.191 --> 00:02:45.229 We went through Gospel-Centered Life before and we're going through it again. 00:02:45.229 --> 00:02:49.627 We went through gospel-centered life before and we're going through it again, so it's a great book. 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:59.253 These books are important for a reason they focus primarily on how the gospel provides us with everything we need to start the Christian life. 00:02:59.253 --> 00:03:00.665 But it doesn't stop there. 00:03:00.665 --> 00:03:12.052 The gospel not only gets us into the kingdom, but the gospel is the means of empowering us, keeping us, providing us with everything we need pertaining to life and godliness. 00:03:12.052 --> 00:03:23.667 So many Christians think that the gospel is the message that gets us into the kingdom and once we're in the kingdom, we put the gospel on the shelf and we focus on other things. 00:03:23.667 --> 00:03:31.056 You know, we focus on things such as prayer, discipleship, holiness and other important matters. 00:03:31.056 --> 00:03:42.990 But the truth is, our relationship with the gospel doesn't end with our initial acceptance of the gospel, but continues throughout the entirety of our lives. 00:03:43.602 --> 00:03:53.449 And you can see that in these verses that we read this morning, the opening verses to the Philippian letter, paul talks about their partnership in the gospel. 00:03:53.449 --> 00:03:55.840 The word partnership is interesting. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:05.187 It's derived from the Greek word koinonia, which is the word from which we derive our English word fellowship, koinonia. 00:04:05.187 --> 00:04:11.474 And so Paul says from the first day he had koinonia. 00:04:11.474 --> 00:04:17.983 The Philippian church had koinonia with the gospel, or in the gospel. 00:04:17.983 --> 00:04:27.362 Paul is writing to these Philippian believers, reminding them that from the first time that Paul and Silas showed up in their midst, they enjoyed participation in the gospel. 00:04:28.225 --> 00:04:32.033 Now, how many of you remember the story of how the Philippian church came into being? 00:04:32.033 --> 00:04:43.002 Let me give you a little quick synopsis, because Paul and Barnabas Paul and Silas rather were wanting to go into Asia, but the Spirit of God this is Acts 16, the Spirit of God forbade them from going. 00:04:43.002 --> 00:04:48.668 And they wanted to go into Messiah, and the Spirit said no, and there were doors being shut. 00:04:48.668 --> 00:04:57.625 And then Paul one night had a vision and a dream, and in a vision he saw a man of Macedonia crying out come down and help us. 00:04:57.625 --> 00:05:07.173 And so Luke says in Acts 16, immediately we concluded that God has called us to preach the gospel to them. 00:05:07.173 --> 00:05:13.987 So they went to Philippi and a powerful church was born. 00:05:14.408 --> 00:05:17.240 Now I want to ask you a question this morning. 00:05:17.240 --> 00:05:25.834 If we're going to do a series called the gospel-centered community, here's a question I want to ask. 00:05:25.834 --> 00:05:31.612 I feel sort of embarrassed to even ask it on a Sunday morning church service. 00:05:31.612 --> 00:05:33.747 But what is the gospel? 00:05:33.747 --> 00:05:40.312 How can we be a gospel-centered community unless we understand what the gospel is? 00:05:40.312 --> 00:05:43.791 And it's a question we think many of us probably think doesn't need to be asked, since most of us assume we know what it is. 00:05:43.791 --> 00:05:48.586 And it's a question we think many of us probably think doesn't need to be asked, since most of us assume we know what it is. 00:05:48.586 --> 00:05:50.889 But we'll see this morning. 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:53.435 Such an assumption is wrong. 00:05:54.680 --> 00:06:06.831 In fact, when I first returned from Florida to serve as lead pastor for the time after we came back, I began using the term gospel in many of my sermons. 00:06:06.831 --> 00:06:12.728 I'll never forget Mark came to me one day and said you may want to define what you mean by gospel. 00:06:12.728 --> 00:06:13.370 I said why? 