The Beginning of the Gospel

     Computers!  They are certainly the electronic marvels of this modern day, but they sure can be frustrating.  A week ago, I had started typing this message—a reworking of a sermon preached recently in our church.  The other day, my son, the computer whiz, at my request, changed the program I was using, and was very careful to save my message onto a disk.  Then, this morning—POOF, lost in cyberspace!  Now I know why they call it a “disk drive”—it drives people to go back to pencils and paper.

     Not really wanting to deal with this, I retreated to my study and read a pastor’s story of how the Holy Spirit “urged” him to not share a previously prepared sermon, when the people at the conference needed a “fresh word.”  My computer put it this way:  “…setup did not save the original system files, or the information has since been deleted.”  Now, I have no doubt that my son “saved” the message, but I also have no doubt as to Who deleted it—the Holy Spirit.  It was not that it was doctrinally wrong, but the Lord knows what He wants you to read and hear as you hold this paper in your hands, especially as Valentine’s Day approaches.  As we are hit with images of flying cupids and love depicted as only romantic feelings, it will be important to know and remember what true love is all about.

     Right now, turn to Mark 1: 1-20 to see what I’m talking about and read it..  Mark begins his gospel with the words, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”  Even in the original Greek, this is not a full sentence, but only a phrase.  Look carefully—there is no verb.  Praise God—He doesn’t need a verb, for Jesus is one!  And Mark makes this very clear—God is not just a God of words, teachings, and doctrine—He goes far deeper, all the way to action!  Forty-two times, Mark uses the word “immediately,” or variations of it.  Forty-two times!  But it wasn’t just Mark’s idea—every word was inspired by the Holy Spirit!  One can’t get any more active than that—and I am not referring to keeping active or busy with religious things.   The greatest “thing” ever done for the Lord in early Christianity was to lovingly wait for Him in the very beginning for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and not running all around trying to serve Him in the flesh.   This “beginning,” in verse 1, is a crucial word.  In the Greek, it is “arche”, as in “archaic,” and its definition carries with it the analogies of traveling on a road or the drawing of a line on a piece of paper.  Neither happens before the thought of it is conceived in the mind.  Once this does happen, the pencil can touch the paper and the first step can be taken on the road.

     Mark, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says that this is true of the gospel itself.  This gospel, “euanglion,” by definition, is the glad tidings of Christ and His salvation.  Often it is translated simply as “Good News.”  Just as the line to be drawn is conceived first in the mind, and then becomes reality on the paper, the “gospel” is conceived in the mind of the Old Testament, and before that, in the mind of God.  2 Samuel 18 tells of King David waiting for the messenger to come with the “Good News” of the ensuing battle and the fate of his rebellious son, Absolom.  While so many today are redefining the gospel to be a “grace” that gives a license to sin, the Bible makes clear that it is really judgment upon sin and the rebellious ones who hold to it.  Many don’t understand this, but it is God’s love exemplified. Absolom was dead, and so was his rebellion.  The cross of Jesus Christ calls one and all out of sin, and the gospel provides the power to do so, namely, the Holy Spirit.  This is true love; this is Good News!

     Mark even stipulates in the very next verse where this gospel begins—“As it is written in the prophets, Behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.  The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”  Originating in the mind of God, put into the minds of the prophets, and then, when John the Baptist “hits” the road, the gospel actively begins.  The pencil hit the paper and the line was drawn—ritualistic religion or a redeemed relationship—which would it be?  Empowered by self or empowered by Spirit?  John the Baptist said it clearly, “I indeed have baptized you with water: but He shall baptize you with Holy Ghost.” (1:8)  As soon as Jesus came up out of the water, He Himself was immersed, or “baptized,” in Holy Spirit.  Why would His plan for our lives be any different?    If He needed to be baptized in Holy Spirit, why would His Body, the true Church, not need it?  Many just want to ignore the Holy Spirit altogether, staying in their comfortable places of believing something intellectually, “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” (2 Tim. 3:5)  Others are intent on going beyond Scripture, focusing on barking, twitching, and even drooling as so-called manifestations of the Holy Spirit.  Both are off in their own little worlds, totally missing the true understanding of God’s love, which is His Kingdom.

