I?m one of those crazy folk that think that God?s message of salvation, the good news, breaks through into men?s lives in many different ways and models of presentation.
God is not a man that He has to expose Himself to men in only one way. He will reveal Himself through His Son and doing so attractively. I don?t mean that He softens His message to be acceptable, not at all. I?m saying that He will touch the heart in the way that is most pertinent to the recipient so that the recipient can understand. To the Jews He emphasized the fact that the Messiah would suffer. The Gentiles received a message that brought them near to the things which God had spoken in the Bible. To the sick, the message emphasized the newness of limb and life. To Paul, the message emphasized his persecution of the one who God had judged right.
The Holy Spirit, working in us who are saved, will make us attuned to this. When presenting the gospel to a Muslim, for instance, they may agree with every point except probably the last two?something that even many Christians might not accept as being part of The Gospel. When presenting the gospel to a pantheistic pagan, they would question ?which God??
Adrian makes a point to making the gospel understandable to children and I submit that even adults need to hear the gospel as children (not when they were children, but simply as children) to come to terms with it. What I don?t like so much is when someone takes a denominational stance and implies that it?s part of the Gospel. One of the things that really make me queasy is when I read, ?Reformed/Calvinist is the Gospel. I think I know what folk are saying when they make such a statement but I think they?re dead wrong in saying it.
That being said let me pare down what I think are some major unadulterated points of the Gospel?key features if you will?which make this message stand away from the crowd. Some of these points may be emphasized more than others when presenting to different folk, but I think all of these points make up the Gospel.
Men are guilty sinners. (In kid-speak. All people have sinned. That means that they have done wrong, said wrong and thought wrong?and they know it! These wrong things are all things that are against God?he?s not happy about it and it all makes Him very upset.)
Jesus is the Living God and He lived as a perfect man. (God is perfect. He doesn?t do anything wrong and God is also upset at all the sin that people do. So God sent His Son, and he became a man and walked here on Earth telling people how bad they were and that they had to trust Him to come into His kingdom.)
Men hated Jesus and killed Him just like the Bible said. (People didn?t like what Jesus was saying. His own people, who knew that God was gonna come and be a man just like them, hated Him! All those people killed Jesus?and He knew they were gonnna do it! He said that they were gonna do it! He had prophets write it down in the Bible and they still went off and did it. People?every boy, girl, man or woman?deserved that type of punishment?but we punished Jesus instead! He was the only one who never deserved it and he took that punishment anyway. God, Jesus? Father, didn?t stop it and destroy everyone but left His Son alone so that He could show His love for people one day.)
Jesus Christ rose from the dead proving men wrong and God right.(But Jesus, the Living God, proved men wrong by rising from the dead. There was no way He was going to let them have the last say and He?s God after all! He rose up proving that the message He was preaching was true?that trusting in Him, the Son of God, is the only way to have New Life!)
Anyone who realizes that they?re guilty and trust Jesus, the Living God, will have new life. The rest God will judge. (So Jesus is alive today, sitting in heaven next to His Father waiting for the day that He comes back to judge guilty sinners?like you and me. The only ones that will live are the ones who believe Jesus and trust Him that He is the one who saves! You have to look at yourself and know that you are a sinner?we all are?and that believing Jesus, trusting Him, is the only way that you will live!)
There you have it. I don?t know if Wink would be any happier or angrier. I don?t know if I will get angry accusations. Commentary?
-r-
Ref: John 1, 3, 5, 8, 11, 12; Romans 2, 3, 5, 8; 1 Cor 15; Galatians 3, 4; Hebrews 1, 6, 11 and countless others. Check my FAQ.