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:23.029 He said because people think you're talking about a style of music and it never dawned on me that that might be the case. 00:06:23.029 --> 00:06:31.666 The truth is, ask anyone in the church today what the gospel is and you're bound to get different answers. 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:37.249 Some will say the gospel is that God will forgive your sin if you believe in him. 00:06:37.249 --> 00:06:39.173 That's true. 00:06:39.173 --> 00:06:41.547 Is that the fullness of the gospel? 00:06:41.547 --> 00:06:44.428 Still others will say it's the Roman road. 00:06:44.428 --> 00:06:51.007 How many of you learned the Roman road when you were growing up in church of how to witness the Roman road? 00:06:51.007 --> 00:06:52.891 Or the four spiritual laws? 00:06:52.891 --> 00:06:57.625 We used to use the four spiritual laws a lot when we went out and did evangelism in Florida. 00:06:57.625 --> 00:07:04.266 Others might sum it up by saying God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. 00:07:04.266 --> 00:07:08.819 Others might sum it up by saying God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:15.163 Still others that you're a child of God and God wants his children to be abundantly successful in every way. 00:07:15.182 --> 00:07:21.790 One time I was teaching a group of teenagers in church church teenagers and I asked the question what is the gospel? 00:07:21.790 --> 00:07:26.016 And one of the young men said rules and regulations on how to live. 00:07:26.016 --> 00:07:35.170 And I said that's not the gospel. 00:07:35.170 --> 00:07:37.439 That's a perfect description of the law, but that's not the gospel. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:47.415 So let's start with what the gospel is not. 00:07:47.456 --> 00:07:48.699 The gospel is not just the message on how to get saved. 00:07:48.699 --> 00:07:54.752 You know, if you ask the average Christian what the gospel is, you're likely to get a presentation rather than a definition. 00:07:54.752 --> 00:08:03.252 If we reduce the gospel only to the means to salvation, it minimizes the gospel and its significance, as Tim Keller points out. 00:08:03.252 --> 00:08:09.608 He says, quote we never get beyond the gospel in our Christian life to something more advanced. 00:08:09.608 --> 00:08:13.790 The gospel is not the first step in a stairway of truths. 00:08:13.790 --> 00:08:16.769 Rather it is more like the hub in a wheel of truth. 00:08:16.769 --> 00:08:22.230 The gospel is not just the ABCs but the A to Z of Christianity. 00:08:22.230 --> 00:08:31.050 The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom. 00:08:31.050 --> 00:08:44.669 Others reduce the gospel to the two great commandments to love God and love people, and it's true that these commandments are central to Christ's life and message, but they're not in themselves the gospel. 00:08:44.669 --> 00:08:45.900 Are you with me? 00:08:45.900 --> 00:08:53.273 In actuality, the two commandments are a wonderful summary of the law. 00:08:53.273 --> 00:08:59.010 You know why people are trying to sidestep the law with the love God, love people mantra. 00:08:59.010 --> 00:09:03.648 In actuality, they're sidestepping the gospel and running back to the law. 00:09:03.648 --> 00:09:05.513 So let's define what the gospel is. 00:09:05.820 --> 00:09:09.546 The gospel is first and foremost news. 00:09:09.546 --> 00:09:13.072 It is first and foremost news. 00:09:13.072 --> 00:09:17.908 The word in Greek for gospel is evangelion, which means news. 00:09:17.908 --> 00:09:20.453 It's a message or an announcement. 00:09:20.453 --> 00:09:25.467 It's primarily good news or an announcement of news. 00:09:25.467 --> 00:09:30.303 That means we don't first live the gospel, we proclaim it. 00:09:30.303 --> 00:09:36.541 You can no more live out the gospel than you can live out the evening news. 00:09:36.541 --> 00:09:44.152 You know, you can live in the light of the news, but you cannot live the news Again. 00:09:44.152 --> 00:09:49.890 Tim Keller wonderfully says the gospel is good news, not good advice. 