The Gospel of God [Part 3]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. In order to really understand good news, though, as we will discover in the Roman epistle, you got to understand the bad news.

In other words, if there had been no Goliath, then, and the people had not felt enslaved by their fear of Goliath, then David's triumph means little. The joy of the good news only really makes sense in the context of the bad news. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I am Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series we call O Bologna, a study of Romans chapters one through three, as presented at Reynolda Church in North Carolina. Now, if you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, we sure want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. And you can contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. David has defeated the enemy. Our champion has won. The headship of evil has been decapitated. And all of a sudden they were completely transformed. And they let out a big war cry.

Wahoo! And they started chasing them. Don't you know how these Hebrew people, they're just like us. They was chasing them down. I know one sort of say, I was going to fight them myself tomorrow. But anyway, they're just like, you know, like I was always courageous.

Here we go. And they're just chasing down. They got energy. They chase them down.

They fight them like the warriors they were supposed to be. What happened was a good news announcement of what their champion had done. And so suddenly the most cowardly people became the most courageous.

The people who were paralyzed became forward thinking. They were transformed by good news. And if good news of what David did against the enemy could transform someone, how much more so good news of what the son of David has done once and for all in the heavenlies, having decapitated, eliminated, conquered death, conquered disease, conquered evil, and reigns forevermore. He has, he has removed the headship of evil already through his cross and resurrection. And when we hear the announcement, when we see it, when we believe it, when we receive it, we're changed.

The gospel is the power of God for salvation. Don't try anything else. Don't try anything more. Don't try anything different.

Don't try anything to mix in with it. Cause that's the power. This gospel of God, Paul says was promised beforehand. It's not new, not new. And he says, verse three, it was concerning a son who was descended from David, according to the flesh and was declared to be the son of God, not declared in the sense of all of a sudden he became the son of God, but he was validated to be the son of God as he always was in power. According to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection, he was confirmed.

This is God. So the gospel is the gospel of God. And it's all about the son of David, the son of God, Jesus Christ, who'd been promised by the prophets, who became flash was proven, validated to be the son of God by the veil of God. And by the very power of the resurrection and is raised eternally. In order to really understand good news, though, as we will discover in the Roman epistle, you got to understand the bad news. In other words, if there had been no Goliath, then, and the people had not felt enslaved by their fear of Goliath, then David is triumph means little. The joy of the good news only really makes sense in the context of the bad news. And that's why in these opening chapters, we're going to see how Paul explains the problem of sin, what it is and how much damage has happened by the blinding of our spiritual eyes. So if someone sees no need for what Jesus has done, then there's no good news to that person.

No, nobody's ever saved without realizing they need to be saved from something. It's like someone has said that too often we present the gospel as if it's a flight attendant walking through the cabin on a smooth flight at 35,000 feet and saying, here is a parachute, put it on, it'll make your flight more comfortable. And so some people take the parachute and they put it on and they realize it's bulky, it's uncomfortable. And the other people that don't have it on look far more comfortable.

Why would anybody want that? But if the captain came on and said, we've lost all engines, we're going to crash and there is nowhere to land. But the good news is we have a parachute available for anybody that wants one. All of a sudden the parachute looks wonderful, doesn't it?

And we'll give you instructions on how to wear it, how to use it, and you'll be able to arrive safely. Now, all of a sudden the parachute's really good news. Good news is only good news in the context of what's such bad news.

And so we're going to learn about that and see what's the problem with humanity. And Paul explains all of that. This gospel that he references, I think beautifully, I love this phrase in Acts 20-24, the gospel of the grace of God. And New Testament references sometimes called the gospel of Jesus Christ or the gospel of His Son or the gospel of the Kingdom or the gospel of the grace of God, the gospel of the glory of Christ, the gospel of peace or an eternal gospel, Revelation 14-6. Regardless of what you call it, there aren't multiple gospels. There's one gospel. But it's so interesting that Paul starts with the gospel of God.

I want to start the letter with such a simple description, the gospel of God, because it's God's gospel. It isn't from anyone else. It's told by God, given by God as God's. It's all about Him.

It's from Him. But most importantly, to say the gospel of God is to say that the gospel is the good news of God Himself. John Piper has written a book called God is the Gospel. The point is that the gospel announcement includes all manner of benefits. We'll be exploring and praising God for all of these throughout Romans, forgiveness of sin, escape from shame, escape from guilt and condemnation, power for Christian living, ongoing sanctification, spiritual guidance, the assurance of eternity, the power to defeat devils and disease and death itself, love and joy and peace and patience, all of this that makes life so much better, all of this, healing for relationships, all of these things, benefits of the gospel, but they themselves are not the gospel. The gospel is nothing less than God Himself. Piper put it this way. The critical question, he writes, for our generation is if you could have heaven with no sickness and with all friends you ever had on earth and all the foods you ever liked and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed and all the natural beauties you ever saw and all the physical pleasures you ever tasted and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven if Christ were not there?

