24 Jan 2024

We have been sharing, in some detail, about the essentials of the Gospel, to be understood and received by non-believers, and to be emphasised and worked out among believers. This is particularly significant as we live in the last days – the time period between the two advents of the Lord Jesus Christ – for the second coming of our Lord is nearer than we think or anticipate. For both unbelievers and believers, the response and outworking to the Gospel would determine the eternal destiny of both groups of people.
Especially for Christians, the tumultuous events and ‘sufferings’ before the second coming, and the spiritual warfare to distort the truth and to sow discouragement and doubt, can ‘knock out the balance off’ for believers to persevere, and to ‘overcome’ in these last days. During such times, it is easy to lose sight of the preciousness of the Gospel and its applications and implications in our lives as believers, and it is also easy to stray from the Triune God and be influenced by the values of the world and the evil one.

One of the greatest weaknesses in contemporary Christians is the poverty of our knowledge of God and the Gospel. This is not only doctrinal in terms of our ability to articulate God’s character and attributes, and the essence and applications of the Gospel – but also practical, for many believers do not know this relationally in all the challenges and changes in our lives and in the difficult and challenging circumstances of the last days. Hence, we see Christians complaining and blaming God for all the ‘sufferings’ they encounter; we see believers pointing fingers at one another, just as Eve blamed Adam and Adam blamed the serpent (in this case, there is much truth in the source of the fall). We notice also the lack of faith and a preponderance of a murmuring spirit in the church itself, and this has come to a stage where unbelievers wonder what is there in Christians that is so attractive (contrast this with what unbelievers said of Christians in the early church – “these people truly love one another”)l.

Where would we go to strengthen our understanding of God’s sovereignty as the ruler of the world He has created, to deepen our understanding of His essential nature as the faithful covenant-keeping God who promises and fulfils? Where would we find confidence in God’s commitment to His people and the absolute certainty of the eternal kingdom of righteousness and peace? The answers are in the Scriptures, revealed and taught by the Spirit, received, studied from life-changing sermons, in bible studies, fellowship, Communion, and learning and teaching one another as the Lord enables. Essentially also, there ought to be the applications from the implications of what God communicates to His people.

Take the message of the Gospel; right from the beginning in Genesis, the embryonic Gospel was enunciated when it was written that the Seed shall bruise the head of the serpent.
When we consider the law and justice, the Old Testament is full of what God desires of His people in this respect, and in the New covenant, the law is fulfilled by Christ and His people (by the Spirit, and through His enabling, not perfectly though until Christ comes again).
When we speak of sufferings of believers, false teaching and teachers, tribulations, Matthew 24 has much to disclose to us, besides referring to the near-immediate destruction of the temple in Jerusalem ( prophecies can have multiple fulfilments like many ‘peaks’ throughout a long period and overtime).

Continuing, how will we equip our believers to share the non-negotiable essentials of the Gospel, in a warm-hearted and relational way with those who do not yet share their faith? What tools will we put in their hands to construct confident structure of faith in the unique accomplishments of the Lord Jesus, and so to give them a strong undergirding for their witness by life, as well as by lip in an unbelieving world? We would need to preach, teach, and communicate the truths revealed in the Bible.

In the introductory sharing on the Gospel of Luke, we see how Luke referred to the Old Testaments and allusions from the OT Scripture to affirm the coming of the Messiah, and also the mission of the Lord Jesus in His death, resurrection, ascension and the spread of the Gospel through His people, beginning in the Gospel of Luke and continued in the book of Acts.
We also must not miss the role of the Holy Spirit in the OT, in the Gospel of Luke, and in the church and outreach, even to the then known world. The Spirit revealed the coming of the Lord: He was instrumental in the conversions of many, and He was and is still working in the spread of the Gospel.

What ought to be the priorities of the church at this point in world history? How should we regard the competing ideologies of the global village in an age of instant information? How should we occupy the “waiting time” in which we live, looking towards the eschatological completion of God ‘s salvation plan? These vital issues constitute just another reason why we should grasp the essentials of the salvation story, the Gospel, and God’s eternal plan (principally from the Scripture, through the revelation and teaching of the Spirit, and the functioning and purpose of the church). These are needful in the last days!!