00:09:49.890 --> 00:10:02.350 You know, good advice tells us there's something we need to do to better our lives, whereas good news is the announcement that something already has been done. 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:15.373 You know there's a famous saying attributed to Francis of Assisi and it's doubtful he wrote it, but it's attributed to him and he said preach the gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words. 00:10:15.373 --> 00:10:24.410 That sounds really good, but it's ridiculous Because the gospel is a proclamation and requires the use of words. 00:10:24.410 --> 00:10:33.431 It should read preach the gospel and, if necessary, use words, because it is a necessity that we proclaim it. 00:10:33.431 --> 00:10:37.240 The gospel is a proclamation and requires use of words. 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:45.808 It's the announcement that God in Christ has accomplished everything necessary to reconcile us to a holy God. 00:10:45.808 --> 00:10:52.226 The term evangelion was originally a Greek term for the announcement of a victory. 00:10:52.226 --> 00:11:03.840 When Rome fought a battle and won, they sent messengers or heralds to make the announcement that a victory had been won. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:05.998 Here's the definition of a herald. 00:11:05.998 --> 00:11:10.140 In biblical times, a herald was a representative of the king. 00:11:10.140 --> 00:11:18.429 When the king had vital information to communicate to his subjects, he did not call a press conference or post something on the royal website. 00:11:18.429 --> 00:11:20.474 He did not call a press conference or post something on the royal website. 00:11:20.474 --> 00:11:24.702 Instead, he sent his herald to deliver a message to his people. 00:11:24.702 --> 00:11:32.125 The role carried with it a grave responsibility. 00:11:32.125 --> 00:11:53.224 Pastor Votie Bauckham defines it this way the gospel is the glorious, christ-centered, cross-centered, grace-centered news of what God has done in Jesus Christ, the last Adam, to redeem man from the fall of his federal head, the first Adam, and give man an eschatological hope that all things will eventually be redeemed in Christ. 00:11:53.224 --> 00:11:54.807 Amen. 00:11:54.807 --> 00:12:16.916 Let me read that again the gospel is the glorious, christ-centered, cross-centered, grace-centered news that God has done in Jesus Christ, the last Adam, to redeem man from the fall of his federal head the first Adam and to give man an eschatological hope that all things will eventually be redeemed in Christ. 00:12:16.916 --> 00:12:22.912 Now to get to the heart of the gospel, to answer the question what is the gospel? 00:12:23.673 --> 00:12:27.243 The gospel answers four questions from Paul's perspective. 00:12:27.243 --> 00:12:32.120 They are these questions, and I want to unpack them this morning. 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:35.696 Number one who made us and to whom are we accountable? 00:12:35.696 --> 00:12:39.023 Number two what is our problem? 00:12:39.023 --> 00:12:44.967 Are we in trouble and why? 00:12:44.967 --> 00:12:46.620 Number three what is God's solution to that problem? 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:47.688 How has he acted to save us from it? 00:12:47.688 --> 00:12:51.821 And fourth, how do I come to be included in that salvation? 00:12:51.821 --> 00:12:54.958 What makes this good news for me? 00:12:54.958 --> 00:12:57.875 It's not just Paul who does. 00:12:57.875 --> 00:13:08.062 As I read the rest of the New Testament, these are the four questions I see the apostolic writers of the New Testament answering over and over again. 00:13:08.062 --> 00:13:13.139 No matter what the context is, they seem to deal with these four issues. 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:14.822 We are accountable to God. 00:13:14.822 --> 00:13:15.991 Who created us? 00:13:15.991 --> 00:13:19.119 We have sinned against God and will be judged. 00:13:19.119 --> 00:13:28.943 God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us, and we take hold of that salvation by repentance from sin and faith in Christ. 