Theme: The gospel, the power of God
Text: Psalm 15; 1 Cor. 1:18-31; Matt. 5:1-12
The gospel means good news and everyone in the world wants to hear some good news. Men and women are tired of always hearing bad news broadcast over the airwaves on a daily basis. They are tired of hearing about the disastrous effects of climate change, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, erupting volcanoes and wars. They are tired of hearing about poverty, famine, suffering, sickness and death. They are tired of hearing about destroyed lives as people try to find a solution to their problems in alcohol, drugs, gambling and sex. They are tired of hearing about rape, armed robbery, currency depreciation, rise in interest rates and economic difficulties. There is so much bad news that what we often consider anything good, even when it is only short lived and temporary, to be good news. What is the good news when after you have built a beautiful house with many rooms you find it difficult to sleep? What is the good news when you can afford to go to the most expensive restaurants but are not allowed to eat most of the delicacies on the menu? What is the good news when you are a billionaire but dying of a terminal disease? The gospel, however, is truly good news. There can be no better news as it meets all our needs and its benefits extend beyond time into eternity. The good news, the gospel, gives us access to the presence and power of God.
The gospel reveals God’s requirements that enable us come into His presence. God is in the words of the Psalmist “a righteous judge”. (Psalm 7:11) Therefore the only one who can come into His presence is a righteous person. Psalm 15 confirms that only an upright and righteous person has access to God’s presence. No unrighteous person can come before His holy presence. Psalm 15 describes some of the attributes of God that must be manifested in those who come before His presence. God is not only righteous, He is also holy and only a righteous and holy person has access to His presence. A holy person relates to others in a just and holy way. He speaks to them using kind and comforting words and treats them with respect. A holy and just person will not hurt others through gossip and unfriendly acts. A very important attribute of God is love. God is love and to gain access to His presence one must love as much as God loves us. Christ says “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another”. (John 13:34)
The gospel is God’s appointed way to His presence, provisions and blessings. Adam and Eve before the fall enjoyed the presence, provisions and blessings of God. God made sure that there was nothing lacking or missing in their lives. When Adam and Eve sinned they lost the image and likeness of God and could no longer come before His presence. God made man “a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour”. (Psalm 8:5) Sin robbed them of their glory and honour and they hid from God’s presence since they could not appear before Him naked. They no longer had access to the source of their provision and blessing. God however, promised to restore His provisions and blessings to man at His appointed time and in His appointed way. At God’s appointed time Jesus Christ came to restore God’s glory and honour to enable man come before God’s presence and to partake of His abundant supply. We can only avail ourselves of God’s abundant blessings and provisions when we believe in Christ and yield to Him as our Saviour and Lord.
The gospel not only reveals God’s requirements to enter His presence but also meets His requirements. The Scriptures declare, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). We can only meet God’s condition to come into His presence by accepting that the death, burial and resurrection of Christ was for our redemption. We must believe that Christ took our sin and gave us His righteousness. Christ not only shed His blood for our redemption He also shed His blood for our justification. We become just as if we had never sinned because God has chosen not to remember our sin. The Lord declared, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more”. (Jer. 31:34) Christ also shed His blood for our sanctification. He shed His blood to make us holy and set apart to God. We have access to His presence so “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. (Heb. 4:16)
The cross has a different meaning for different people. To unbelievers it is foolishness. According to Paul, it is an obstacle to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. To the unbelieving Jew it is inconceivable that the Messiah should die ‘on a tree’, that is under the curse of God. To the unbelieving Gentile it is ridiculous to suppose that a god, one who is immortal, could die. The cross, however, is the power of God to believers. As believers we need to see things from God’s perspective. Our focus should now be on the pursuit of righteousness and not on the pursuit of the cares of this world. As believers, as sons of God, our lives are to manifest the character, provisions and blessings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Are you making an impact on the world?
The gospel has the power save. It points out our need for a Saviour and leads us to an understanding of the grace of God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”. (Eph. 2:8) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him”. (John 3:16-17) Salvation does not only refer to redemption, it also refers to deliverance. The gospel has the power to deliver from oppression and demonic possession as it declares Christ’s victory over sin and Satan. His victory is our victory as it has restored the authority and dominion God gave man. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son”. (Col. 1:13) Salvation also refers to healing. The gospel has the power to heal. It declares that Jesus’ body was broken for our healing for “By His wounds we have been healed”. (1 Pet. 2:24)
Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to live the blessed life. We cannot live such a life in our own strength but “Through Christ we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God”. (Rom. 5:2) Jesus Christ has made us participants in the blessed life He taught about in the Beatitudes. It is by the grace of God that we realize our spiritual need and it is by His grace that we see God as our only hope for salvation. God in Christ had made us to be like Him so that we can live a righteous and holy life filled with His love. As believers let us manifest the blessings of God in our lives and become a blessing as we glorify our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
God wants us to partake of His blessing by coming to Him. The construction of the tabernacle and the Temple clearly and graphically describes His plan by the way the High Priest approached the Holy of Holies. As he entered the tabernacle’s outer court, he first offered a sacrifice at the brazen altar. He then cleansed himself at the laver before entering the Holy place and finally the Holy of Holies. The sacrifice and cleansing are the first steps to the presence of God and point to Christ and His work of atonement. All the articles in the Holy place point to Christ and are a picture of our dependence on Christ. The Holy of Holies is a picture of resting in the presence of God while partaking of His abundant supply. God, through Christ, has restored His provisions and blessings to man. He wants us to manifest those blessings and be a blessing. Let us be a testimony to the world and bring honour and glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!