Isn't that true? Sometimes we talk about the Christian life or even heaven as if, what's heaven? Well, no more disease, no more crying, get to be with all the people you love, wonderful feasts, streets of gold, perfect golf. But if you had all that and you didn't have God, if you had all that and you're separated from God, you don't have heaven, you have hell.

Heaven is being with God. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. We're excited to tell you about Pastor Alan's latest book, Seeing as Jesus Sees.

It's just been released, and it's the giant secret of real transformation. Now, followers of Christ tend to focus on doing, so we've been told to ask, what would Jesus do? But even our noblest efforts to be more like Jesus ultimately fail for the same reason that pledging to keep the law never works.

There's no gospel power in our self-striving. But what if the secret to personal transformation and victorious living isn't found in doing as much as in seeing? Anyone who has ever had an aha moment or has suddenly discovered the truth of a situation knows that fresh vision changes everything. In his eye-opening new book, Pastor Alan Wright invites readers into a new, simple spiritual practice, a little breath prayer that can be prayed throughout the day. Jesus, how do you see this? It's a prayer that the Savior loves to answer, because after all, Christ came to be the light of the world. Clear away confusion, win over the darkness, and open your heart to wonder and joy by getting your copy of the book right away. And when you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries today, we'll send you Pastor Alan's new beautiful hardcover book. And as an additional thank you for your support, you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan. Let Jesus take you by the hand and show you a whole new perspective for your life as you learn how to ask Christ for His eyes.

You'll start seeing as Jesus sees, and you're going to love the view. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, pastoralan.org. Today's teaching now continues.

Here once again is Alan Wright. So Christmas is such fun and the rhythm of our life and the ministry family so different than everybody else's. When other people start slowing down often in the calendar year, we're ramping up.

So this is what I've been doing for 35 years. I ramp up towards Christmas and get excited about all the Christmas Eve services. And we have a big Christmas day at our house. My wife is, as you know, she's the queen of all celebration. And we have way too many presents under the tree. It's obscene. And we open them one by one, ooh and aah, try things on.

It takes forever. And Ann fixed this massive Christmas breakfast, this same gooey, cheesy egg casserole that puffs like a souffle and just drips with cheese and goodness and all kind of fruit and mounds of bacon and grits and just this massive breakfast and the gooey-est Moravian sugar cake you can find all over the place. And it's just wonderful Christmas breakfast and the opening of presents and house is so decorated and Christmas music playing. And so, you know, I ramp up and do all these Christmas Eve services.

And then this year Christmas was on Sunday. So I came to be with my larger spiritual family on Sunday morning. And I told everybody, I said, I'm going to come home quick and I'll be back. You know, don't start eating that breakfast without me. And, you know, don't start opening anything without me.

I'll be there. And can you imagine if I had come over and preached the church on Christmas morning and then gone home and said, I'm home and the house was quiet. You know, maybe she still had Michael Buble Christmas music playing in the background, but there's a note on the kitchen counter.

It says, honey, we all decided to drive to the mountains. We got done opening all the presents and ate the breakfast, but go ahead and open up your presence. They're all there under the tree and your breakfast. It's all in the oven, ready to eat. And I know you've been busy. So just enjoy the decorations, enjoy the quiet morning and have a nice Christmas.

We'll be back later on tonight or something. I mean, you can't even, what's the point of presence in the tree and the Christmas breakfast. And if, if my wife's not there and my kids were, who normally are in California, they're here. And the grand baby, the three and the two and a half month old under the tree, along with them, that's, that's Christmas for me. All the presents are fun.

The breakfast is delicious. The decorations are, are, are beautiful, but it's the fellowship with them. I think Paul starts Romans by saying, I'm set apart for the gospel of God, because he wants us to remember throughout that if everything that we learn about the benefits of this gospel, forget not this, God is the gospel. That what the Christian life is, is an invitation to fellowship sweetly with God and Jesus Christ now and forever. Paul says it plainly in Ephesians chapter two, now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, where he himself did reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, killing the hostility. This is what the cross gave us. This is what Jesus purchased. Verse 18, through him, we both have access in one spirit through the father.

First Peter 3 18, he says succinctly, Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous that he might bring us to God. Piper says, the gospel is not a way to get people to heaven, it's a way to get people to God. That's what the gospel is. The gospel is the good news that we in Jesus Christ have been reconciled to God and we can enjoy him now and forever in an uninterrupted way. It means, beloved, in a very, very real sense that you've been given the friendship of Jesus, that you can know God, that you can be with God, that you have God, and you belong to God, and God is yours. He's the gospel.

