The
Gospel of Jesus Christ – Man’s Second and Last Chance
When Christians are asked to interpret the phrase “the
Gospel of Jesus Christ”, they will undoubtedly offer differing opinions. Hopefully
they will all relate the term “Gospel” to its most positive form of “Good News!”
(https://strongsconcordance.org/results.html?k=Gospel ; https://biblehub.com/greek/2097.htm#:~:text=2097%20euaggel%C3%ADz%C5%8D%20%28from%202095%20%2Fe%C3%BA%2C%20%22good%2C%20well%22%20and,of%20%22the%20good%20news%22%20%28the%20Lord%27s%20glad%20tidings%29. [As
an aside, according to our Strong’s Expanded Concordance, the word “gospel” is
found more than 100 times in our Bible, but only in the New Testament.]
Where Christians differ is likely to be in the way we identify
our Lord Jesus and the blessings which we have received from Him. In this post
I’d like to review some of those blessings He has given us and how they came
into being.
Of all the verses in our Bible, I believe there are two
passages of “Gospel” that are most critical for Christians to know and
understand. However, before I discuss
them I’d like to address the issue raised in the title of the post…”Man’s
Second and Last Chance”. To provide the
context for that phrase, it is only necessary to review the earliest parts of
the Bible.
Note in the Book of Genesis in Chapter Two, the LORD God
had created a perfect Earth, and within it the perfect Garden of Eden. In the Garden He placed “the man whom He had formed
(Adam).” (Verse 8) As you will recall,
the LORD God placed only this one stipulation on the man Adam: “16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat:17 But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17)
That directive from the
Creator LORD God gave man his first opportunity to live a blessed
and eternal life in harmony with God. We understand that there would not have
been the need for a “second chance” if the man Adam had only believed God. We also
now understand through the Scripture that man forfeited his totally
blessed Earthly life leading to death (due to physical and mental hardships), and
forfeited his eternal life in harmony with God (the “Second Death”), because of his unbelief and disobedience.
(Genesis Chapter Three; Revelation 20: 11-15)
However, what some Christians
may not fully appreciate is what we would later learn through the Scripture. It was the same LORD God (Jehovah) who had determined
the penalty for man’s disobedience, who would Himself (our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ) pay that severe penalty so that mankind could escape the “second
death”. (https://www.gotquestions.org/is-Jesus-Yahweh.html ; Isaiah 45: 18; https://www.gotquestions.org/meaning-of-Yahweh.html ; John 3: 16-18, 12: 44-45; 2 Corinthians 5: 14-15)
Now we understand that
through His love for us as His favored creation, our Lord Jesus has provided
the “Second Chance” for man, as noted in the title. As the ultimate expression of His Love for
man, all He asks is that we believe what He has done for us. His sacrifice brought us His “mercy” for the
sins we committed…and His “grace” giving us blessings we did not earn or
deserve.
As I noted in the third
paragraph above, there are two passages in our Bible that describe what we are
to believe. These messages were revealed to the Apostle Paul by the Ascended
Lord Jesus, and are the keys to both the eternal salvation of our souls, and our
access to the many other blessings we could receive during our Earthly journey.
These two passages are:
1. 1 Corinthians
15: 1-4
“15 Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also
ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also
ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again
the third day according to the scriptures: “ …and
2.
Romans 10:
1-13 (with special focus on Verses 9-13)
“10 Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For
I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5 For Moses describeth the
righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall
live by them. 6 But the righteousness which
is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend
into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) 7 Or, Who
shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 8 But what
saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is,
the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there
is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
These passages tell us not only what we (as both Jew and Gentile) must believe, but
also must be willing to confess verbally.
(Romans 1: 16-17; 1 Corinthians 1: 18)
Now I’d like to add some further
perspective on what the Lord accomplished on our behalf, and why there will be
no further “Chances” for restoration of our righteousness / “right-standing”
with God. Consider again the principle
of Bible study found in Romans 15:4, that says: “For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that
we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” (Our Old Testament contains a wealth of
relevant information which provides context for New Testament events.)
