| The Christian Life | April 1941 |
The Gospel of Christ
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”—Romans 1:16
THE word gospel means good tidings. The Gospel of Christ therefore is the good tidings that in Christ centers the hope of salvation. It is in harmony with this that the angelic announcement of the birth of Jesus hailed Him as the Savior whose birth constituted an item of good news which yet will be known by all people. The term Christ in the New Testament is the same as Messiah in the Old Testament, hence the good news that centers in Christ is really the fact that through Him will be fulfilled all the wondrous promises Gad had previously given by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began; promises that depended upon the coming and work of the Messiah.
Beginning with the early statements of the Messianic Gospel as recorded in the Old Testament, it is found to be a broad and comprehensive program, so all-inclusive that the whole world is to have an opportunity to be blessed through it. In Galatians 3:8, the apostle tells us that this Gospel was preached beforehand unto Abraham. Looking up the record of God’s dealing with Abraham we find that the promise was made to him that through his seed all the families of the earth were to be blessed. This is, indeed, a far reaching promise, containing blessed implications for all mankind. The spirit of it precludes the narrow-minded attitude which, according to tradition, has at one time or another been expressed in the prayer: “Lord bless me and my wife, my son John and his wife; us four, and no more.”
In Galatians 3:16, St. Paul definitely identifies Jesus as the seed of Abraham through which the promised blessings are to come. Throughout the entire Old Testament we find that this Gospel is not circumscribed in the least. When the angels finally announced the birth of the promised seed, they still hailed the program that is centered in the Messiah as one of “glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”—Luke 2:10
THE RICH YOUNG RULER
At the age of thirty years Jesus entered upon His ministry, proceeding to carry out the terms of the divine plan for blessing the people, as those plans centered in Him, the Redeemer. He selected His disciples and these accepted Him as the promised Messiah. Obviously they believed that in Him would be fulfilled those far reaching promises made to Abraham and by all the prophets, which called for the deliverance of Israel and through Israel the deliverance and blessing of all nations. In view of this there were some incidents in connection with the Master’s ministry which His disciples at first found difficult to understand.
There was, for example, the case of the Rich Young Ruler who came to Jesus, asking what good thing he could do in order to inherit eternal life. This man appeared to be a sincere seeker after the truth. Being a Jew, Jesus referred him to the law. The law had said “which if a man do, he shall live in them.” (Lev. 18:5; Neh. 9:29; Ezek. 20:11; Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:12) Evidently this rich young man realized that the law was not giving him life as he had hoped it would, and therefore he had come to the Master to seek another way of escaping death.
The young man affirmed that he had done the best he could to keep the law, and then Jesus said to him, “One thing thou lackest: go … sell, whatsoever thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” (Mark 10:21; Matt. 19:16-24; Luke 18:18-25) The Master’s reply must have seemed strange to the rich young man. Not being willing to pay the price of discipleship, he went away sorrowful. He had asked what he could do in order to live, but Jesus had explained what he would need to do in order to die.
The invitation to take up his cross and follow the Master was the equivalent of asking the young man to follow Him into death. Jesus assured him that if he would do this, he would have treasure in heaven. This, too, was a new thought to this rich man. In all the promises God had made to the Jew, none had suggested the possibility of a heavenly reward. But now the Master was outlining a program whereby, if one were willing to give up his life in sacrifice, he would lay up treasures of a future life in heaven.
The disciples, overhearing this conversation, were themselves puzzled. They had accepted Jesus as the Messiah in the belief that through Him all the families of the earth were to be blessed, but now He was making the way of salvation so difficult that even this sincere and inquiring rich man was not able to meet the conditions. Therefore, they inquired of the Master, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus evaded their question by saying that with man, this is not possible but with God all things are possible. However, this did not satisfy the disciples. They then explained to Him that they had left all and followed Him even as He had invited the rich man to do. In view of this, they wanted to know what their reward would be. In response to this, Jesus explained that they who had followed Him would, in the regeneration, sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
TWO SALVATIONS
By this reply Jesus was assuring the disciples that God’s program of restoration for Israel and the world to life upon the earth was not being overlooked and that this earthly salvation for all mankind was still the great objective of the divine plan. The disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit, and therefore were not in a position to understand the deep things of God as they were able to do later, after the Spirit had come upon them at Pentecost. It was not possible, therefore, for them to differentiate in their minds between the heavenly calling of this age and the hope of restitution to life upon the earth during the next age. In reality, however, Jesus had alluded to both of these phases of the divine plan in this conversation. He had promised the rich man that upon the condition of following in His footsteps unto death he would have treasure in heaven; and He had promised the disciples that those who thus are faithful followers of Him in the doing of God’s will, have the privilege of being with Him in the future and sharing in the judgment and blessing of the world of mankind.
Thus viewed, the Gospel of Christ contains the good news both of the heavenly hope for the church of this age, and the hope of earthly blessings for the world of mankind during the next age. Thus this gospel of Christ reveals that the church is to share with Jesus in dispensing the promised restitution blessings to the world during the Kingdom period. This comes to light very definitely in St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians, chapter 3, verses 8 and 16, already quoted. In verses 27-29 of this chapter the apostle outlines further the implications of the promise made to Abraham. In these verses he declares that as many as are baptized into Christ, put on Christ and that thus being Christ’s—that is, true Christians—they, too, are a part of the seed of Abraham and therefore heirs according to the promise.
This harmonizes with the same apostle’s outline of truth concerning Christ and the church as found in the twelfth chapter of 1st Corinthians. Here he points out that the many members which constitute the church are, in reality, the body of Christ, and therefore members in particular of the Christ, of which Jesus is the Head. From this we see that the larger picture of the Messiah of the Bible includes the church class who are, as it were. His cabinet members, and will thus function with Him in dispensing the blessings of life which He purchased by His own death on Calvary’s cross.
BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST
In Galatians 3:27, the apostle declares that as many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. This indicates that all such are true Christians. It is important, then, that we should know what it means to be baptized into Christ. The word baptize, from the Greek word baptizo, literally means to immerse or bury. The Scriptural thought is that those who are truly baptized into Christ are the ones who have submerged their wills into His will, accepting Him as their Head. Thus they become, figuratively speaking, members of His body. In Revelation 20:4, this class is pictured as those who are “beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God.” This beheading is, of course, figurative, and is another way the holy Spirit uses to describe the condition of full surrender to the divine will that must take place in the lives of those who qualify as the true followers of the Master.
In Romans 6:1-3, Paul explains that this baptism into Christ is a death baptism. He says that all who experience it, are planted together in the likeness of Christ’s death. Jesus died sacrificially, hence those who die with Him also die sacrificially. Jesus did not die because He was condemned to death by divine law, but because He voluntarily laid down His uncondemned life as a corresponding price for the life of Adam and, consequently, of the whole world.
Members of the church could not by nature offer themselves sacrificially for the reason that their imperfect life is already under condemnation. However, by divine arrangement through Christ, consecrated believers of this age have the merit of the Redeemer imputed to them and thus are given a standing of life. Paul explains in Romans 8:1, that “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” There is no condemnation for such because the blood of Jesus is sufficient to set aside the condemnation which came upon the whole world through Adam. These, therefore, being justified by having Christ’s merit imputed to them, are in a position to offer themselves sacrificially in death, and thus to be planted together in the likeness of the Master’s death.
The practical outworking of this in the lives of Christians means that they no longer belong to themselves, but instead their every thought, word and deed is devoted to the doing of God’s will. This means that they are full-time servants of the Lord with all that they have and are, being devoted to the Messianic cause. It means that even the necessary pursuits of life such as providing for one’s own, etc., is to be considered as being done unto the Lord, and that all time, strength and means possible will be devoted directly to the service of the Master—a service that finds expression in helping the brethren of Christ and in making known the glad tidings of His coming Kingdom.
BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD
In 1st Cor. 15:29, Paul refers to the death baptism of the Christian as a baptism for the dead. This means simply that the sacrificial work of the church constitutes a part of the divine program whereby the world of mankind now dead in trespasses and sin—and also those actually dead in the tomb—are to be given the opportunity of everlasting life as a result of the redemptive work of Christ Jesus.
Christians are invited now to lay down their lives for the brethren. The result of this sacrificial service is the building up and preparation of the church for her future share with Christ in His Kingdom reign, whereby the opportunities of restitution blessings will be extended to the world. Thus not only does the Christian lay down his life for fellow Christians, but the sacrificial death of all Christians will accrue to the benefit of the dead world of mankind, when, through the Kingdom arrangements, they will take part with Jesus in the world-wide work of restoration then inaugurated.
THE PRESENT WORK OF THE CHURCH
The church is not commissioned to convert the world during this Gospel age. The work of the church now is to bear witness to the truth and to make herself ready for the future Kingdom service with Christ. Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel and make disciples of all nations. This does not imply that all nations were to be converted by this preaching. Rather, Jesus is merely countermanding the previous instructions He had given to His disciples when He told them not to go to the Gentiles nor to any city of the Samaritans. Now they were to go anywhere and everywhere to preach the Gospel with the expectation that disciples would be gathered from among all nations, both Jews and Gentiles. This preaching, of course, would also constitute a witness to the people.
In Acts 15:13-17, we are informed that the divine purpose in visiting the Gentiles with the Gospel was not to convert all, but to call out from them a people for God’s name. It is after this people are called and prepared for joint-heirship with the Master that He returns and establishes His Kingdom, so the remainder of mankind might then have the opportunity of seeking after the Lord, even those also to whom the witness had previously been given. These latter will then have their full opportunity of coming into harmony with the Gospel arrangement provided through Christ in the establishment of His Kingdom.
ARE YE ABLE?
The mother of two of the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him if one her sons might sit on His right hand and the other on His left hand in the Kingdom. Jesus’ reply was “Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Matt. 20:20-23) Here the Master makes it plain that those who expect to reign with Him in His Kingdom must now be prepared to drink His cup of suffering and be baptized with His baptism of death.
To walk in this strait, this difficult way, marked out by the footsteps of our Lord, will require a wholehearted devotion to Him and a willingness to sacrifice all of our earthly interests in the divine cause. It may call for the giving up of earthly friends and worldly pleasures. It may mean having our names cast out as evil. It may mean weariness and hardship and the loss of earthly possessions. With the Master it cost Him the loss of all earthly blessings, and we cannot expect that the servant will be different from His Lord in these respects. The Christian way is, indeed, a narrow, difficult way, and only by divine grace may any one hope to be successful in it.
But the power of God as it operates through the Gospel of Christ, is able to make us strong in our weaknesses and give us grace to help in every time of need. Those who are to live and reign with Christ must truly be overcomers. They cannot hope to overcome in their own strength, however, but they can be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Concerning Jesus, the Captain of our salvation, it is said that for the joy that was set before Him He endured the cross and despised the shame and is now set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Heb. 12:2) Those who follow in the Master’s footsteps also have a joy set before them. It is the joy of future association with Jesus in His Kingdom. Together with Him it will be their joy of dispensing the blessings of life, health and happiness to all mankind. These faithful Christians are the sons of God of this age, and in Romans 8, we are told that the whole creation—that is, all mankind—are travailing in pain together until now, waiting for the manifestation of these sons of God. Eventually all the faithful followers of the Lord will appear with Him in glory, and His Kingdom, then fully established, will be the channel of Gospel blessings to all the remainder of mankind.