What is the Gospel and Why is it Powerful?
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis, I’m the lead pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to gather with you both onsite and online. At this time we can dismiss the children to children’s church, and if you didn’t get a chance to check your child in please see our children’s ministry leaders in the back and they’d be more than happy to assist you with that...As the children are being dismissed I want to thank everybody who helped out with our Christmas Eve service. I had many people tell me they brought their skeptical friends on Christmas Eve and it impacted their friend’s lives. It opened the door for them to have further faith conversations with their friends. I also want to thank everybody who financially gave to our church last year. One of the things we say often at City Awakening is you can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving. Many of you give to our church because you love Jesus, our church, the people in our city, and you want to see us reach even more people with the love of Jesus. Well last year your giving didn’t just meet our budget, it exceeded our budget! Let’s praise God for that!...We’re excited about this because it’s another step closer to affording our own church building, but more importantly it allows us to expand our ministries to reach more people locally and globally with the love of Jesus. So thanks for giving generously to our church. We ended the year strong!
But it’s a new year, it’s 2023, and we’re starting a new teaching series on a book of the bible called Romans. It’s a series about renewing your mind, for the transformation of your life. As we enter the new year many people are in the mindset of transforming their lives, resetting their lives again. They want to reset their marriage, their family, their health, their wealth, start things off in a new way, so this year will be better than last year. The reason we want to reset is because there’s things about our lives we aren’t happy with, and we don’t want to repeat those things. So we want to reset our lives, have a new life, a better life than last year, and the book of Romans is all about a reset. It’s about Jesus giving us a reset, a new life, and the power to transform our lives into better lives than we’re currently living. So let’s turn to Romans ch 1 and check it out. You’ll find Romans in the last quarter of the bible, and we’ll be in Romans 1:1-17. The title of today’s message is What’s the Gospel and why’s it powerful? It’s two questions we’ll address in this message. It’s what’s the Gospel and why’s it powerful? The big idea is the gospel has the power to save and transform your life...The gospel has the power to save and transform your life.
Context:
Here’s your context. Romans was written by the Apostle Paul who was considered a highly respected, highly educated man. But he was also a skeptic and enemy of Christianity! He persecuted Christians for their faith in Jesus, and is responsible for the death of the 1st Christian martyr, the death of Stephen. But around 35 A.D. he has an interaction with Jesus that changes his life, and he becomes a Christian. He writes Romans 20 yrs later around 57 A.D., to introduce himself to Christians in Rome, and to teach them about the gospel that transformed his life. The gospel is the primary message, the primary theme in his letter to the Romans, and today we’ll learn what the gospel is. We’ll learn what the gospel is, and why it’s powerful. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Romans 1:1-17 states, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus...” Paul introduces himself to the Romans as a servant of Jesus. His intro is 7 verses long, and we’ll learn several things about Paul and Jesus in these 7 verses. The first thing we learn is Paul introduces himself a servant of Jesus, which displays incredible humility since Paul’s considered one of the greatest Christian leaders in history. But viewing ourselves as humble servants isn’t something we tend to strive for in our culture. We’d rather be served, than the one serving. We’d rather get our feet rubbed in a recliner, than get our feet sore from serving. Is being a humble servant something you’re striving for at home?...Is being a humble servant something you’re striving for at work?...Is being a humble servant something you’re striving for at church and in our city?...What we’re learning from Paul is it doesn’t matter if you’re married or single, parent or child, retired or working, in a CEO chair or a cubicle. We’re to have humble servant attitudes toward others like Jesus had toward us.
Paul’s humble servant attitude comes from knowing how much Jesus humbly served him. He knows Jesus could’ve easily conquered and condemned the world, but instead he died on the cross to humbly serve and save the world. Jesus says in Mark 10:45, “I didn’t come to be served, but to serve, and give my life as a ransom for many.” Jesus set an example for us to have humble servant attitudes, and our relationships thrive, the more we strive to be humble servants like him. It’s really the only way a relationship can fully thrive! If you have a selfish + selfish relationship where both people are selfish, it leads to war. If you have a selfish + servant relationship where one person’s selfish and the other’s a servant, it leads to neglect. If you have a servant + servant relationship where both people are serving, it leads to a loving thriving relationship. It’s the kind of relationship Jesus wants to have with us, and he wants us to have with others. It’s the kind of relationship that’ll thrive, the more we strive to be humble servants like him. It’s the kind of relationship Jesus had with Paul, so Paul’s striving for that same relationship with the Romans.