00:13:28.943 --> 00:13:32.513 Let's start with the first one. 00:13:32.513 --> 00:13:35.960 We are accountable to God, who created us. 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:41.841 Everything starts with that, and if you get that wrong, everything else that follows will be wrong. 00:13:41.841 --> 00:13:53.321 Also, he not only created all things, but he created it all, to use a Latin term, ex nihilo, which means out of nothing. 00:13:53.321 --> 00:14:01.984 God didn't take preexisting material and mold it into what we now see. 00:14:01.984 --> 00:14:03.917 Rather, he spoke, and it was. 00:14:03.917 --> 00:14:06.698 Let there be light, and there was light. 00:14:06.698 --> 00:14:11.782 The creative word of God, spoken, created, brought into existence all things. 00:14:11.782 --> 00:14:16.682 And God didn't take pre-existing material and mold it into what we now see. 00:14:16.682 --> 00:14:18.817 Rather, he spoke, and it was. 00:14:18.817 --> 00:14:22.681 Creation testifies to God's glory and power. 00:14:22.681 --> 00:14:24.837 The heavens, psalm 19,. 00:14:24.837 --> 00:14:28.340 The heavens declare the glory of God. 00:14:30.250 --> 00:14:44.254 Romans 1 tells us that God's invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. 00:14:44.254 --> 00:14:50.953 You know the creation story, when you read it in Genesis, expands each day. 00:14:50.953 --> 00:15:00.923 First there's light, then there's sea, then there's land, then there's moon, then sun, then birds and fishes and animals, and then the pinnacle of creation man and woman. 00:15:00.923 --> 00:15:20.510 And Genesis 1.26 says God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 00:15:20.510 --> 00:15:23.475 So God created man in his own image. 00:15:23.475 --> 00:15:33.615 In the image of God, he created him Male and female. 00:15:33.615 --> 00:15:39.842 He created them, by the way, that little still the image of God. 00:15:39.842 --> 00:15:54.072 The reason there's an attack on male and female and the genders is because the genders always remind Satan that God's image is in male and female. 00:15:57.236 --> 00:16:02.264 The implications of our being created beings are enormous. 00:16:02.264 --> 00:16:03.686 If you think about it. 00:16:03.686 --> 00:16:11.110 It means that none of us is autonomous, and understanding that fact is a key to understanding the gospel. 00:16:11.110 --> 00:16:16.602 The story of creation is central to gospel preaching in our day. 00:16:16.602 --> 00:16:32.239 It's so important that we don't assume, because of evolution and other distortions we must come back to the truth of the Bible that a sovereign, holy God spoke everything into existence and it stands today because he spoke it. 00:16:32.239 --> 00:16:46.296 And I can tell you I don't know what you believe about global warming, but this universe will stand until God rolls it up, and I can tell you I don't know what you believe about global warming, but this universe will stand until God rolls it up. 00:16:46.296 --> 00:16:55.634 It doesn't mean we purposely abuse our environment, but God has numbered the days of this planet. 00:16:55.634 --> 00:16:58.201 It won't shut down until he says it's ready to shut down. 00:16:58.201 --> 00:17:04.837 You know, we hear so much today about our rights and liberties, but we're not really as free as we would think. 00:17:05.211 --> 00:17:15.642 We are created, therefore we are owned, and because he created us, god has the right to tell us how to live. 00:17:15.642 --> 00:17:37.759 It's in creation that God earned the right to tell us how to live, because he created all things, and some understanding of this is absolutely necessary if a person wants to understand the good news Critical that we understand that the God that we serve is the creator, god who creates all things by the word of his power. 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:44.375 I never tire reading Genesis Let there be, let there be. 00:17:44.375 --> 00:17:49.376 Let there be, and there was, because God's word is full of power. 00:17:49.376 --> 00:17:57.430 Proverbs says Number two we have sinned against God and will be judged. 