13 April 2024

Many years back in the history of this world, there were those who affirmed the reality of human goodness and the view that war was an aberration from our natural state. After two world wars, such a view is no longer prevalent -it is in fact proven to be lamentable ignorance – man can be so cruel and evil and full of hate- murder and war are just manifestations of this.

Man is certainly not getting better and the fact is – we are in spiritual trouble. Morality must follow from knowing God (in Christ in the Gospel) and there can be no false confidence that there can be morality without religion. When the Gospel goes, good deeds are not far behind!

Today the Gospel is being actively attacked and opposed – it has reached a stage when it is being ridiculed and dismissed. The claim today is that it is something which no educated, reasonable person can possibly accept and believe. All this can be affirmed, they say, by the advance of knowledge, the result of scientific discovery, and the light which psychology has thrown on human nature and its strange behaviour.
The unique deity of Christ, the miracles he worked while on earth, his atoning death and literal physical resurrection, the Person of the Holy Spirit and the claims of the 4 gospels (including Luke which we are currently studying) – all these are rejected with contempt and sarcasm. It has become the hallmarks of our culture and learning today to be irreligious and anti-religious – to believe in the Gospel is regarded as one of the greatest hindrances to true progress and development. It is interesting, in contrast, to note that in Luke, Simeon’s proclamation as he raised the baby Jesus in the temple was: “For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all nations, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” This salvation is in Jesus – in fact he is the salvation God promised – in him is the message of the Gospel of salvation – it is He who would be the light of the world, dismissing the darkness of ignorance and arrogance in the hearts of man from every nation and ushering God’s only solution to man’s greatest problem!

Salvation is to be found, according to modern man, in the full use of the human capacities and powers which can be trained by knowledge and education. Man must save himself, man can save himself – this is the cry of modern man and woman – believe in yourself, believe in your potential and all can be achieved.
We need but point to the state of the world today, which is nothing but an appalling monument to human failure: the wars, the immorality, the cruelty, the exploitation of the weak, the greed, the dishonesty, the evil deeds, even among those who are expected to be positive examples – need we say more?
Consider the so-called great nations and civilisations of the past: the history of the pride, culture, and power they manifested – all these are no longer prominent, some have been devastated; some have been ‘brought down to earth’ and humiliated although at one time in history, they boast of their achievements and greatness, their success and glory.

We do not hesitate to proclaim that the only hope for man is to believe the Gospel of Christ. We say so knowing full well all the talk about science and learning and culture. We say so knowing that after each world war and conflict, the world will announce with confidence its plans and schemes for a new world without taking into account of what the gospel has to say.

Speculations could not save, but the gospel of Christ preached was and is not speculation; it was and is a revelation from God Himself.
Philosophy has been glorified and man has claimed that he could solve the riddle of life and of the universe. Never has man been so proud of himself and his achievements and his understanding. What has been the result of all this? What of life today? Is it not clear that we are precisely in the same position as was the world in the time of the New Testament.
We have boasted of processes and systems, but they have yielded no results. we have taken pride in our ability to think, but it is the function of thinking to arrive at valid conclusions. Honestly, are we any nearer to the solution of the problems of life and living than the philosophers were who lived and died?
The answer can be found in the state of the modern world. Our knowledge has grown merely with respect to the externals of life, its amenities and pleasures. LIfe itself still remains an enigma, and the art of living seems to be as elusive as ever. Scientists today even predict that in two years, the negative effects of climate change are irreversible; famine, starvation, floods, earthquakes, economic disasters – all are directly or indirectly due to the problem of man – sin!

The Gospel is not a philosophy. It is not man’s idea or the result of man’s effort and seeking. It is the revelation of what God thinks and says concerning life. The gospel is not a statement of what God desires and expects of us. It is no mere moral and ethical programme or social scheme.
No, the glory of the gospel is that it is primarily an announcement of what God does, and has done, in the Person of Jesus Christ (study the gospel of Luke – Dr. Luke affirmed the content, credibility and historicity of the Gospel of Christ). The Christians in the early church preached Jesus as the Christ. They preached not a programme, but a Person. They said that Jesus of Nazereth was the Son of God come from heaven to earth. They said that he manifested and demonstrated the unique deity by living a perfect, spotless, sinless life of completed obedience to God, and by performing miracles. His death on the Cross was not merely the end of his life as the result of his rejection by his own countrymen; it had a deeper and more eternal significance. It was something that had to happen in order that mankind might be reconciled to God. It was a transaction between God the Father and God the Son. It was the Son bearing our sins in his own body on the cross, and the fulfilment of the ancient prophecy of Isaiah, who had said that the Messiah would be wounded for our transgressions, and that with his stripes we shall be healed. (Isa. 53:5)
But that is not all – he has risen from the dead (grave), had manifested himself to certain chosen witnesses and ascended into heaven. From heaven, he had sent the gift of the Holy Spirit upon the early Church, and he had brought to the, not only understanding, but new life and power. Their lives had been changed and they now had life which was life indeed.
This is the message of salvation and the Gospel – it is God’s way of salvation and making men righteous. Man had but to accept it and submit to it.