Again vs. 1, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God...” So Paul introduces himself as a servant, but also as an apostle. In the original Greek the word apostle means one who’s sent, and it’s a term sometimes used for all Christians. But it’s mostly used for leaders who saw the resurrected Jesus, and were specifically chosen by Jesus to lead the early church. In this case it’s showing Paul’s one of the early Apostolic leaders chosen and sent by Jesus, to help lead the early church and spread the gospel. Historically Paul’s known for spreading the gospel to both Jews and Gentiles, which is everybody who isn’t a Jew. His letter to the Romans becomes significant in the gospel spreading throughout the Roman Empire. But one of the primary reasons he writes this is to teach the Romans about the gospel, since they hadn’t received a copy of the 4 gospels yet. The 4 gospels we have in the bible now, weren’t circulated to them at this point in history. So Paul writes this to give them a detailed explanation of what the gospel is. He explains the gospel in such a methodical and logical way, that for over 100 yrs Harvard Law School required 1st yr students to study Romans. They wanted students to learn from the way Paul methodically and logically structured his case for the gospel. We don’t have time to get into every detail of the gospel today, but Paul gives some glimpses of what the gospel is in his intro. It’s glimpses he’ll specifically breakdown in the rest of Romans, and it’s no surprise he starts with Jesus. The gospel is all about Jesus, so he starts with pointing to Jesus.
Again vs. 1, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures—3 concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David, according to the flesh 4 and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead.” Paul quickly points to Jesus, because the gospel’s all about Jesus. He says Jesus is our Lord and Christ, meaning he's our anointed Messiah, Savior, God incarnate the biblical prophets pointed to. Isaiah 7:14 says, “The Lord will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive a son and name him Immanuel.” Then 700 yrs later the virgin Mary gives birth to Jesus and calls him Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Psalm 22:16 says, “A gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet.” A 1000 yrs later Jesus’ hands and feet were pierced, they were crucified on the cross for our sins. Jesus dying for our sins is a critical part of the gospel, which Paul will eventually explain in depth. But for now he’s saying Jesus is the long awaited Messiah, Savior, God incarnate who died for our sins, just as the prophets predicted.
Vs. 5, “Through him we received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the Gentiles,, 6 including you who are also called by Jesus Christ. 7 To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul says through the gospel, through Jesus we receive grace and peace, which is something we all need! We all need grace and peace, especiallygrace and peace with God, because our sins separated us from God. Jesus came to remove that separation and offer us a hand of friendship instead of war. He offers us a hand of grace and peace instead of a hand of wrath and war. Those who accept his invitation receive forgiveness of sins, eternal friendship with God, grace and peace with God, and that’s the good news of the gospel. The word gospel means “good news,” and Paul’s saying the good news is we have eternal forgiveness, friendship, grace and peace with God through faith in Jesus. Tim Keller states, “The gospel is that we’re more sinful and flawed than we ever dared believe, yet at the same time we’re more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
See the story of the gospel, the narrative of the gospel is that Jesus is our Lord, our God who created and breathed life into you. You aren’t an accident, you were created. You aren’t a mistake, you were intelligently designed. Every intricate detail of your DNA was intelligently designed by Jesus, and he breathed life into you to live and thrive in relationship with him. But instead of living and thriving in relationship with him, we all at some point forgot him, rejected him, rebelled against him, tried living and thriving without him. As our Lord, God, Creator he has every right to condemn and punish us, but as our Savior he came to extend a hand of grace and peace to us. So instead of rejecting his creation, he enters his creation becoming human like us, to show he still loves us and wants a relationship with us. But again we rejected and crucified him. He allowed it to happen so that his death could be our life. He died the death we deserved to die for our sins, so we could live the eternal joyful life we don’t deserve with him. So the bad news is we all deserve punishment for our sins, for rejecting and forgetting him. But the good news is he died for our sins on the cross, he rose again on the 3rd day, and he defeated the grave! He defeated sin and death which means he’s still alive today! He’s still pursuing people, still breathing new life into people, still hearing prayers, still forgiving sins, still changing lives, still changing eternal destinies, and that’s the good news of the gospel!...Paul’s eager to share the details of this good news with the Romans in person, and he expresses his eagerness in vs. 8-15.
Vs. 15, “I am eager to preach the gospel to you in Rome. 16 For I am unashamed of the gospel...” Paul says he’seager and unashamed to preach the gospel, because he knows it has the power to save and transform lives like it did his. The reason we don’t always share the gospel as much as we should is because we either feel inadequate, or we forget the power the gospel’s had in saving and transforming our lives. But the more we focus on Jesus and his power to save and transform lives like he did ours, the more eager and unashamed we’ll be in sharing the gospel like Paul. One of our codes at City Awakening is love the few so we can love the many, meaning we want to love a few people so well, they can’t ignore the love of Jesus for their lives. Who has Jesus placed into your life to love, serve, share the gospel with? Who has Jesus sent you to love, serve, care for, pray for, one day share the gospel with, like Paul’s doing with the Romans? Jesus doesn’t want us to hide our friendship with him, he wants us to go public with our friendship and invite others into that friendship. Just like you wouldn’t be okay with your spouse, children, friends saying they love you, but then being ashamed to go in public with you. Let’s not be okay with telling Jesus we love him, but then be ashamed to go in public with him. Instead let’s be eager and unashamed to share the gospel, knowing it has the power to save and transform lives.