00:17:57.430 --> 00:18:05.170 This is a major part of gospel proclamation that the God of creation, who created all things and holds us accountable. 00:18:05.170 --> 00:18:09.682 We have sinned against him and therefore we are under judgment. 00:18:11.210 --> 00:18:23.021 You know, when God created human beings, his intention was that they would live under his righteous rule in perfect joy, worshiping him, obeying him and living in unbroken fellowship with him. 00:18:23.021 --> 00:18:29.143 Adam and Eve were to be his vice regents, ruling the world under him. 00:18:29.143 --> 00:18:35.398 It's critical that we grasp that Adam and Eve were appointed to govern the world. 00:18:35.398 --> 00:18:40.039 But even as they did so, they were subject to God and under his rule. 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:50.500 Right, and they were given a clear command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:18:50.500 --> 00:19:03.934 And when Adam and Eve bit into that fruit, they weren't just violating some arbitrary command, they were rejecting God's authority over them and declaring their total independence from him. 00:19:03.934 --> 00:19:17.362 They made a conscious decision in the garden to reject him as their king, and they knew the consequences would be if they disobeyed God. 00:19:17.362 --> 00:19:27.921 God said the day you eat of it, you will surely die, which means they would be cast away from his presence and become his enemies rather than his friends and subjects. 00:19:27.921 --> 00:19:44.430 The Bible calls this disobedience to God's command, whether in word, thought or deed sin, remember sin, sin, remember sin. 00:19:44.430 --> 00:19:51.116 They broke their relationship with God and rejected him as their rightful Lord, and the result is they were cast out of the garden. 00:19:51.116 --> 00:20:03.337 No longer would the earth cooperate with them in growing its fruit and, worst of all, their spiritual life, which mattered most, ended immediately. 00:20:03.337 --> 00:20:05.444 That's the meaning of the day you eat of it. 00:20:05.444 --> 00:20:16.114 You shall surely die, because they didn't die physically, but they died in the relationship with God and suffered the great cleavage of being cut off from God. 00:20:18.657 --> 00:20:21.082 But it's not just Adam and Eve who are guilty of sin. 00:20:21.082 --> 00:20:22.423 We are as well. 00:20:22.423 --> 00:20:23.085 We all are. 00:20:23.085 --> 00:20:27.958 It is critical that we have a biblical understanding of the nature of sin. 00:20:27.958 --> 00:20:38.001 You know, there's a huge difference between understanding yourself to be guilty of sins and guilty of sin singular. 00:20:38.001 --> 00:20:40.436 They're categorically different. 00:20:40.436 --> 00:20:46.798 You know, we all admit to various sins, individual acts we've committed. 00:20:46.798 --> 00:20:53.597 We all have a laundry list if we took the time to write it down of sins we've committed. 00:20:53.597 --> 00:21:04.384 And Romans, chapters 1 through 3, tells us clearly that we've all done sinful acts that have violated our commitment to God. 00:21:04.384 --> 00:21:10.962 But what is shocking is when God shows us our sin, the very depths of our hearts. 00:21:10.962 --> 00:21:25.261 One author describes sin this way it is quote the deep running deposits of filth and corruption that we never knew existed in us and that we ourselves could never expunge. 00:21:25.261 --> 00:21:34.988 Every part of our human existence is corrupted now by sin and under its power. 00:21:35.355 --> 00:21:39.787 And Paul summarizes sin by giving the ultimate indictment of both Jew and Gentile. 00:21:39.787 --> 00:21:41.420 In Romans 3.19,. 00:21:41.420 --> 00:21:47.948 He says this Every mouth will be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 00:21:47.948 --> 00:21:51.144 Can you wrap your head around what that means? 00:21:51.144 --> 00:21:59.546 That there's a day when every one of us will stand before God and we have no explanation, no plea, no excuse. 00:21:59.546 --> 00:22:06.786 If you're trusting in Jesus and Jesus alone, you have assurance that you'll enter God's heaven. 