THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL: THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD'S GLORY IN MAN

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me (1 Timothy 1:8‭-‬11 NIV).


You notice here that Paul says there is a sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God. He also says there is a gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God. Then he adds that this gospel was entrusted to him. 

There are three glorious riches that I am going to state here and expound, namely, The Glorious Gospel, Christ-In-You Verities and The Evangelical Tradition. 

THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL 

What is the glorious gospel?

By 'glorious gospel' I mean the good news of God's glory in man. 

Since the fall of man, scripture reveals that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 

What does it mean to fall short of the glory of God? 

It means among other things that,

1. Man no longer met God's standard

2. Man was no longer beautiful, delightful and desirable in the sight of God

3. Man lost the image of God in him.

Fellowship between God and man was totally broken owing to the sin nature that was in man which caused his spiritual death. Spiritual death means total alienation from God who is the source of life. 

The only hope of man's restoration to glory was the seed of Abraham. Scripture mentions precisely that Christ is that seed of Abraham.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15 NIV).

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ (Galatians 3:16 NIV). 

Christ is the glory of God

In the Old Testament, Jehovah manifested himself visibly to his people in several forms such as pillar of cloud, pillar of fire, shining light among others. But in the New Testament, Jehovah manifested himself to the world in the person of Jesus Christ, his one and only Son. 

Scripture reveals Christ as the complete fulness of Deity in human form.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (Colossians 2:9 NIV).

In Christ, God manifested in bodily form for all creation to see him.

Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory (1 Timothy 3:16 NIV). 

Christ is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of his being.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word...(Hebrews 1:3 NIV). 

Scripture points it out clearly that this Christ, is man's hope of glory.

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27 NIV).

He came to earth for the sake of man's salvation. He ascended to heaven to make man's salvation complete. And he has come back to dwell in man to bring completeness to man. 

And in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority (Colossians 2:10 NIV). 

So any person who has received Christ into their hearts has been restored to glory. You are no longer short of the glory of God, but full of the glory of God. 

The Holy Spirit as God's glory in man

Today, God has manifested himself to the world in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God's glory in you. 

The Spirit of Christ

He is the Spirit of Christ in the sense that he causes Christ's fulness to overflow within you. 

The Spirit of glory

He is the Spirit of glory in the sense that in him, you are completely filled with God as Christ's fulness overflows within you. 

God lives in you

God lives in you in the person of the Holy Spirit. This means that his glory fills you completely. You possess the divine nature and power. 

CHRIST-IN-YOU VERITIES 

The Spirit of Christ causes all the fulness of Christ to overflow within you. This is because, you are the handiwork of God created in Christ Jesus to do good works which he prepared in advance for you to walk in them. 

Before you were born again, he had prepared good works in advance for you to walk in them. He put his glory inside you to enable you accomplish the good works. You must put the glory out for all to see and give praise to God, the Father. 

The system of sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel—the good news of God's glory in man—is what I refer to as Christ-In-You Verities. They show you what glory is, who glory is, where glory is and how glory is, so that you will be empowered to live a glorious life on earth. 

Christ-In-You Verities are meant to teach, guide, inspire, encourage and motivate Christians to fulfill the good works that were prepared in advance for them to walk in. How do you intend to put out the glory that is in you? This question is for your reflection. You should be able to answer it satisfactorily. 

THE EVANGELICAL TRADITION 

Tradition is from the French word traduire, which means to pass down. Tradition simply means the passing down of values from one generation to the other. 

For the church, our main tradition is the scripture. We do well to pass down the authority and veracity of scripture to the next generation, for dogmas, rites and ceremonies will pass away but the word of God abides forever. 

The scripture says that God entrusted the glorious gospel to Paul to deliver it to the church. The glorious gospel then is the evangelical tradition of the church. 

Is there a need for another gospel? No! The tradition we have received is to preach and teach the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

The glorious gospel is the divine solution for a fallen world. It is the bright light that God has ordained to expel darkness and spiritual blindness from the world. 

Embrace the glorious gospel!


#TruthHaven

Comments

  1. Sage WordSeptember 5, 2022 at 1:40 AM

    Sage Broadcast empowers you to study, reason and question (srq) scripture in order to find evidence of the truth. Remember, this is achievable only through the Holy Spirit.

    ReplyDelete

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