Category: the Gospel

In the previous blog, we looked at how the perception of God profoundly influences individual lives and societies. Our understanding often stems from unconscious influences rather than intentional thought. The gospel’s expansion, as recorded in Acts, illustrates how the early apostles adapted their message to varied audiences with differing views of God, emphasizing the necessity of accurately conveying God’s nature.

During the first centuries of kingdom expansion, it became evident that the nature of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit (the Trinity) needed to be clarified. The results of this clarification come down to us in the form of creeds. While most of the early creeds focused on Jesus’s nature as both God and man, the early creeds began with a clear statement on the nature of God, implying that if we get it wrong about God the Father, we get the gospel wrong.

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible”(Nicene Creed).

The relevant question for us today is: What does our audience believe about God? Recently, our audience for the gospel has been mainly a mix of believers and “God-fearers” with a small percentage of “others.”  That is no longer true.

Pew Research Center studies have shown that the number of Americans who believe in God with absolute certainty has declined in recent years. Conversely, the number of those who have doubts about God’s existence—or do not believe in God at all—has grown. 

The American Worldview Inventory is an annual nationwide survey conducted by the Cultural Research Center. A current survey reveals that only 6% of U.S. adults have a biblical worldview – a way of thinking and behaving predominantly driven by accepting biblical truths, precepts, and commands (including a concept of God).  Worldview Inventory of 2020 showed that:

•     Americans are now more confident about the existence of Satan than they are of God!

•     Only half of the nation accepts the orthodox biblical view of God as one who created and controls the universe; is omnipotent, omniscient, without fault, and just in His decisions.

Project Director George Barna stressed the significance of these new findings. “It’s no wonder that more than nine out of ten Americans lack a biblical worldview given that peoples’ fundamental understanding of the nature and existence of God is flawed.”

These trends raise questions: When people say they don’t believe in God, what are they rejecting? Are they rejecting belief in any higher power or spiritual force in the universe? Or are they rejecting only a traditional Christian idea of God – perhaps recalling images of a bearded man in the sky? Conversely, when respondents say they believe in God, what do they believe in – God as described in the Bible or some other spiritual force or supreme being?

Our picture of God is the starting point for understanding the gospel. If we add the gospel of Jesus to a distorted picture of God, we will get a warped faith.  For example, if our God is a cosmic genie, then the gospel becomes a means of narcissism, not kingdom transfer and a new creation.

Sixty years ago, I learned to share the gospel using “The Bridge” illustration. I would begin by drawing two cliffs on paper, each one representing God and Man. Then, I would ask the person to describe their picture of God, and as they did, I would note it alongside God on the diagram. I would consistently get a description that God was the creator, holy, sovereign, and sometimes judge.  The answers usually fit the standard Catholic/Protestant view of God. What was most often left out, however, was love. This omission gave the opening to suggest that God also loved them personally and that Jesus was the story of God’s love.

Today, we have a different audience. The cultural picture of God is more often that he is loving but not the Creator who is holy, sovereign, and just. “God loves me; that is what he is supposed to do, right?”  The Worldview Inventory found that 71% of Americans “have no doubt God loves them unconditionally” (think Santa Claus).

With an increasingly biblically illiterate culture, we need to ask, “What picture of God is necessary before a person can understand the gospel?” We don’t need to present a course in Old Testament theology, but we do need a starting foundation.  How would you describe the God who is the source and author of the gospel?

Several attributes come to mind when I think through the Old Testament narrative. Each one impacts the gospel of Jesus and his kingdom.

• There is one God (Deut. 6:4; Isa 46:9).
• God is self-caused and has no beginning (Gen. 1:1).
• God is the creator of the cosmos, both seen and unseen, nature and humanity (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 41:12; 45:18).
• God is relational (Gen. 3:8+).
• God is sovereign over all he has created, owner, Lord (Isa. 40:21-26).
• God is holy, totally other than what he has created, morally pure, no evil in him (Isa. 6:1+; 46:5).
• God is just and fair, the judge of righteousness (Isa. 61:8).
• God is loving, kind, and compassionate (Psalm 136; Isa. 63:7-8).