00:22:06.786 --> 00:22:19.708 But if you're not trusting in Jesus, if you think you can get there without your repentance and faith, you will be shocked and you will have no explanation, no plea and no excuse. 00:22:19.708 --> 00:22:21.280 Guilty as charged. 00:22:25.276 --> 00:22:30.188 Number three God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us. 00:22:30.188 --> 00:22:34.089 God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us. 00:22:34.089 --> 00:22:35.154 God has acted in Jesus Christ to save us. 00:22:35.154 --> 00:22:41.022 Thank God, the bad news of human sin and God's judgment is not the end of the story. 00:22:41.022 --> 00:22:46.246 If the Bible ended with Romans 3.19, there'd be no hope. 00:22:46.246 --> 00:22:47.419 But it doesn't end there. 00:22:47.419 --> 00:22:48.563 There is hope. 00:22:48.563 --> 00:22:53.798 You are a sinner, I am a sinner, destined to be condemned. 00:22:53.798 --> 00:22:54.079 Condemned. 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:57.816 But God has acted in Christ to save sinners. 00:23:00.220 --> 00:23:07.498 And Mark begins his account of Jesus life with the words the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. 00:23:07.498 --> 00:23:15.269 Mark and the other early Christians knew the coming of Jesus was good news to a world devastated by sin. 00:23:15.269 --> 00:23:23.074 Even in the garden, god gave his people a word of hope, good news in the midst of despair. 00:23:23.074 --> 00:23:23.635 Do you remember it? 00:23:23.635 --> 00:23:35.050 It wasn't much a simple phrase spoken in the garden he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. 00:23:35.050 --> 00:23:36.821 That was spoken to the serpent. 00:23:36.821 --> 00:23:45.963 He, the seed of the woman, christ Jesus, will bruise your head, serpent, and you, in the process, will bruise his heel. 00:23:45.963 --> 00:23:55.006 A bruise on the head is completely devastating, while a bruise on the heel is recoverable. 00:23:55.006 --> 00:24:06.078 This tiny seed of a promise would germinate, sprout and grow For thousands of years. 00:24:06.180 --> 00:24:17.739 God prepared the world for his final work through life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and all the gospel writers tell us that Jesus was no ordinary man. 00:24:17.739 --> 00:24:22.847 He is both completely God and completely man. 00:24:22.847 --> 00:24:24.776 He's the God-man. 00:24:24.776 --> 00:24:29.204 Only a man who is both God and man can save us. 00:24:29.204 --> 00:24:33.682 If Jesus were just another man, it would be impossible for him to save us. 00:24:33.682 --> 00:24:39.202 In the same way, because he is fully man, he can rightly represent us before the Father. 00:24:41.826 --> 00:24:46.865 And when Jesus came to this planet, he came to inaugurate the rule or kingdom of God. 00:24:46.865 --> 00:24:50.435 But it didn't look like what Israel expected. 00:24:50.435 --> 00:24:50.676 You know. 00:24:50.676 --> 00:24:55.023 They were looking for more of a political kingdom that would overthrow Rome. 00:24:55.023 --> 00:25:06.644 But here comes Jesus, preaching, teaching, healing the sick, forgiving sins, raising the dead and telling the Roman governor in no uncertain terms my kingdom is not of this world. 00:25:06.644 --> 00:25:16.969 When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he proclaimed him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:25:16.969 --> 00:25:19.944 But John the Baptist was not alone. 00:25:19.944 --> 00:25:26.949 Every first century Jew knew immediately what John meant when he called Jesus the Lamb of God. 00:25:26.949 --> 00:25:36.199 It was a reference to the Jewish festival of Passover, and it was nearing the time when Jews were thinking about finding their lambs for Passover slaughter. 00:25:36.199 --> 00:25:51.786 It took time, but eventually the followers of Jesus realized that his mission was not just to inaugurate the kingdom but to die as a substitutionary sacrifice for his people. 00:25:53.048 --> 00:25:59.723 The early Christians, taught by the Spirit, understood what Jesus accomplished on the cross. 00:25:59.723 --> 00:26:07.826 Paul described it this way in Galatians Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. 