Remember that in Genesis Chapter Three, after
Adam sinned by disobeying the LORD God, he incurred the death penalty of immediate
spiritual separation from God, (Verse 9: “Where art thou, Adam?”); …and the
onset of the delayed process of physical death. God’s priority was to re-establish
Adam and Eve’s personal relationship with Him by bestowing His Righteousness on
them. He accomplished this by shedding the blood of an innocent animal to
clothe them, replacing their efforts (of self-righteousness) to clothe
themselves with aprons made of fig leaves. (Verses 7 and 21). Note that the shedding
of “innocent blood” would initiate the pattern ordered by the LORD for His Chosen Nation Israel during their worship and their
seeking forgiveness for their sins. (Leviticus 23: especially verses 27-28;
Hebrews Chapters 9 and 10) The shedding of His own innocent holy blood by
our Lord Jesus became the ultimate expression of His love for us, using this means
of securing righteousness for man. …
sometimes called the “Divine Exchange” – (https://christcrucified.info/teaching-tracts/the-divine-exchange-2/ ).
To understand how God accomplished this for us,
we return again to the Old Testament / Torah. The LORD followed up on the subject
of “innocent blood” by teaching Israel how God would use sacrificial blood to bestow
His Righteousness on man. The lessons He taught
Israel were specifically applicable only to them, and were only a “short-term
fix” (up to one year), to address their sinful behavior. Most of the efforts to
atone for sins were initiated by the individual members of the Nation of Israel
(Leviticus 1: 1-5). However, the most significant effort for atonement was that
undertaken by their High Priest on behalf of the entire Nation once every
year. That was “Yom Kippur”. (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/is-yom-kippur-in-the-bible/ ) It was that annual pattern of observance that
fatefully revealed the singular process that our LORD Jesus Christ would follow
once / a single time, to the benefit of all mankind. (Hebrews Chapters
Nine and Ten)
The structure and format for the Lord’s sacrifice for us began in
Exodus Chapter 25. The LORD spoke the
following to Moses on Mount Sinai, as instructions to the people of Israel: “And
let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to
all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of
all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” (Verses 8-9) (This was the first mention in the Bible that there
was an “original” of the tabernacle and its contents located in God’s Heaven.)
The LORD taught Israel through detailed instructions how to
construct the Tabernacle / Temple through which they would approach their God
Jehovah in worship, including seeking atonement for their sins against Him (Exodus
Chapters 25-27). He immediately followed the verses above with the instructions
for the construction of the tabernacle’s most holy content: the “Ark of the
Covenant”. (Verses 10-21). Key to the construction of the Ark was the “Mercy
Seat” which sits above it. Whether the Mercy Seat was atop the Ark of the
Covenant in Israel’s Tabernacle / Temple, or the original in God’s Heaven, it
is the place on which the blood of the innocent sacrifice was sprinkled. Only
the High Priest of Israel could perform that function for their Nation. (Hebrews
9: 19-28)
However, following His death, burial and resurrection, by serving
as our High Priest, our Lord Jesus carried His own precious, holy blood, to God’s
Third Heaven and sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat there. (https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Christ,-The-High-Priest ; https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-High-Priest.html ) As an aside, that is
why He had to remain without human “contamination” shortly after His
Resurrection. (John 20: 17)
In this manner, our Lord Jesus paid the dear price of His excruciatingly
painful suffering and death; shed His holy blood to atone for the sins of all
mankind; and made the blessed path to righteousness and eternal life available
to those who would believe in Him… and the Gospel of His Grace towards us that bears
His Name. (Isaiah 52: 14-15; 53: 1-12)
In my next post to this blog I will further discuss some of those additional
blessings available to believing Christians, and other New Testament names /
titles associated with this Gospel.
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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