I AM THE GOSPEL Pt. 1

I have recently picked up a book from my personal library in order to reread it because I continue to witness an amazing paradigm in the body of Christ. It is not good. I am amazingly baffled by the deficiency in sound gospel proclamation among many preachers. When Jesus visited his hometown at the beginning of his earthly ministry Mark tells us Jesus "…marveled because of their unbelief" (Mark 6:6). That is an astonishing statement. In other words they didn't 'get it'. I say that to say that I too marvel at what I continue to witness.

I am referring to the lack of a sound understanding concerning the gospel of Jesus. Here is the first sentence at the introduction of Piper's book God is the Gospel.

Today-as in every generation-it is stunning to watch the shift away from God as the all-satisfying gift of God's love. It is stunning how seldom God himself is proclaimed as the greatest gift of the gospel.

He took the words right out of my mouth. He goes on to write.

But the Bible teaches that the best and final gift of God's love is the enjoyment of God's beauty. "One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple" (Ps. 27:4). The best and final gift of the gospel is that we gain Christ. "I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Phil. 3:8). This is the all-encompassing gift of God's love through the gospel—to see and savor the glory of Christ forever.

In place of this, we have turned the love of God and the gospel of Christ into a divine endorsement of our delight in many lesser things, especially the delight in our being made much of. The acid test of biblical God-centeredness—and faithfulness to the gospel—is this: Do you feel more loved because God makes much of you, or because, at the cost of his Son, he enables you to enjoy making much of him forever? Does your happiness hang on seeing the cross of Christ as a witness to your worth, or as a way to enjoy God's worth forever? Is God's glory in Christ the foundation of your gladness?

From the first sin in the Garden of Eden to the final judgment of the great white throne, human beings will continue to embrace the love of God as the gift of everything but himself. Indeed there are ten thousand gifts that flow from the love of God. The gospel of Christ proclaims the news that he has purchased by his death ten thousand blessings for his bride. But none of these gifts will lead to final joy if they have not first led to God. And not one gospel blessing will be enjoyed by anyone for whom the gospel's greatest gift was not the Lord himself.

The most recent gospel presentation I heard this week is when a pastor told his congregation that the reason Jesus died is because we are of tremendous worth. Now, yes, we are valuable. No Christian should dispute that. However we are to not take our sense of self-worth and make that the basis for why Jesus died. This destroys grace because it makes grace obligatory. This kind of gospel, if followed consistently, does produce praise, but it looks like this, "Jesus, I thank and praise you so much for saving me. I am happy to know that you recognized my worth and were willing to pay with the only currency that is good enough for this 'original'. I am unique. There is no one else like me."

Considering the man-centered view of the gospel that permeates much of Christendom I believe this kind of praise would be consistent. I have much to say about this, but I'll leave it at this for now. Again, the issue here is not whether we are worthy or not, but the issue concerns the basis for why Jesus died for us. I will try to explain this further in my own words as I work through God is the Gospel.