“The gospel of God … concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 1:1, 3)
The central element of the gospel is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike the many religions of the world, true Christianity cannot be disassociated from its founder. It is not enough to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is not enough to seek to emulate His character. It is not enough to attempt to put into practice His moral principles. The Bible reveals that true salvation is found in a relationship with a living Person.
An examination of the world’s religions shows that they are systems attempting to somehow link man with God, of man attempting to reach God. As such, religion is a system based on merit or works, enabling a human being on earth to reach God or heaven. The true gospel is a revelation from heaven to man. It is that God came down to become a man and make a way for man to be forever with the God who created him. Essential to this plan is the unique person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You may ask, “Why was it necessary for Him to take on a body of flesh?” The answer lies in part because He came to die for the sin of the world. In order to die He had to become man. Yet, in order for His death to have eternal significance, He had to be more than just an ordinary man. He had to retain His deity. Truly, this is a great mystery and the Bible states that it is so. While many have questioned the validity of such a plan, there is no question that this is the plan the Bible reveals.
Truly man
Paul, an apostle, begins his great doctrinal treatise known as the book of Romans by stating, “The gospel of God … concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh…” As far as the earthly lineage of the Lord Jesus is concerned, He was “made of the seed of David.” One might choose to start a religion, but one cannot choose to be born into a particular family. “Seed of David” refers to the earthly, human lineage of the Lord Jesus. His entrance into the human race came through the royal line of David, giving Him the legal right to be king. “The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David” (Lk. 1:32). However, since He was virgin-born (Mt. 1:23-25), He was not corrupted by mankind’s sin.
Truly God
Philippians 2:6 says, “[Jesus Christ] being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” Since He eternally exists as God, the rights of deity were not something to be grasped at or taken as though they were not already rightfully His. Yet, He came into this world and chose to subject Himself to the will of the Father. The passage goes on to say that the One who “took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” and, ultimately, died the death of the cross, was none other than God the Son.He never ceased to be who and what He was before. These verses show that He added something He was not before (very man), but He never became less than what He always had been (very God).
Fully God and fully man
Mankind’s primary need is not for a teacher or a problem solver or even a miracle worker, but a Saviour to die in our place and deliver us from the condemnation under which we abide (Jn. 3:36). This Saviour must be man, for only man could die. Yet
He must also be God, for only in being God could His death be of sufficient worth to have value for the whole world. He must also arise from the grave, proving that the corruption of sin did not reside in His humanity. To this the Scriptures give clear and ample witness. This is the very heart of the gospel: “Therefore He saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: But He, whom God raised again, saw no corruption” (Acts 13:35-37).
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest proof of His deity. While on earth, He claimed to be God, and, had He not been raised from the dead, His claims would have proven to be false. But He was “declared to be the Son of God with power … by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1:4).
The historical record
The followers of the Lord Jesus first made a public proclamation on the day of Pentecost. Peter’s words are recorded in Acts 2. In the English Bible, this rather lengthy message takes up 26 or so verses and almost half of these verses refer to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. While there is passing reference to His miracles (v. 22), the sum and substance of this message is that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that God has made Him both Lord and Christ.
This early message is representative of the preaching of the followers of the Lord Jesus. They walked with Him for the years of His earthly life. They heard His teaching and some of them would go on to detail that teaching in written form. Yet, they preached the Person, alive from the dead and ascended into the heavens. He was alive and because of who He was and what He had done, forgiveness of sins was available toall who placed their trust in Him.
In the message of Paul at Antioch we find the same emphasis: “And though they found no cause of death in Him, yet desired they Pilate that He should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree, and laid Him in a sepulchre. But God raised Him from the dead: And He was seen many days of them which came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people” (Acts 13:28-31).
Paul presented the historical facts of the gospel, and then stated that it was through Jesus Christ, the One raised from the dead and now alive, that forgiveness was to be found. “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).
Salvation found in a Person
When the early church set out to preach the gospel, they preached the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever wondered why they didn’t proclaim to people the ethical teachings of Christ or make more than a few passing references to His miracles? Instead, they preached Christ as a living Saviour, crucified and raised from the dead. The gospel is not just a message about the Lord Jesus Christ; He Himself is the message. “Philip … preached Christ to them” (Acts 8:5). “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23).
The apostles and early followers of the Lord knew what many in our times seem to have forgotten or discarded: the moral and ethical teachings of the Lord Jesus can save no one. It was not a common view of morality or “family values” that bound those early believers together, but a fellowship in the great redemptive truths of the gospel, the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. With this as their foundation, they launched out to proclaim the reality of a living Saviour to a lost and dying world.
So it is in the day in which we live. The heart of the gospel message is Jesus Christ. He died for our sins, yet, because of His essential nature, death could not hold Him and He rose from the grave, victorious over sin and death. He extends His offer of forgiveness to all who come unto God by Him. Salvation is found in a Person, and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man.