In his book “What’s Gone Wrong with the Harvest,” Dr. James Engel popularized the idea that people are on a journey towards comprehending and responding to the gospel. He divided that journey into eight steps, from -8 to 0. At the -8 stage, people are discovering that there is a God and what he is like. Once a foundation of God is established, the gospel can be introduced and gradually understood until it is accepted.  Engel’s point is that people make a series of decisions along their journey to authentic faith, and it begins with their picture of God.

If God is the beginning of the gospel, one of the most important questions we can ask someone is, “What is your picture of God?” 

The gravest question before the Church is always God Himself.

(AW Tozer)

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 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.  …..   For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man or woman is not what he or she at a given time may say or do, but what he or she in their deep heart conceives God to be like.  We tend, by a secret law of the soul, to move toward our mental image of God.  (AW Tozer, “The Knowledge of the Holy”)

Each of us has a default picture (more likely a caricature) of God lodged in the cognitive unconscious that affects how we live. That picture was not developed by some rational, intentional process. Instead, it was unconsciously developed as the result of anecdotal evidence, experiences, and the influence of those we admire—parents as well as music stars. Regardless of the source, our view of God will be distorted if not corrected by biblical revelation.  The answer to the question, “What is God like?” plays a critical role in the expansion of the gospel of the risen king.

After the resurrection, Jesus told his disciples to wait until they received the Holy Spirit before launching his kingdom expansion. Then, they were to be his witnesses “both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). It was to be a systematic expansion from the center of Jerusalem out to the nations in an ever-expanding radius.

The gospel expansion was not just geographically outward but also outward toward people with a different worldview: a different view of God. In Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, the people shared the same picture of God as the Yahweh of Hebrew Scripture. That would not be true in the “remotest part of the earth.”

Luke records the implementation of the Acts 1:8 strategy in the Book of Acts. It begins with Peter’s message at Pentecost in Jerusalem, where Jews were gathered from various far-reaching locations. Next, the Apostle Philip expands the Acts 1:8 strategy when he goes to towns in Samaria. Samaritans were part Jewish and believed in the Yahweh of Scripture but had some different cultural and cultic practices.

After Paul was converted (Acts 9), he went to Damascus, about 135 miles north of Jerusalem. His purpose was not to arrest Jewish followers of the Way but to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. Although the location was outside Israel’s borders, his audience was still Jewish. 

But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ (Acts 9:22). 

The next expansion of the gospel comes when Peter connects with a centurion named Cornelius, a Roman Gentile living in the coastal town of Caesarea.  This is our first record of the gospel expansion into a non-Jewish culture.  Although Cornelius was a Gentile, we are told that he is “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually” (Acts 10:2).  He was called a God-fearer or a Jewish proselyte who worshipped Yahweh of Scripture but did not conform to all the Jewish practices.  God-fearers were commonly found in the synagogues throughout the diaspora.

Directed by an angel, Cornelius sent for Peter, but he didn’t know why. Upon Peter’s arrival, Cornelius explained, “I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord” (Acts 10:33).

Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation, the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him. “The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all) (Acts 10:34-36).

Peter immediately spoke about the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord since Cornelius, a Jewish proselyte, shared the Jewish view of Yahweh. However, the further away from Jerusalem the disciples went, the less true that would be.

For example, when Paul went to Athens (Acts 17), he first started in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, but he did not remain there. He also went into the marketplace, where he talked to the Stoics, Epicureans, and anyone else interested:  Gentiles with various views of what God was like. 

The Stoics believed in God as the rational order found in nature, and living in harmony with this divine reason would lead to virtue and happiness.  In their understanding, God is not a personal deity but simply the organizing principle of the cosmos.  It is a form of pantheism.  The Epicureans believed the greatest good is to seek modest pleasures to gain a state of tranquility, freedom from fear, and absence from bodily pain. To Epicureans, the gods did exist, but they lived so far away from the affairs of Man that they didn’t interfere with humanity.

