THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The purpose of the Gospel is to bring the good news of God’s salvation offer through His Son Jesus to all people of the world so that they might not perish in their sins but rather have everlasting life. This is what we looked at in yesterday’s message drawn from the first two verses of 1 Corinthians 15.

We learn from the purpose of the Gospel that salvation hinges on Jesus, the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world (John 1:19), the only One who can bring a person to God the Father (John 14:6).

In other words, Jesus is the heart of the Gospel.

This is the message we find the Apostle Paul sharing as he continues to write to the Corinthian believers in chapter 15. Here’s what he said:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Note that the Gospel wasn’t something constructed by Paul. He was only passing on what he had received. Paul had heard the good news of salvation himself after his Damascus moment with Jesus (see Acts 9:1-19) and when he chose to believe and follow Jesus, he also responded to the Great Commission with absolute commitment, heading out on four different missionary journeys to try and make disciples of all nations. One of those missionary journeys brought him to Corinth and he shared the good news of salvation through Jesus as a point of first importance. Nothing was more significant than helping the Corinthians to be saved.

Well, just in case the church in Corinth had forgotten Paul’s Gospel message, he gives them a refresher in our verses for today. Here’s a summation of what he wrote:

1. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

The coming of Jesus was foretold well before He actually was sent by God from Heaven to earth. The prophets told of a coming Messiah who would deliver the people of Israel. When Jesus came, He proclaimed Himself as the long awaited Messiah and made it clear as to why He had come. A holy, once and for all, atoning sacrifice was needed in order to pardon the sins of mankind. An animal wouldn’t do.

This sacrifice had to be perfectly sinless and no person on earth lived up to that qualification. Only God could provide the One who could achieve His salvation purpose and that One was Jesus, His Son, the man who represents the heart of the Gospel.

2. He was buried (and) that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures

Jesus told of what would happen to Him. Here’s what He said:

When they came together in Galilee, He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised to life.” Matthew 17:22-23

Jesus’ words became a part of the scriptures and everything He said would happen, did happen. After His death by crucifixion on Calvary’s cross, Jesus’ body was placed in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus where it remained until the third day. At dawn that day, women went to the tomb to anoint it but found the tomb empty. An angel asked them why they were looking for the living among the dead because Jesus was very much alive, resurrected by His Father God.

3. He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

Jesus didn’t just rely on the angel’s words convincing people He was still alive. He revealed Himself in person, first to the women who had come to pay Him honor, then to Peter (Cephas) before He appeared to His other chose disciples. He then showed Himself to more than 500 believers, James, to all the apostles, and then to Paul himself.

Many saw that Jesus had come back to life just as He said He would. They were eyewitnesses to the revelation of God’s salvation promise fulfilled through Jesus, His Son.

Today, we are still celebrating Jesus and the salvation we have in Him. In return, He continues to reveal Himself more and more to us through the scriptures. One day, we will be with Him forever and inherit the new kingdom of God because our eternal hope is secure through Christ, the Savior who is the heart of the Gospel. 

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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