The Heart Of The Gospel

The heart of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the Person of Christ Himself. You take away Christ you take away the Gospel. You take away the Gospel you take away Christianity. The Gospel message consists of three simple historical facts centered on Christ Himself. These are the death, burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

These facts are made known by Paul:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:1 - 4, NKJV, emphasis added).

Take note of the following facts:

1. The Gospel is to be believed for salvation. A person's job is to receive the truth of the Gospel and not to question it.

2. A person who believed in vain is someone who denied the truth and considered the doctrine of the Gospel as false. Such person is not saved.

3. Paul himself received the message of the Gospel and was saved.

4. The three historical facts are: Christ died for our sins; He was buried; He rose again the third day.

5. The Gospel message is based on Scriptures. Paul emphasized it twice!

6. The Scriptures are the Old Testament Scriptures because the New Testament Scriptures have not been written yet in Pual's time. Therefore, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was fortold or predicted by the Old Testament prophets.

According to the Old Testament Scriptures

Peter wrote to the Jewish believers:

"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven - things which angels desire to look into" (1 Peter 1:10 - 12, NKJV, emphasis added).

Take note of the following facts:

1. According to the above verses of Scripture, Jesus Christ who brought salvation to mankind had been foretold in the Old Testament by the prophetic utterance of the Old Testament prophets.

2. The most interesting fact revealved by Peter is the fact that the Spirit of Christ was with the Old Testament prophets ever before Christ was revealed.

3. The Spirit of Christ speaking through the Old Testament prophets testified two importnat facts concerning Jesus - The suffering of Christ and His Glory which would follow.

4. By the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached to us.

Christ's Suffering, Death, Burial and Resurrection Foretold by the Prophets

The Psalmist David

David was a king and a prophet. Many of the psalms of David are prophetic utterance in the first person. In other words it was Christ Himself spoken through David:

1. Prophecy concerning Christ's suffering and crucifixion

"For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lot" (Psalm 22:16 - 18).

"Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink" (Psalm 69:20, 21).

The gospel according to Matthew testifies that the above Scriptures were fulfilled:

".... They gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet ...." (Matthew 27:34, 35).

2. Prophecy concerning Christ's resurrection and ascension

"I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:8 - 11).

The above prophecy became a historical fact as confirmed by Luke as a witness:

"Therefore, being a prophet (David), and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up of which we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:30 - 32, emphasis added).

3. Prophecy concerning the resurrection and other experiences of Jesus

"You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side" (Psalm 71:20,21, emphasis added).

Notice the accurate description of the experiences of Jesus. He was physically resurrected from "the depths of the earth". God exalted Him (Phil. 2:9) and seated Him on the right hand of God. Jesus was entroned with God and experienced "comfort on every side".

Prophet Isaiah

Just like the psalmist David, Isaiah gave prophetic utterance in the first person concering Christ's suffering.

"The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away. I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting" (Isaiah 50:5, 6).

Matthew testifies that the above prophecy was fulfilled:

"Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands" (Matthew 26:67).

Prophet Hosea

Hosea spoke of the experiences of Jesus and our identification with Him:

"Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth" (Hosea 6:1, 2, 3, NKJV, emphasis added).

Take note of the following:

1. All the experiences of Jesus relate to the restoration and revival of mankind. He suffered for our restoration.

2. The phrase "He has torn, but He will heal us" speaks of "by whose stripes you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

3. Believers are identified with Jesus in resurrection. This is the only Old Testament prophet who predicted Christ would be resurrected on the third day. Because of Christ's resurrection we would be resurrected - "He will raise us up".

4. Hosea's revelation is given to those who pursue the knowledge of God - those who believe in the resurrection of Christ.

5. Jesus's going forth from the tomb compares the morning sunrise with the resurrection.

6. After resurrection and glorification, Jesus would "come to us like the rain, like the later and former rain on the earth". This speaks of the coming of the Holy Spirit prophesied by Joel (Joel 2:23). This was culminated on the day of Pentecost.

The above prophecy of Hosea was filfilled according to the New Testament Scripture:

Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians said that believers will share with Jesus in His resurrection and other subsequent experiences:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). And raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus ...." (Eph. 2:4 - 6, NKJV, emphasis added).

The three experiences that we share together with Jesus are:

1. We are made alive.

2. We are raised up or resurrected.

3. We are made to sit together with Jesus and enthroned with Him in heaven.

Notice that the outward act of the believer's identification with Jesus is Water Baptism:

"... buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead" (Col. 2:12).

The witnesses who saw Him alive after His Resurrection

Paul's epistle to the Corinthians reveals that Jesus was seen by many after His resurrection:

".... and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve, after that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time" (1 Cor. 15:5 - 8).

Luke recorded that Jesus was seen by many for forty days before He was ascended (taken up):

".... Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:1 - 3, emphasis added).

Conclusion

The single most important event that has ever taken place in human history is the Resurrection of Christ - for the salvation of mankind. This is the heart of the true Gospel Message. The full Gospel Message does not end in crucifixion of Christ as depicted by the film, "The Passion of The Christ". It ends in Resurrection!