We really need the Gospel of Jesus Christ .... Part 2

The heart of the Gospel is a relationship with God.

Paul describes it in these words:

Rom 16: 25:...to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past...  be glory forever through Jesus Christ.

The Gospel has the power to establish us, because it centres on proclaiming a Person and a relationship with him. The Gospel is not in the first place a set of rules for living or even a set of moral principles. It certainly never is just another religious system.

The Gospel introduces us to a relationship with a real Person, Jesus Christ. The Gospel is a proclamation about Jesus Christ.  He is the focus and the heart of the Gospel. 

It has often been said that "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."  The main thing in the Church of Christ is the Person of Jesus Christ.  We keep the main thing the main thing, in other words we keep a Biblical focus, when we focus on our relationship with Jesus.

The reason why we are so often tempted to rather focus on laws, rites and life’s principles than on a relationship with God, is because it is the easy way. It is like following a recipe or travelling according to a map. Following recipes, rules and maps may be easy, but it cannot change us.

Relationships, on the other hand, are dynamic. It is alive. It is challenged by changed circumstances and asks for creative effort, commitment and sacrifice born of the love on which the relationship is founded.

Paul calls the Gospel the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past.  The Gospel is a mystery that was revealed to us.  Before Jesus revealed that God’s Good News to us is our renewed relationship with him, personally, people always tried to appease God by rites, rituals and rules.   

Yet, in the Gospel preached by the Apostles – and here referred to as the Gospel Paul preached in particular, God chose to deal with a disobedient and impure humanity in a way that nobody considered possible before. God sent his Son to die in our place and carry our punishment and overcome our enemy: our evil human weaknesses. Jesus Christ came to live in every person who receives him and puts their faith in him. God has opened the way for all people to receive his forgiveness and restore their relationship with him. 

Paul calls it a mystery. How it works we don’t know, but that it works is beyond doubt.

As Christ takes control of our lives, he shares with us the power of his life.  The power of Christian living and the mystery of the Gospel is that we live by the power of Jesus Christ living in us. This is an exciting mystery and it is the heart of the Gospel and of Christian life.