Again vs. 16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel,, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes...” He says the gospel is the power of God! The Greek word for power is dunamis, it’s where we get the word dynamite from. Dynamite didn’t exist in Paul’s time, but it’s still a great picture of the exploding power of the gospel in our lives. Dynamite’s an explosive tool that’s often used to blast things out of the way to build something greater. Well the gospel has the power to blast things out of our lives, so God can do a greater work in our lives. The gospel’s never destructive, instead it’s always transformative, and we all need this power to save and transform our lives. Like I said earlier we love new year’s because it feels like we get to reset on our lives. But some things, some issues in your life you can’t reset, which is why you need a greater power than your willpower. As humans we’ve created a lot of issues in our lives, relationships, and world only Jesus has the power to overcome. What makes the gospel so powerful is it allows us to rely on his power instead of just our own power. It allows us to rely on the power of our friendship with Jesus for salvation and transformation in everyday life. Paul doesn’t say we have the power, he says Jesus has the power. He doesn’t say we have the power, he says the gospel has the power for salvation and transformation in everyday life.
Again vs. 16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel,, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith...” He’s saying the only way to be eternally saved and transformed is through faith in Jesus. When he talks about the righteousness of God, he’s talking about how God is righteous and holy, but we’re unrighteous and unholy. Time always proves we’ll eventually stumble to live a good, perfect, righteous life deserving of God’s presence in heaven. So we need the power of Jesus to save us, transform us, cover us in his righteousness on the cross. Paul says this righteousness can only be received through faith in Jesus, faith in the gospel. Some of you are like “But I already know all this. I’ve already received the gospel.” That’s great! But listen to what Paul says next.
Vs. 17, “The righteous will live by faith.” The righteous will live by faith, meaning we need to keep relying on the gospel, our relationship with Jesus daily. In the words of Charles Hodge, “The gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, yet so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches.” So we don’t ever move on from the gospel, we dive deeper into the gospel. We don’t ever move on from our relationship with Jesus, we dive deeper into our relationship with Jesus. Imagine if I said to my wife on our wedding day “Now that we’re married, I’m moving on from you. I’m not pursuing a deeper relationship with you.” If I said that, she’d smack the stupid out of me!...Just like a bride and groom shouldn’t stop pursuing a deeper relationship with each other after the wedding, we shouldn’t stop pursuing a deeper relationship with Jesus after receiving the gospel. It's why another one of our codes is the gospel’s more than a way to eternal life, the gospel is our life! It’s because we know we need to rely on the gospel, rely on Jesus daily. We know life is messy and sometimes feels like a cage fight. But the gospel is our powers source for salvation and transformation in the mess of everyday life. Our marriages need Jesus, our families need Jesus, our friendships need Jesus, our schools need Jesus, our workplaces need Jesus! Our political parties and nations need Jesus! We need the power of Jesus to save and transform everything we’re powerless to save and transform. We’re foolish if we think we can rely on Jesus for salvation, but then go through everyday life relying on ourselves for transformation. We need to remember it’s faith in Jesus that connects us to his saving power, but it’s daily reliance on Jesus that keeps us in the flow of his transforming power.
So this is our goal for your life in 2023 as we study the book of Romans. It’s to help each of us dive deeper in our reliance on Jesus, by diving deeper in the theological truths of the gospel Paul will teach us in Romans. Numerous scholars call Romans the most important theological book ever written. Augustine said when he studied Romans,“All the shadows of his doubt were dispelled.” John Calvin said it was his entrance “To all the most hidden treasures of scripture.” Martin Luther said “It’s the most important piece of the New Testament...and it’s impossible to read, study, ponder, meditate on it too much.” He also said reading it is like a man trying to get apples off an apple tree. We must shake every branch!...So in 2023 we will shake every branch of Romans we can, because it’s a book that can renew our minds, for the transformation of our lives. We’re calling 2023 Deeply Rooted, because we want it to be a deeply rootedyear of gospel centered theological growth for our church. Even our student ministry is doing an excellent study on theology. It includes weekly devotionals to do at home with your middle and high schoolers, and it’s devotionals I’m excited to start doing with my own family. On our website you can also download our Romans bible reading plan, and you can sign up for a small group where you’ll gain access to our Romans study guide. So download the reading plan, join a small group to participate in our study guide, be consistent in coming to church, and be consistent in bringing your children to student ministry, so they can keep growing in gospel centered theology too.
The Big Idea:
The big idea of the message is that the gospel has the power to save and transform your life...The Gospel has and is the power to save and transform your life...If you’re a skeptic who doesn’t believe in all this, you need to remember Paul was a skeptic and didn’t believe in all this either. But after seeing the resurrected Jesus and experiencing his life transforming power, this highly respected, highly educated man couldn’t deny Jesus anymore. He became a follower of Jesus, a servant and apostle of Jesus, faced persecution and death to eagerly and unashamedly spread this very gospel message of Jesus. It’s that Jesus is our loving God who died for our sins on the cross to save and transform our lives. Do you want to reset your life in 2023?...Both skeptics and believers, do you want to reset your life in 2023?...Do you want to reset your life, have a new life, have salvation and transformation in 2023?...If that’s what you truly want, then rely on the power of Jesus to save your life, and rely on the transforming power of Jesus in your everyday life...Pray to him right now, and ask him to save and transform your life...Let’s pray...