Paul’s message aroused the curiosity of people who like to discuss new ideas, so they invited Paul to the Areopagus to hear more. Now, talking to Gentiles without a Jewish concept of God, Paul focuses on their alter to the “Unknown God.”  He said, “What you worship, I proclaim.”  The unknown God is knowable. So, what is this “Unknown God” like?  In this case study, we find that Paul doesn’t begin with the story of Jesus but the story of Yahweh.

(Acts 17:23-31)

Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

Having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead (The proof of this Man’s credentials is that God raised him from the dead. God is even sovereign over death.)

The God who made the world and all things in it (Creator of the cosmos, distinct from the cosmos, creator of the visible and invisible).

since He is Lord of heaven and earth (God is sovereign over all He has created, Master, Owner)

does not dwell in temples made with hands (God is an invisible reality, too complex to be confined to a physical space such as a temple, pagan, or Jewish.)

nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything (He does not need humans for anything, not a quid pro quo relationship; God is self-sustaining)

since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things (He is the source of life to nature and humans; it is a gift from the God who is generous)

and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth (He is sovereign over the affairs of men. He started with one person and intentionally developed families, tribes, and nations. He is both transcendent and immanent.)

having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation (He is sovereign over the affairs of men)

that they would seek God if perhaps they might grope (feel) for Him and find Him (God’s purpose for humanity is to discover God by experience. He wants to be known and has made knowing him possible.)

though He is not far from each one of us  (God is immanent but invisible)

for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’  (We live because of his providential love)

“Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man (We cannot reduce God to something He has made; he is totally other, holy)

 “Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent (God graciously overlooks our ignorance to offer us a way to turn around and know him. It is an offer, an invitation for everyone, everywhere.)

because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness (God is the judge of the affairs of men. He is also righteous, holy, and just, The ultimate source of morality.)

through a Man whom He has appointed (God has provided a unique Person in time, space, and history who will be this Judge; He is already present.)

 (The proof of this Man’s credentials is that God raised him from the dead. God is even sovereign over death.)

Paul was not presenting the gospel message but describing the God of Jewish Scripture. Paul didn’t refer to the gospel theme until he established the foundation of God’s (Yahweh’s) nature.  Only when he presented God as Judge did he introduce Jesus as the “Man” God will use to bring about judgment, a “Man” God raised from the dead.

The response of the crowd varied: some scoffed; some were curious. The curious listened to Paul explain the gospel of Jesus and his kingdom.  We assume some became believers (Acts 17:32-34).  The point is that Paul started at a different place when his audience lacked a view of God necessary for the gospel.

(To be continued.  The next blog will relate this theme to our current culture.)

Over the past several years, I have used this blog to share my insights and observations on discipleship. Discipleship and making disciples have been the focus of my life and ministry for the past 60 years. The blogs and the trilogy, “Rethinking Discipleship,” emerged from them as a result of a long journey of exploring, learning, teaching, and mentoring. All of the above was based on the conviction that “making disciples” lies at the heart of the Great Commission. Christians need spiritual teachers, parents, and mentors who not only teach them biblical truth but equip them to live the Christian life. I still have that conviction.   

My passion for discipleship and ministry is deeply rooted in the ministry of The Navigators, founded by Dawson Trotman during WWII.  As an avid evangelist, Dawson Trotman had an aha moment one day when he picked up a hitchhiker who began his conversation with a string of profanities.  Dawson eagerly began to share the gospel with the young man when he suddenly realized he had shared the gospel with this same young man a few weeks earlier along this same road.  The young man who had committed his life to Christ earlier now showed no signs of spiritual growth.  Trotman concluded that leading people to faith was insufficient; they needed “follow-up.”

So, when Billy Graham expanded his evangelist crusades in the US in the 1950s, he asked Dawson Trotman and the Navigators to help develop the “follow-up” material for new converts. Graham knew that the thousands of new converts from his crusades needed help and Trotman specialized in helping new Christians grow.  I am a product of that rich heritage.  

