GodReflection: Power Words

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; – Psalms 95:6

Gospel is a word so common within the community of Jesus followers that we often use it as a catchall word that drains its meaning into pale syllables with vowels.

As a sampling of an seemingly endless list, there is gospel teaching, gospel papers, gospel sermons, gospel music, gospel singing, gospel doctrine, country gospel, Blue Ridge gospel, sound gospel, and prosperity gospel. Few of these uses relate to gospel.

In New Testament Scripture gospel is a noun.

It is hard to overstate the power of the gospel.

The gospel is no less than the announcement of the divine act of God. 

The gospel is God’s proclamation that through the death of Son Jesus on a cross, his burial, and resurrection, it’s possible for me to become perfect and sinless just as Adam and Eve were prior to the Serpent encounter.

God makes this available to me in spite of my current fallen Adamic nature.

The Apostle Paul defined the gospel as, the display of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

He also encouraged his young cohort Timothy to remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David . . . is my gospel.

All the sermons in the Acts of the Apostle follow the same outline:

You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this . . . you acted in ignorance . . . . Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

Gospel Proclamation as defined by sermons in the Book of Acts, correlate to the same usage in the New Testament Letters.

It is an announcement that the ball is now in my court. God served up salvation. To receive the gift is up to me. It’s free. I have only to decide yes or no.

The gospel unites me as a brother to all of Jesus disciples. We live unified through the death, burial, and resurrection. We are sons and daughters of the Father of the universe and brothers and sisters of Jesus. We live as Jesus’ body in living testimony to the gospel.

Allow me a sidebar.

Since all followers of Jesus are in growth mode, we undermine the unity of Jesus’ body when we make unity rest on a common detailed understand of Scripture. A unified church becomes reality when we base our love for each other upon the receipt of God’s gift of grace through the gospel.

Jesus left his followers a wonderful symbol in bread and wine. Through the consistency of bread and the red juice of the grape the gospel stands ever before me. Jesus gave his body and his blood to atone for my sin. If I accept his gift I live sinless under his cover of grace. That is the gospel. That is the good news.

The good news of the gospel stands in first place on my thankful list. The gospel is the announcement of God’s grace. Gospel stands tall at the top of all words that drive my 24/7 walk and worship. Talk about a power word.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary Sorrells – A GodReflection on the Power Word Gospel.

Gary@GodReflection.org  www.MakeYourVisionGoViral.com