The Gospel

0:00All right. There you go. Now it's now we're talking. Oh Lord. All right, as I was saying in the first four verses of the First Book of John, which we were going to look at today. We get a picture of the magnitude. That's a lot better. That's what I wanted to do. My voice is just not even there. Of the significance of the gospel. That's what we get here. And uh would you please stand for the reading of your word if we're able? We're gonna read the first John chapter one, verse one through four. And uh listen as he begins. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which have looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life. The life was manifested and we have seen it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which works with the Father and what's been manifested to us, that which we have seen and are will proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that your joy may be complete. Pray that you would speak to us, Father God, in Christ's sake.

2:06I think this is a little bit too loud. I'm gonna bring it down a little bit.

2:15Okay. Yeah, it's a little bit too loud. Thank you so much. Well, again, what we see here is a picture of the gospel, the nature of the gospel, and we also see the impact of the gospel. As he relates to the nature of the gospel, let's look at what he says here. That which was from the beginning. Now, ultimately, the gospel, if you just want to boil down, it's about the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Well, let's just look first at the person and the work of Jesus Christ. That which was from the beginning. Now, in that statement alone, that which was from the beginning means that Christ is eternal. He means that he did not come into existence in the manger. He means that he was, that he is, and that he is to come. Now let's listen to what Calvin writes commenting on this verse, the words, that which was from the beginning, referred doubt uh doubtless to the divinity of Christ. For God manifested in flesh was not from the beginning, but he who always was life and eternal word of God appeared in the fullness of time. There are so many who look at Jesus. And they say Jesus was a good man. Jesus is a good teacher. Jesus is a good prophet. But that's not enough. Because the gospel is about Jesus Christ and who He truly is. And we see here the existence of Christ in eternity. Now if we don't believe in the Jesus that existed in eternity, we don't believe in the Jesus of the Bible. And if we don't believe in the Jesus of the Bible, we cannot claim the salvation that the Bible offers you. It is only to that degree that we believe in Jesus as He's presented. That we believe the gospel. They got the right name. They even got the right period where he was on the earth. They even got some of the same sayings. There are phrases that they proclaim, there are phrases that they came out of straight at the mount of Jesus. But they're wrong. They're wrong in the person of Jesus. They're wrong in the nature of Jesus. And you press them on this issue. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is co-eternal with the Father? Which means, by the way, that he is God. That he is God Almighty. Not close to God. Not like God. Not almost to God. But that He is God. Do you believe that Jesus is God? Yahweh start with that which was from the beginning. If you want to understand the gospel, understand the nature and the person of Jesus Christ. That he is co-eternal with the Father. And let's listen to these verses here in Micah 5-2. But you, O Bethlehem Ephraim, who are to lead of the clans of Judah, where he came from. From you shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler of Israel, whose origin is from all and ancient of days. Talking about Jesus. John chapter 8, verse 58, where Jesus looks at the Pharisees and says, Before Abraham was, I am. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4, even as he shows us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 3, he is without father, or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God. He continues to priest forever. And then we get into Revelation chapter 1 and verse 8. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come. Revelation chapter 11, verse 7. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Who is this? This is Jesus. But he laid his hand on me, saying, Fear not. I am the first and the last, and the living one. I die, and behold, I'm alive forever, and I have the key of that of Hades. Now, Paul puts it this way in the book of Philippians. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ, whom being in his very form God, he considered not to be equal with God of something to grasp, but he makes himself of no reputation. Jesus is co-eternal with the Father. John is just not interested in telling us about Jesus who is eternal. He's interested in telling us about Jesus, who is the creator of the world. That which was from the beginning. What happened in the beginning? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. John chapter 1, verse 1 is, in the beginning was the word, and the world was with God, and the world was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him, nothing that was made is made. Colossians 1, 15 is a very similar scripture. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by him all things were made in heaven and on earth. Were the rulers or dominions or thrones or power? All things have been made by him and for him. Not only do we see Jesus in existence in eternity, but we also see Jesus creating in power. Listen to this from the Nicene Creed. We believe in God the Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds. God of God, light of life, very God of very God, begotten, not made. Being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made. Jesus Christ is the creator of all things. He's not just co-eternal with the Father. He's co-creator with the Father and He's the ruler of all things. There is nothing outside of the realm of his sovereignty or his power. That's who we're talking about. Not just a good teacher, not just a good man, but we're talking about the one who spoke the universe and existence. Jesus, who he is, and he is what I need, whether I know it or not. What else he said? Which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we should look upon. And have touch with our hands concerning the word of life. And by the way, these phrases are very important. And I'll tell you why. Because he's dealing with this Aryan heresy, which we we have it today. This idea that Jesus did not come in the flesh. The idea that Jesus was just a sort of a spirit thing. Sometimes he was this sort of docetic heresy. Now the difference between these two, one says that he was spirit being upon whom deity came. Others said he was a spirit being who never actually had anything other than the spiritual manifestation. But the idea is that matter is evil. Therefore, God would never sort of inhabit matter. So Jesus could not have a God unless he didn't really inhabit matter. He just looked like he did. Now John is dealing with this heresy. So