The Gospel: Our Need of a King
Introduction: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” (Isaiah 52:7 ESV).
You will notice in the above text that the good news (gospel) brings peace, happiness, and salvation. But the “gospel” is not peace, happiness, and salvation, it is that God has returned to reign over his people. And when God reigns, the result is peace, happiness, and salvation. The text illustrates our need for a King and his kingdom.
If we were asked why we need the gospel, I’m sure most of us would immediately answer that we need to be saved from our sins. That would be absolutely true, but what we need to pursue this morning is that the need for forgiveness is secondary to the primary reason we need the gospel. The primary reason is because we need a King.
When you became a Christian, did you think of Jesus as your King? Did you even think you needed a king? Probably not. Most of us were just thinking about our need for a Savior so that we can be forgiven. In fact, if someone said that the most important thing we need is a king, we would likely have said, “Why?” That is interesting because it means we did not consider the emphasis both Old and New Testaments devoted to a King and a Kingdom. How did Jesus begin his model prayer? “Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come…”
Verses 28-29 You will lose a kingdom that cannot be shaken when the heavens and earth are taken away.
What is the consistent message? You are going to lose glory! Defining glory is as simple as reading each of the above sections and seeing what will be lost.Our Place in Attaining GloryThe problem of the “gospel” being primarily about our personal salvation, is how self-centered that is, allowing us to go about our business instead of being about God’s Kingdom business.We must understand that though the gospel solved our sin problem, the gospel was primarily a solution to God’s problem. Ezekiel 36:19-27 God “vindicates the holiness of his great name” when he re-creates us in his own image.Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14 explains that God’s purpose in choosing us was to have a people “holy and blameless before him” … “to the praise of his glorious grace” … “that we might be to the praise of his glory” … “to the praise of his glory.” Consider two passages:“Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:22-23)“They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. So they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass.” (Psalm 106:19-20 NASB)“They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:7-8)God’s glory and our glory is intertwined. God has his own inherent glory without us, but what he has done through us enhances his glory and praise in both the heavenly and earthly realms.Therefore, Paul summarizes our purpose: “And to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose” (Ephesians 3:9-11).Therefore, glory is having value, worth, honor, and reputation. If we are “vessels of dishonor,” we have no value! God’s glory and our glory is further enhanced by our work with him in saving souls and getting each other to the final reward.
“For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand—just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.” (2 Corinthians 1:12-14)
The gospel is the recovery and restoration of human glory in God’s eternal kingdom that God intended from the beginning. In the kingdom, God is about crowning us with glory and honor in spite of our worthlessness because of sin. His love in restoring us brings about greater honor and praise toward him. It is a cycle of glory. Consider a concluding text:
“Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:13-15)
Therefore, when the gospel is defined as “salvation from sins,” it places our problem, our sinful condition, at the center. It is a selfish perspective. We need to see this more as God’s problem because it was our sin that profaned his holy name! In the Kingdom, God restores his own glory, which at the same time gives us the glory he desired for us.Final question: Is your life enhancing God’s glory or creating a deficit in God’s glory?The post The Gospel: Our Need of a King appeared first on Woodland Hills Church of Christ.