Over the last 75 years, the focus on follow-up, or discipleship as we now call it, has birthed numerous organizations and created a plethora of materials to help build on the foundation of the gospel. There is no question of the importance of building people up in the faith.  Paul said, “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and another is building on it” (1 Corinthians 3:10).

However, recently, a troubling question has been on my mind. With the lack of spiritual fruit still so prevalent in the church today despite all our discipleship efforts, is there more going on than a need for better follow-up, better materials, and better mentors?  Using the title of a book by Dr James Engel in 1975, I want to ask, “What’s Gone Wrong with the Harvest?”

Where is the spiritual maturity and fruitfulness that should be evident from the gospel?   Why is spiritual maturity still the exception rather than the norm among people who identify themselves as Christians? Could it be that fruitlessness is the result not only of insufficient discipleship but of an incomplete understanding of and inadequate response to the historical gospel?

For the past several years, I have been reading, studying, and reflecting on what has become a critical assessment of my understanding of the gospel and how I present it. One of my early conclusions is that the historical “Gospel” is more of a narrative to be told and less of a doctrine to be asserted. I have concluded that the historic gospel is the narrative of the Lord Jesus Christ, which I call the Gospel of the Risen King.

Since that initial conclusion, I have continued exploring this gospel theme, asking myself if my culture has distorted my understanding of the gospel and if I need to take a fresh look at this critical foundation of the Great Commission. The more I researched this gospel theme, the more I discovered I was not alone. Others have been there before me and have voiced similar concerns. My list of mentors in this quest continues to grow.  One of them is AW Tozer.  More than half a century ago, he wrote,

Something is wrong somewhere.  Could it be that the cause behind this undeniable failure of the gospel to effect moral change is a further-back failure of the messenger to grasp the real meaning of the message? Could it be that, in his eagerness to gain one more convert, he makes the Way of Life too easy?  It would seem so.  In other times it was not an uncommon thing to witness the wholesale closing of saloons and brothels as a direct result of the preaching of the gospel of Christ in revival campaigns.  Surely there must have been a difference of emphasis between the message they preached in those days and the ineffective message we preach today.     ( AW Tozer, “The Set of the Sail”)   

 In the following blogs, I will share some of my research, studies, observations, hypotheses, and tentative conclusions. I am on a journey, shaking up and sifting some long-held assumptions. I am reminded of the Bereans in Acts 17:11.

 The people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. (NLT)

As I share my journey of asking questions and making observations, I invite you to join me by using my writing as a catalyst for your quest and discovery. Someone once told me, “We fail to get good answers because we don’t ask the right questions.”  So, in the journey ahead, I will ask questions that may challenge some long-held concepts. In the process, I want to more clearly understand the foundation of my faith

so that I can build on it and proclaim it with all the power it provides. With that as a preamble, I will use “The Gospel of the Risen King” as my working theme.

Here are a few of my observations that will be the framework for asking questions, making observations, and suggesting applications. One is the self-evident observation that the gospel has always been under attack. Since he could not prevent the gospel, Satan’s strategy is to distort it.   Paul not only had to present the gospel message but also defend it. Realizing that the gospel must be protected in each generation, he charged Timothy to “guard the treasure” entrusted to him.  He would say the same to us.      

Since the term is not used in the same way each time it is used in Scripture, we must first ask, “What is the gospel?”   To define the gospel message that has the power to “save,” we need to recognize the object of the preposition “of” as in the gospel of ____. Once defined, we can then ask whether or not we have added to it, subtracted from it, or distorted it.

The Gospel of the risen King has the power to bear spiritual fruit, create new life, and transform hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. If that is not happening, is something inherently amiss in our understanding and presentation of this gospel? 

Then, I want to explore the possibility that our gospel lacks power because it is under attack from cultural pathogens.  I have identified six current ones that I believe threaten the health of this gospel and rob it of its power. Once identified, each pathogen has a fairly obvious antidote. The hard part will be using it.