      When Mark tells us that “Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel,” he was not referring to a different gospel than any body else in either the Old or the New Testament.  There is not a gospel of grace that is different from the gospel of the Kingdom, or, even of Jesus Christ Himself—all three being Scriptural statements.   Some suggest that Paul was the only one entrusted with the “gospel of grace,” and the “other” gospels, including Christ’s, are for the Jews.  Pretty handy way of doing away with the reign of Jesus over daily life—or so they think!  Remember—it was Paul who told the Corinthians, “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel…a door was opened unto me of the Lord.” (2 Cor. 2: 12)  Oswald Chambers once wrote, “Paul was devoted to a Person, not a cause.  He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s.  He saw nothing else and he lived for nothing else.”  It was Paul who “determined not to know anything…except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:2)   The fact is, there is only one gospel and it is all of these things put together—the glad tidings of Christ and His salvation that is always calling you deeper into the intimacy of His heart and always empowering you to do so through the power of the Holy Spirit.  A.W. Tozer once wrote, “Salvation comes not by “accepting” or “deciding” for Christ.  It comes in repenting and believing, that is, surrendering, to the Lord Jesus Christ, the whole, living, victorious Lord, Who, as God and man, fought our fight and won it, accepted our debt as His own and paid it, took our sins and died under the weight of them, rose again to set us free from their power, and now, through the fullness of the Holy Spirit, intends to dwell within each one of His own.  This is the true Christ, and nothing less will do.”  This is His grace and His Kingdom; it is Jesus Christ Himself.  It is the love and mercy of God expressed in judgment against sin.  Could there really be anything more loving than Him convicting you of your sin—right now, even immediately—while there is still time to repent and get right with a holy God? 

     We see this clearly in what happens next.  Jesus calls two fishermen, Peter and Andrew, to follow Him, “and straightway they forsook their nets and followed Him." (Mark 1: 18)  Literally, from the Greek, it means that they sent forth their nets away from themselves.    It is a spiritual picture of letting go of yourself and your own ways of “netting” what you think is important in life.  A little further down the beach, He finds James and John, mending their nets—literally, a putting of them into an appropriate condition, and “straightway He called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after Him.”  No looking to get out of the reign of God here!  They had been trying to put their own lives in order, with their own understanding of love, grace, and authority—and along comes Jesus, who is all of the above—ready, willing, and able to put these new followers into the appropriate condition—loving servants of the King!

     If this is what you want, and in fact, know that you desperately need, then put everything else aside and begin to truly seek only Him—immediately!   This is the beginning of the gospel—God is love!  Will you love Him in return?

Throughout the year 2001, we will be providing you with Bible readings from Genesis to Revelation to help you grow under His authority and in His love.

February 1             Num. 8-11                              16            Deut. 32-Josh. 1

2              Num. 12-15                                            17            Joshua 2-5

3              Num. 16-19                                            18            Joshua 6-9

4              Num. 20-23                                            19            Joshua 10-13

5              Num. 24-27                                            20            Joshua 14-17

6              Num. 28-31                                            21            Joshua 18-21

7              Num. 32-35                                            22            Joshua 22-Judges 1

8              Num. 36-Deut. 3                                    23            Judges 2-5

9              Deut. 4-7                                                24            Judges 6-9

10            Deut. 8-11                                              25            Judges 10-13

11            Deut. 12-15                                            26            Judges 14-17

12            Deut. 16-19                                            27            Judges 18-21

13            Deut. 20-23                                            28            Ruth 1-4

14            Deut. 24-27                                            29            1 Sam. 1-4

15            Deut. 28-31                           

 

March 1 1 Sam. 5-8                                              3              1 Sam. 13-16

2              1 Sam. 9-12                                            4              1 Sam. 17-20