The Gospel according to Paul
One of the main themes of the book of Acts is that the early church was empowered by the Holy Spirit to share the message of the gospel in ways that were relevant and life changing. They seemed to have very little hesitancy or reluctance to talk about Jesus or to share the message of the gospel. They also seemed to have what I would call a ‘broader based, ‘ gospel. Let me explain what I mean. We are inclined to understand the message of the gospel as a message about God’s saving grace of lost mankind through the death and resurrection of Jesus. And it is, however, for the early church, the message of the gospel was also a message about the nature and character of God. The message of salvations primary focus, is to challenge and correct our understanding and experience of God. It’s only as our understanding of God is corrected and rectified that we begin to understand who we really are.
Our salvation is more about being saved for, than it is about being saved from. We are saved from death and damnation, but that is not the ultimate purpose. The ultimate goal of salvation is to know God, and that is why in the early church the sharing of the gospel of salvation was usually about the character of God.
A W Tozer wrote:-
‘What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people group has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshipper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.’ —A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy.
The gospel that is God centred, rescues us from the power and guilt of sin so we can think rightly about Him. The God centred gospels will destroy our idols and reframe our understanding of God.
In our passage this morning we are considering Paul’s presentation of the gospel in his first recorded sermon, before we look at it let me give you some facts about it.
(1) This sermon was one which Paul spoke, by invitation.
(2) It was appropriate, dealing with the “law and the prophets,” which had been read before Paul spoke.
(3) It was addressed to those who were familiar with Judaism and with the Old Testament.
(4) It, not surprisingly, has many similarities to those sermons in Acts of Peter and Stephen.
(5) It does not deal with all of Israel’s history but with a very selective part of her history.
(7) It makes a great deal of use of the Old Testament Scriptures.
(8) It emphasizes the sovereignty of God in salvation.
Lessons we can learn
1. The gospel is about the God of history
When you read verses 17-25 it is amazing how many verbs that are used to describe God’s activity in the world
The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt; with mighty power he led them out of that country; for about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness, and he overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. All this took about 450 years. “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
There are about ten verbs in these few verses, God is present and active in time. He is not a God who sits back and spectates, rather he is intimately involved in His-Story. For the most part people have held a natural view of history that means they see history as linear – just a series of natural random events. There is no over-arching purpose. It just happens. And I suppose in the naturalist’s view, history will end. At least human history. Humans will eventually become extinct. This view of history breeds despair and pointlessness.
Biblically, history has a purpose, a direction, a centre, it has a goal. History is the unfolding of God’s redeeming purposes worked out in the context of mankind’s sin and rebellion.
The pivotal point of human history is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His actions reverse the direction of the human race; the old Adam is dead; the new Adam lives. The cross means the death of the old race and the resurrection is the beginning of a new one. The resurrected body of Christ is the first piece of a soon to be resurrected universe. All events in history must be interpreted in the light of Calvary and the empty tomb.
The Christian revelation provides a vantage point above and beyond history, a seat in the balcony, from which the historical drama may be recognized as a meaningful part of God’s divine plan. “By faith we understand,” says the author of the letter to the Hebrews. By faith man is “given” a divine standpoint from which to interpret reality. a Christian view of history rich in meaning where other views see only chaos. It is concerned not only with the process of history but with its goal. It makes sense. There is no more satisfying view. Segfried Schwantes
It’s because God is Lord of history, that right now counts forever.
2. The gospel is about the God who does not change.
One of the problems people struggle with when it comes to their thinking about God is that they wrongly believe that God of the New Testament is different or better than the God of the Old Testament.
Listen to these words
Agnostic Charles Templeton ‘The God of the Old Testament is utterly unlike the God believed in by most practising Christians. He is an all-too-human deity with the human failings, weaknesses, and passions of men—but on a grand scale. His justice is, by modern standards, outrageous, and his prejudices are deep-seated and inflexible. He is biased, querulous, vindictive, and jealous of his prerogatives.
But if we look closely at our verses we see that history is full of the grace of God. God chose, made, prospered, led, endured, overthrew, gave (3) and testified. All these verbs speak about the grace of God. And as Paul was speaking he was challenging how his Jewish audience understood God.