In the past, we have framed our gospel presentations on assumptions about our audience that are no longer valid. Therefore, we must look closer at our audience and adapt how we present the gospel to create understanding. With some audiences, the adaptation is minor; for others, it will take a major overhaul. The gospel of Jesus and his kingdom has the power to create new life and transfer people from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.  Reconciled and realigned with Christ as King, we then reflect Christ’s image from a transformed heart through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  As followers of the risen King, our mission is to be the vanguard, guarding the treasure of the gospel, telling His story, expanding God’s kingdom one life at a time, and living out the GOSPEL OF THE RISEN KING. 

The cross and the crown of Jesus represent basically the two major aspects of His work.  The cross represents His humiliation which includes His incarnation, demonstration, and crucifixion.  The crown represents His exaltation which includes His resurrection, ascension, coronation, and revelation.  More specifically the cross has come to represent the crucifixion, atonement, and His role as Savior while the crown represents His coronation, kingdom and His role as King.

Historically there has been a fragile relationship between these two major elements of the Christian faith.  Due in part to our tendency to polarize what we cannot harmonize, the church has swung back and forth between these two truths:  a pendulum swinging reductionalism.¹

During much of the 20^th century there have been reactionary debates between those who focused on the cross and those who emphasized the kingdom/crown.  As mainline denominations began to emphasize the need to usher in the kingdom now, they either marginalized or dismissed the necessity of the atonement/cross.  More conservative camps reacted by emphasizing the cross and personal redemption thereby marginalizing the crown or relegating it to a future (eschatological) dimension.  The unintended consequence was a truncated gospel of sin management in which salvation is essential but discipleship is an elective.

The tension resurfaced in the latter part of the 20^th century when there was a debate over “Lordship Salvation”.  It pitted the view that belief in Jesus as Savior was all that was required against those who stressed the need to believe in Him as Savior and Lord.

More recently the “missional movement” stressed the gospel through the lens of restoring our culture in light of the kingdom.  Much like the earlier movements, the focus on kingdom living polarized the discussion as it tended to marginalize the cross and the atonement.

A second contributor to this polarization is found in the overall theme we ascribe to Scripture.  Most would agree that the grand theme is the revelation of God, but what is it after that?  Various unifying themes have been promoted:  Atonement, redemption, kingdom, Christ, etc.  The chosen theme can unintentionally create a tension in the union between the cross and the crown.

A third contributor to this tension is the influence of symbols.  Throughout Christian and secular history the cross has survived as the primary symbol for the Christian faith.  It has not always been so.  The cross was rarely used as a symbol during the first four hundred years of Christianity.  Prior to Constantine the early church used various symbols of faith.

“Early Christians used a wide variety of symbols to express their faith. The second-century Christian teacher Clement of Alexandria identified a dove, a fish, a ship, a lyre, and an anchor as suitable images to be engraved on Christians’ signet-rings (or seals).” ²  Archaeologists have confirmed this in various discoveries.

“Among the symbols employed by the early Christians, that of the fish seems to have ranked first in importance.  Ichthus (ΙΧΘΥΣ, Greek for fish) is an acronym a word formed from the first letters of several words.  It translates to “Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior,” in ancient Greek.”³

 The symbol of the cross and crown together never quite caught on which is unfortunate in my opinion.  One reason could be that to draw a cross is much simpler than drawing a crown.  It is fairly easy to make the “sign of the cross” but the “sign of the crown” would take a lot more coordination!  So out of convenience we disconnected the theme of the kingdom of God and the atonement.

The atonement of Christ has both an individual and kingdom component.  Through the cross man’s rebellion to God’s authority (sin) has been dealt with and God’s wrath averted.  But the atonement has also set us free from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of God.  The atonement is both a substitution and a transference.  We have been brought into His story where we can now find our significance, identity, and responsibility.