what is he said? What we have heard matter. What we have seen with your with our eyes matter. What we have looked upon, matter. And touch with our hand concerning the word of life. Verse 2. The life was made manifest, and we have seen it and testified to it and proclaimed to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. That which we seen and heard will proclaim to you. The gospel is about Christ who existed before all things. The gospel is about Christ who created the world and all things in the world. The gospel is about Christ who revealed himself in time and history. That's what the gospel is about. And what he's saying is Jesus revealing self in space and time and history. And the historical facts matter. And if people are wrong on the historical facts, they're wrong on the gospel. Look at 1 John chapter 4, verse 2. By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and now he's in the world already. That's John's attitude. And he said, we're proclaiming to you the gospel, number one, we're proclaiming this Jesus who is eternal. We're proclaiming this Jesus who created the world. And we're proclaiming this Jesus revealed himself in the history in the human flesh. God wrought himself in flesh. And he came as a man. Now, by the way, that this is incredibly important. Why? Because that's the way he died for us as men. If Jesus was not really a man, we have no imputed righteousness. You can't get there from here. That's why John makes a big deal out of this. Because he said, if you begin to accept even in the smallest degrees what they're teaching, you will begin to undermine the doctrines upon which the gospel are built. And if you don't have imputed righteousness, you don't have the gospel. As simple as that. That's why this is a big deal, and that's why he uses this language. And he goes back again and again and again. What would we have seen? Which we have heard, what we have touched with our hands. Here's the other thing. Look with me at verse 2. The life was meant manifested. And we have seen it and testified to it and proclaimed to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us. That which we seen and heard, we proclaim to you so that you may have fellowship with us. Here's what's interesting. If you don't get this, you don't have fellowship with us. We're proclaiming this so that you can have fellowship with us. We see the exclusivity of the gospel here. This refills universalism. The sort of universal brotherhood of all of us will ultimately be saved. No. Without the proclamation of the gospel, there is no salvation. Without a response to the gospel, biblical response to the gospel, there is no salvation. There is no fellowship there. So he says these individuals are outside the camp. These individuals are outside the fellowship. In 1 John chapter 2, verse 2-19. They were not from us because they weren't all of us. If they were of us, they would have remained. But they went out so that it may be shown that they were not of us. See what he's doing here. Just in the next chapter, he's already dealing with the exclusivity of Christ. It is only through a right understanding of the gospel, and it is only through the appropriate response to the gospel that we have fellowship with Christ, and that we have fellowship with one another. Here's what's ironic. Many of us don't proclaim the gospel, we can think proclaiming the gospel is divisive. When in fact the opposite is true. It's only through the proclamation of the gospel, the true gospel, that we experience true unity. That's the fellowship that we have with one another. When we have fellowship with Christ, that's the gospel, that's what the gospel gives us. It's the gospel that unified us. You only have unity to the degree that we're tenacious about the gospel. So we're proclaiming this to you. Because we want you to have fellowship with us. Not because we want to drive you away. If you're wrong on Jesus, I have but one goal. And that one goal is for you to get right on Jesus. Why? Because if you're wrong on Jesus, you don't have unity with me. But that's the list of your problems. You don't have unity with God, and that's what the gospel does. And then, here's the last phrase. I love this. And verse 4, we are right in these things so that our joy may be complete. If you hold on to the gospel, to the true gospel, there is unity between us, and there is unity with you and the Father. And that makes my joy complete. Nothing should bring us more joy than seeing sinners with him. Because the most glorious thing in the world is. Makes my joy complete. In fact, the reason why we're committed to this format is because we believe that it is the most effective way to carry out the Great Commission. It's not about what we're against, but it's about what we're for. We're for the Great Commission. Before seeing people rich with the gospel and being taught to obey all the things that He taught us. And we believe the most effective place for that teaching of all things happen is in the house. It's in the home. That's what we believe. But it's not just about the homes we got. It's about the homes that we don't have yet. I pray that God will give me the attitude that is presented here. 1 John chapter 1, verse 4. My joy is not complete looking down on people just because they don't go where I go on Sundays. My joy is not complete what the gospel, my joy is only complete what the gospel penetrates the hearts and lives of lost sinners. Redeems this life, redeems their future, redeems their families. That's what we're about. Because when we understand the gospel, our joy is never complete. Unless and until the gospel is having its full impact and full effect here. And its full impact and its full effect out there. That's what we desire more than anything else. I want them redeemed. That's what I want. That's when our joy is really complete. Only at the point and only at the place of redemption. And that's what we're after. Do we always get it? No. We don't always get it. That's God's business. We just proclaim and continue to proclaim and proclaim. I don't just want you to do not bad things. I want God to save you. And for you to be a new creature in Christ. My prayer for you is that you will come to a place of authentic faith, genuine repentance before Almighty God, that you will trust Him and Him alone. The finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, his active and passive obedience, his imputed righteousness into you, and his substitute atoning dead on the cross. That and nothing but that. That you will see your sinfulness for what it is, that you will live from it with everything that you have. That you will turn from it and that you will turn to Christ and to Christ alone to be redeemed, to be forgiven, and to be saved. That's my prayer for you. And that as a result of that, that you become a new creature, that you will bear fruit, that you cannot man manufacture of faith on your own. And that you have unity with the brothers. Because you have unity with God. That's my prayer for you. My prayer is that you won't leave this place until you have that. Okay, thank you.

28:36Thank you.