It could be said that in the New Testament, the volume is turned up in regard to this aspect of God’s character. Through the words and works of Jesus we come to see this merciful, compassionate God in action.
The bible speaks about the immutability of God. That means he cannot change in any way. ‘God cannot change for the better. Since He is perfectly holy, He has never been less holy than He is now and can never be holier than He is and has always been. Neither can God change for the worse. Any deterioration within the unspeakably holy nature of God is impossible.’ A W Tozer
3. The gospel will challenge our understand of God.
The second part of Paul’s sermon is found in verses 26-37. In this section Paul draws a huge contrast between the Messiah who God sent and the Messiah they wanted. Listen to what Paul says, ‘The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. When Paul says the people of Jerusalem did not recognise Jesus, he uses a word that means, to not know, to ignore, to be ignorant, to pay no attention to, to be unaware. They could not grasp why the God they worshipped would ever send a Messiah like Jesus.
They wanted a messiah who was strong and triumphant, a messiah who would not suffer, not a vulnerable messiah who would accomplish God’s purposes through suffering and death. For the religious authorities in Jerusalem the grace of God was offensive. To discover that God’s love can never be earned or deserved, and that God will never owe us anything can be a shock to us, and can really dent our pride.
For many people, both those who are Christians and those who are not, the message of grace can be a problem. The Jesus of the gospel needs to threaten and destroy our confidence in self and all sense of entitlement so we are able to receive his grace. God of the gospel is a God who is contrary to everything most people consider important. We are brought up to love power, prestige, position and performance, all the things Jesus the messiah avoided. Even though these people were steeped in the Old Testament, and read the prophets every Sabbath, they were unable to recognise or receive the heart of God as it was revealed in Jesus.
Jesus’ messiahship teaches us that God does His greatest work through vulnerability and weakness.
4. The Gospel is about the kingship of Jesus.
Paul comes near to the end of his sermon with these words, ‘But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he was seen by those who had travelled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people. 32"We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors 33he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: "'You are my son; today I have become your father.’
In these verses Paul uses the word raised twice. On the first occasion in verse 30 he is referring to Jesus being raised from the dead. However in verse 32 he is not talking about Jesus resurrection but his ascension and coronation.
The Jesus whom the religious authorities had rejected and killed, had now been raised from the dead by God, however, God raised him from the dead with the expressed purpose of crowning him king of the universe. That is why he quotes the second psalm, which is a coronation psalm.
This again is a massive confrontation both for the people who were listening to Paul, and to us. The problem is that most people want to have a relationship with Jesus on their terms. But the message of the gospel is not a negotiation, because, Jesus has been raised from the dead, and raised to the highest throne and is KING. He is Lord and Saviour. Jesus’ resurrection and ascension take away all legitimate rights of self determination. King Jesus has the right to demand our exclusive allegiance and obedience.
5. The gospel will dismantle our false religious practices.
Listen to how Paul concludes
“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.’’
We need to try and sit with Paul’s audience as they listen to these words. Many of the practising Jews of Paul’s day completely misunderstood the purpose of the law. The growth of the Pharisee movement between the Old and New testaments caused a belief to grow, that keeping the law was a means of salvation. This belief became ingrained in many. Now here was Paul saying ‘your keeping of the law has no saving power.’
It is easy for any of us to develop beliefs or practices that are not biblical, or they can come from a misunderstanding of the word of God. The gospel needs to threaten wrong held beliefs so we can embrace the hope of the gospel. To hear that justification was not obtainable under the law, was a theological ‘wrecking ball,’ that would have demolished strongly beliefs.
6. The message of the gospel brings us into freedom.
Paul says:-
‘I want you to know that through Jesus, the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin.’
This is amazing, through Jesus, forgiveness and freedom from every sin. The gospel is much more than a ticket to heaven. It is the transformational power of God working in the life of people, making them like Jesus. God breaking the power of sin in our lives is how He accomplishes His will in us.
Conclusion.
As we listen to Paul’s first presentation of the gospel, let us think of these questions.
Is my understanding of the gospel similar to Paul’s?
In what ways has the gospel changed my thinking about God?
How should a Christian understand history?
Can Jesus be a Saviour and not be Lord?