I am sure the symbol of the cross originally carried with it the entire story of Jesus Christ the Lord.  But overtime and changing cultures, it has lost the context of the kingdom.  I am not crusading for a new, revised Christian symbol but rather a renewed union of the cross and the crown.  When the cross and the crown are united in our minds as the central theme of the gospel, then discipleship on the resurrection side of the cross will no longer be an elective but an essential and natural response.

1. The practice of simplifying a complex idea, issue, condition, or the like, especially to the point of minimizing, obscuring, or distorting it. For more background read The Crucified King, Jeremy Treat, Zondervan, pg. 26
2. Christianity Today, February, 2009, “When did the cross supplant the ichthus (fish) as a symbol of the Christian faith?” Everett Ferguson
3. New World Encyclopedia “Christian Symbolism”

The gospel (the good news, His story) is summarized in the three names most associated with the Son of God:  Jesus + Christ + Lord.  From Acts through Jude the New Testament writers use this composite 85 times in various orders:  the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ the Lord, etc.

There is a correlation between the defining moments in the story of the Son of God and the three names that form this triad.  “Jesus” is mostly associated with His earthly life from His incarnation (Act 1) through His demonstration (Act 2).  It is in the name Jesus that we most clearly get the concept that God has taken on flesh and blood, taken on our likeness.

“Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form” (Phil. 2:6-7)

The name Jesus or Joshua was a very common Hebrew name that meant savior.  Although there was a prophetic meaning that the angel gave it in his announcement to Mary (Matt 1:21), it was generally used to designate the man who was from Nazareth in Galilee, the son of Joseph and Mary, the man who became a great rabbi.  God could have selected it not only for its spiritual implication but for its commonness:  the One who lived among us.  The name Jesus clearly summarizes the initial story line of the gospel:  God now lives among us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

The name Jesus is used twelve times in the book of Revelation beginning in the first verse with “This is the revelation of Jesus Christ”.  The name Jesus clearly links the incarnate Son of God who walked on earth to the one who is now in the heavens retaining his identity with humanity.

The name Christ adds more to His story.  Christ, the anointed One, the Messiah, brings the Old Testament expectation of a Deliverer, a Restorer of Israel into the picture.  The name Christ or Jesus Christ was a very common way to refer to the Son of God on the resurrection side of the cross.

The Jews, although anticipating a Messiah, were not expecting him to be divine.  Certainly anointed by God, this deliverer was to be a nationalistic figure that would bring peace and prosperity back to the nation of Israel.  The Jewish antagonism towards Jesus increased as they realized the kingdom to which he referred was not a physical one.   It really escalated when they understood that He was not only claiming to be the way into a new kingdom but making a claim to deity.

The defining moments of His story from the crucifixion (Act 3) through the resurrection (Act 4) and to the ascension (Act 5 is certainly wrapped up in the name Christ.  In the name Christ we have Savior, Deliverer, and final High Priest captured in a name.

The final name in the triad, Lord (although present in the Gospels) was amplified with His ascended coronation (Act 6) and his final Examination (Act 7).   Without the Son of God as Lord, the gospel is incomplete.  It is as much a part of His story and the gospel as His incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection.  Paul in writing to the Philippians focuses His story on the final scene of history:  the universal confession that the Son of God is Jesus Christ the Lord.

“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW…and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11 NASB)

From the beginning to the end of the book of Acts, those that carried the gospel to their world told the story of Jesus Christ the Lord.

Peter

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).

Paul

“And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters … preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered” (Act 28:30-31).

With an increasingly biblical illiterate culture we cannot assume that when people think of Jesus they think correctly.  We may need to start a dialogue with questions like:

• “What do you know about the Jesus of the Bible?”
• “If I said the Jesus of the Bible is the most significant person in all of history, would you like to know why?”
• “Have you ever personally explored who Jesus is and what He claimed to be?”