And everything else pales in comparison. Piper gives an apt illustration of what really Jesus has bought for us when we talk about being forgiven our sins. He said, imagine if he woke up one morning and tripped over some laundry that his wife had inadvertently left lying in the wrong place. And he said, imagine if his wife woke up and he spoke harshly to her first thing about the laundry and it clearly hurt her feelings. And so she jumped up out of bed, she gathered up the laundry, she carried it away, she went downstairs, and now as anybody who's ever been in any relationship knows the feeling, there's ice in the air between them. And he realizes by his own conscience and by his understanding of what's right and wrong that he needs to ask her forgiveness.

That yes, the laundry shouldn't have been left there where it could be a tripping hazard, but his harsh response to her was a worse offense than her oversight. And so he says, I must ask for her forgiveness, but why? Why, he says, would I want her forgiveness? Why would I want her to forgive me my sin?

Is it because I would hope she would fix me my favorite breakfast? Is it because I need her to forgive me so that I won't feel this shame anymore? Is it that I need her to forgive me because I was hoping she'd run some errands for me today? Is it that I need her to forgive me because I hope to have romantic interest that evening? Is it because I want something from her?

No. The reason I need to apologize and I want her forgiveness, he says, I want her sweet fellowship back. That's why we need to be forgiven. That's why Jesus came. Because this gospel is the gospel of God. And what we need and want most, whether we realize it or not, is God Himself.

The good news of the gospel is much more than we think. We don't just have the gifts, we have the giver. We don't just have the supplies, we have the supplier. We don't just have good directions, we have the way. We don't just have moral principles, we have the truth Himself. We don't just have healing, we have the healer. We don't just have freedom, we have the emancipator. We don't just have comfort, we have the comforter.

We don't just have provision, we have the provider. We don't just have better vision, we have the light Himself. It is to say that in the same way that if I came home for Christmas, had a delicious breakfast and tons of presents, beautiful decorations and Michael Buble singing in the distance, but didn't have my wife, my kids, my granddaughter, it would be as though I had nothing. But if I have them, then everything else is just a blessing that is added, you see. This goes far to explain why right from the beginning God said it's all summed up in this, love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Never forget to seek just one thing, God and His kingdom and His righteousness. These other things would be added unto you, Jesus said.

If we got to heaven one day and there was no disease, no crying, no dying, and all our best friends were there and family and sumptuous feasts, it wouldn't be heaven at all because God is the great reward that Jesus has purchased for us. The good news is God Himself. And that's the gospel. Alan Wright, our good news message, the gospel of God.

It's from the series, O Bologna, a series of Romans and specifically chapters one through three. Now stay with us, Pastor Alan is back joining me in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for us all in just a moment. And we're excited to tell you about Pastor Alan's latest book, Seeing as Jesus Sees.

It's just been released and it's the giant secret of real transformation. Now, followers of Christ tend to focus on doing. So we've been told to ask what would Jesus do? But even our noblest efforts to be more like Jesus ultimately fail for the same reason that pledging to keep the law never works.

There's no gospel power in our self-striving. But what if the secret to personal transformation and victorious living isn't found in doing as much as in seeing anyone who has ever had an aha moment or has suddenly discovered the truth of a situation knows that fresh vision changes everything. In his eye-opening new book, Pastor Alan Wright invites readers into a new, simple spiritual practice, a little breath prayer that can be prayed throughout the day.

Jesus, how do you see this? It's a prayer that the Savior loves to answer because after all, Christ came to be the light of the world. Clear away confusion, win over the darkness and open your heart to wonder and joy by getting your copy of the book right away. And when you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries today, we'll send you Pastor Alan's new beautiful hardcover book. And as an additional thank you for your support, you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan. Let Jesus take you by the hand and show you a whole new perspective for your life as you learn how to ask Christ for his eyes.

You'll start seeing as Jesus sees, and you're going to love the view. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. With our parting good news thought for the day back here in the studio with Pastor Alan, the teaching is the gospel of God. In the end, the gospel is, as John Piper has written, is not a way to get people to heaven. It is a way to get people to God.

And so God is, He is the good news. We don't just have the gifts. We have the giver. We don't just have supplies. We have the supplier Himself.

We don't just have better vision. We have the light of the world. So He is our gospel. And I'm praying for all of our listeners. I'm praying that in whatever way that you need Him most, that He will, at this time and in this season, show Himself to be your good news. God is the gospel.

God is the best news. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching, delivered right to your email inbox, free. Find out more about these and other resources at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.