00:26:07.826 --> 00:26:20.727 And in another place, and in another place, paul says God made him, who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 00:26:20.727 --> 00:26:30.986 Peter said he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. 00:26:30.986 --> 00:26:34.444 By his wounds you have been healed. 00:26:34.444 --> 00:26:41.144 Do you see what the early Christians were saying about the significance of Jesus' death? 00:26:41.144 --> 00:26:48.000 It was that when Jesus died he didn't die for his own sin but for the people's sin. 00:26:49.317 --> 00:26:54.682 This doctrine of substitution is one part of the gospel the world hates most. 00:26:54.682 --> 00:27:01.548 Most people are disgusted at the idea of Jesus being punished for someone else's sin. 00:27:01.548 --> 00:27:08.087 More than one author in the modern world today has called it nothing less than divine child abuse. 00:27:08.087 --> 00:27:22.723 But if you toss to the side, you cut out the heart of the gospel, because the gospel of his heart is the truth that Jesus died a substitutionary death. 00:27:22.723 --> 00:27:26.582 There are many pictures in scripture of what Christ accomplished with his death. 00:27:26.582 --> 00:27:29.714 Example reconciliation and victory are named three. 00:27:29.714 --> 00:27:38.001 But underneath all them is the reality of penal substitution, that Jesus' death paid the penalty for our sin. 00:27:38.001 --> 00:27:48.788 That's why we sing and extol the blood of Christ in our worship here at Trinity, because it's the only thing that has saving power the blood of Jesus. 00:27:48.788 --> 00:28:02.303 And then fourth and finally I want to dwell on this a little longer we take hold of that salvation by repentance from sin and faith in Jesus. 00:28:02.837 --> 00:28:07.241 Mark's gospel begins with Jesus preaching and Mark says these words. 00:28:07.241 --> 00:28:08.902 Has Jesus saying these words? 00:28:08.902 --> 00:28:12.403 The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:28:12.403 --> 00:28:17.277 Repent and put your trust or believe in the gospel. 00:28:17.277 --> 00:28:25.395 This command repent and believe is what God requires of us in response to the good news. 00:28:25.395 --> 00:28:30.303 Throughout the New Testament, it is what we see the apostles calling people to do. 00:28:30.303 --> 00:28:35.410 By the way, it's not a misprint, it's repent, not repeat. 00:28:35.410 --> 00:28:50.066 Just to make sure, remind you, paul described his ministry as preaching quote repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ. 00:28:50.346 --> 00:28:51.269 What is repentance? 00:28:51.269 --> 00:29:00.006 It is turning away from sin, hating it and resolving by God's strength to forsake it, even as we turn to him in faith. 00:29:00.006 --> 00:29:12.262 Peter told a crowd of Jews he was preaching to repent, therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be washed away or wiped away. 00:29:12.262 --> 00:29:13.443 Washed away or wiped away. 00:29:13.443 --> 00:29:17.527 Paul tells everyone that they should repent and turn to God. 00:29:17.527 --> 00:29:23.511 Folks, repentance is not optional for those who want to follow Jesus and be saved. 00:29:23.511 --> 00:29:31.638 You know, over the years I've heard people say I've accepted Jesus as Savior, so I'm a Christian, but I'm really not ready to accept him as Lord. 00:29:31.638 --> 00:29:45.746 The idea that you can accept Jesus as Savior but not as Lord is ridiculous. 00:29:45.746 --> 00:29:49.105 The reason he saves you is because he is Lord. 00:29:49.105 --> 00:30:01.397 Now that doesn't mean that a Christian, once he repents, will never sin again. 00:30:01.397 --> 00:30:02.882 Christians will sin even after God gives them spiritual life. 00:30:02.882 --> 00:30:11.251 But even if repentance doesn't mean an immediate end to our sinning, it does mean we no longer live at peace with our sin. 00:30:11.251 --> 00:30:21.365 We should remember that genuine repentance is more fundamentally a matter of the heart's attitude towards sin than it is a mere change of behavior. 