The gospel is in the name.  It is in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that:

• We are to believe and find redemption.
• We discover the heart connection that has been lost
• We can boldly approach the throne of grace for help
• We live in victory over the forces of darkness including death
• We will one day live with Him in the new dimension of heaven called “home”

Act 7:  The Examination

The angelic audience, witnessing the epic drama of His story, now shift their focus from what is happening to what will happen.  For Act 7 they have been given the script for the final defining moment of the Son of God.  The details of their role are not yet complete, but they see enough to anticipate it with a combination joy and sorrow:  joy because they will get to announce His return and sorrow because they will help execute divine justice.

They are also amazed as they read the script to find people, especially those who read the Scripture, so cavalier about this final defining moment.  The angelic audience observes that people are living as though there is no continuity between their current life and the next.  They marvel that God’s people live as if there is no accountability for their lives…as though grace has wiped out personal responsibility.

The angels are especially perplexed that some would claim that the love of God will “win out” as if there is a competition within the nature of God in which one trait could trump the rest.  Considering the scope of Scripture, why would they have such a compartmentalized, mechanistic view of the nature of God in which certain traits can operate independently from the others?  The angels can only shake their heads in befuddled confusion.

In the scene yet to be played out on the stage of history, the music crescendos to a climax as the Son of Man (the previously invisible King) now takes his place as King Triumphant.  Accompanied by the hosts of heaven, He is announced with great power, splendor and glory for all to see.  When He returns, the living and the dead, the righteous and the unrighteous…all will behold Him (John 5:28-29).  No one is excluded.

Not only does He return as the visible King, but also as the righteous Judge.  It is this part of His revelation that brings sorrow to the angelic army.  They know that their task is to separate those who have a “kingdom passport” from those who don’t.  Every person’s passport will be checked identifying their picture, date of spiritual birth, and country of citizenship.  There are only two options: the domain of darkness or the kingdom of light.   They are tasked with the sobering role of escorting one group into the eternal presence of God and the other to a destiny without Him.  There is no second chance and annihilation is not an option.

It is this display of the righteous wrath of God that is most sobering.  Sobering because despite the clear evidence around them, people refused to believe, choosing darkness instead of light and slavery instead of freedom.  They were warned yet rejected the message.  They blew it off, rationalized it away, creating a caricature of God that made sentimental movies but ignored truth.  Maybe they thought that since justice was delayed, it would never come.  But now the righteous Judge is here and the justice of God is revealed.

Along with the revelation of Christ as King/Judge and the exposure of His legitimate family, there will also be the revelation of each person’s stewardship of the one life he was given.  The assessment will be personal, thorough, accurate, and fair.  There will be no excuses, alibis, or defenses.   The revelation will be accompanied by retribution and recompense (1 Cor. 3:11-15, 2 Cor 5:10).

Considering the implications of this critical event, the angels ponder why the family of faith basically ignores it even though Jesus taught it clearly in his kingdom parables.   Paul continued the teaching claiming that this day of accountability was a personal motivation for his life and work (I Cor 3:10-15; I Cor 4:1-5; I Cor. 5:6-10).

But maybe it was important to Paul (and not others) because his life’s ambition was to please the One who had called him.  To Paul, accountability was more than the gain or loss of rewards, but the desire to delight the One he had come to know.  To Paul (and some in the family of faith) pleasing Him (not to be confused with appeasing Him) was the central motivation for living as His ambassador.  Their greatest reward will be to hear the words, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

At this final scene of His revelation all humanity from the beginning of time will see His return.  He will be revealed as sovereign King and righteous Judge, returning with power and glory.  Finally, continuity will be comprehended, justice served, and consequences experienced.  His patience will end, the Book opened, hypocrisy exposed, and faithfulness celebrated.  His family, permanently transformed into a new expression of humanity, will perfectly fit the new dimensions of their eternal home.

With the curtain on the stage closed the post production party begins.  The star of the drama, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Lord, gives all the Oscars to the Father surrounded by the angelic hosts and His family of faith, each expressing worship in the language and music of their culture.

Although the curtain will come down on this epic drama, it is not the end.  It is only the end of the beginning.  With sin abolished, Satan banished, and time irrelevant, the journey of knowing Him will continue on forever in a renewed and recreated universe.