00:30:25.897 --> 00:30:26.801 What does faith mean? 00:30:26.801 --> 00:30:32.386 Salvation comes through repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus. 00:30:32.386 --> 00:30:39.005 Mark 1.14, one translation says repent and put your trust in the gospel. 00:30:39.005 --> 00:30:42.724 Is your trust fully in the gospel this morning? 00:30:42.724 --> 00:30:44.662 In the gospel alone. 00:30:44.662 --> 00:30:54.664 You know what is meant by the term faith. 00:30:54.755 --> 00:30:58.766 Many people believe that faith is believing in something you can't really prove. 00:30:58.766 --> 00:31:01.721 But that's not faith at all. 00:31:01.721 --> 00:31:05.222 Biblically speaking, faith is reliance. 00:31:05.222 --> 00:31:11.448 It is a rock-solid truth, grounded belief in the risen Jesus to save us from sin. 00:31:11.448 --> 00:31:17.317 It's what Abraham exhibited, which Paul describes in Romans 4. 00:31:17.517 --> 00:31:20.103 Speaking of Abraham's faith, he says in hope. 00:31:20.103 --> 00:31:25.859 He believed against hope that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told. 00:31:25.859 --> 00:31:28.305 So shall your offspring be. 00:31:28.305 --> 00:31:38.763 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which is as good as dead since he was about 100 years old, or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 00:31:38.763 --> 00:31:50.866 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 00:31:50.994 --> 00:31:53.624 Romans 4, 18 through 21. 00:31:53.624 --> 00:31:57.557 That's a full-orb definition of faith. 00:31:57.557 --> 00:32:05.161 And regardless of what was working against God's promise Abraham's age, his wife's age and barrenness, abraham believed what God had said. 00:32:05.161 --> 00:32:11.838 He trusted in God without wavering and raised, relied on him to accomplish his promise. 00:32:11.838 --> 00:32:22.404 And Romans 4 ends with Paul saying and this is written that Abraham was justified by faith, not for his sake alone, but for ours. 00:32:26.576 --> 00:32:35.063 So the four elements defining what the gospel is is number one God is creator of all things and absolutely holy and righteous. 00:32:35.063 --> 00:32:39.949 Number two we have sinned against this holy God and will be judged. 00:32:39.949 --> 00:32:42.497 Three, what is God's solution to the problem? 00:32:42.497 --> 00:32:46.169 He has acted to save us from it by sending his son. 00:32:46.169 --> 00:32:51.522 And fourthly and lastly, we must respond by faith and repentance. 00:32:52.064 --> 00:33:10.156 This is what the true gospel consists of and, by the way, this is not what people are being told the gospel is today, and the result is people are often manipulated into making a decision for Christ, just told to say a prayer and you're in and you're in. 00:33:10.156 --> 00:33:24.535 But in most cases those being told to enter that way have not been given a presentation of the holy God to whom they've sinned against. 00:33:24.535 --> 00:33:35.144 There has not been a clear presentation of the mediatorial work of Jesus on behalf of sinners that alone can cleanse. 00:33:35.144 --> 00:33:46.045 Instead of repent, they're told again to repeat, and today there's a great need for us to return to gospel preaching. 00:33:46.045 --> 00:33:59.108 These four things are non-negotiable and they make up a full-orbed proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:34:00.215 --> 00:34:03.986 Father, thank you for giving us the gospel. 00:34:03.986 --> 00:34:25.728 There's no way any of us could have thought of the gospel, but you gave it to us, you created it, you saved us by it, and now you're calling us to proclaim and I pray for Trinity Community Church that we would be a company of men and women who openly and powerfully proclaim the good news of Jesus throughout our city and county. 00:34:25.728 --> 00:34:38.826 I pray, father, for gospel preaching to be the norm for our church, that we would go out and we would open our mouths and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ Save us. 00:34:38.826 --> 00:34:40.860 Thank you for saving us by it. 00:34:40.860 --> 00:34:46.742 Now help us to proclaim it in the powerful name of Jesus, amen. 00:34:46.742 --> 00:34:48.266 Amen, thank you.