MESSAGE
FROM THE
WORD
THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL
Colossians 1:5-8
SERIES: Colossians
Message # 5
The term gospel is used a lot in Evangelical circles. We talk about the gospel. We want gospel preaching. We sing gospel songs. We even say that our words are “the gospel truth”. When we talk about the gospel, what do we mean? Is it one of those terms that is used but no one really understands?
As we continue our series through Colossians, we come to “the gospel”. It is one of the most important messages in all the New Testament. It is the heart of Paul’s ministry. It was at the heart of the church. What do we mean when we talk about the gospel? We read COLOSSIANS 1:5-8 As we examine these words, I hope the message will change your life.
FIRST, WE SEE THE DEFINITION OF THE GOSPEL. The gospel is one of those words that everyone knows, but not everyone can define. Paul simply refers to it as “the gospel…” It is a simple word and at its core means, “good news”. The gospel is good news. However, there is more that we need to understand than that. It is not enough to understand the etymology of a word. We need to know its meaning. In another letter, Paul helps us with this definition. We read, 1COR. 15:1-5 The gospel means good news, but its understanding is taken from the fact that the gospel is the story of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. That is good news. How can the death of anyone be good news? When was the last time someone called and said, “I have good news. Old so-and-so died”. That would be really morbid. Peter explains to us why the death of Christ is good news. We read, ACTS 2:22-24; 36-39 The only death in the history of the world that benefited anyone eternally is that of Jesus Christ. Why? In the predetermined plan of God, the death of Christ was the event used by God to destroy the work of the devil and bring people into a right relationship with Him. This truth shows up again in the book of Hebrews. We read HEBREWS 2:14, 15 The death of Christ is good news because it neutralized the power of the enemy.
A master chess champion was walking through an art gallery and came across a painting that fascinated him. It was the painting of a young man sitting at a table playing a game of chess with the devil. There was a look of glee on the face of the enemy and of panic on the face of the young man. The name of the painting was “checkmate.” As the master chess champion observed the painting, he felt uncomfortable. He was a master chess champion and there was something about the painting that just wasn’t right. He called for the curator of the gallery and told him to take the painting down. When that didn’t work he demanded to meet the artist. That was arranged and the meeting took place. The master chess champion arrived at the meeting with a chessboard and the chess pieces. He set the board up exactly as the artist had arranged it in the painting and said, “There is something wrong with your painting.” When the artist inquired as to what that might be, the master chess champion stated, “You have entitled the painting “Checkmate,” but that implies that the young man has no more moves to make.” The chess champion reached over to the board and moved the young man’s king one space and said, “The devil is now checkmated. When the king has one more move, the game isn’t over”.
We read 1 COR. 2:6-8 When the devil worked for the crucifixion of Christ, he thought he had put God in checkmate. He did not understand that the king had one more move. The gospel is good news, because it took the bad news of sin and put it in checkmate. The power of sin had been broken. The gospel is good news, not because Jesus was a great teacher, but because He paid for the penalty for sin.
SECOND, WE SEE THE NATURE OF THE GOSPEL. If you were to examine the gospel to discover what it seeks to be at its core, it would be truth. The proclamation of the gospel core is the desire to proclaim the truth. It seeks the truth about sin, truth about God, and truth about salvation. There is one characteristic above all about the gospel and that is that it is true. We read, JOHN 14:6; 1 TIMOTHY 3:15 This is why we need to be very careful in our discussion of terms. The gospel deals in the truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. When we preach about the death of Christ and His resurrection, we are on firm footing. This is why Paul told us, II TIMOTHY 2:15 What is the gospel? It is the “WORD OF TRUTH”. These are true historical events. Some disagree with this, but it is historically provable.
THIRD, WE SEE THE TARGET OF THE GOSPEL. When we think of the reach of the gospel, what should be our goal? Paul wrote that the gospel had, “COME TO YOU, JUST AS IN ALL THE WORLD…” The target audience is the individual next door and the world around us. The church must think local and world wide when it comes to outreach. This is why we have mission’s organizations like the CPC and World missions like the Musisi’s in
FOURTH, WE SEE THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. This is a really interesting concept. If one word could be selected to explain the gospel, it would be the word “influence”. The gospel influences any society in which it is presented. When the church has sought to attain political power, it has lost influence. When it has sought to preach the gospel, it has changed that culture. We read VERSE 6 Did you notice the areas in which the gospel reaches? When the gospel is proclaimed it is, “CONSTANTLY BEARING FRUIT AND INCREASING…” In other words, the gospel brings life and it brings growth.
My father-in-law recently sold his apple ranch in
The gospel not only brings life, it brings growth. We read 1 PETER 2:1-3 It is the gospel that causes spiritual growth to take place. II TIMOTHY 3:14-17 Did you notice how the gospel works? As we learn it, the seeds are planted and life is birthed. Then, growth takes place and that brings maturity. Maturity always leads to service. If you have no desire to serve, it is because you are immature. You need to get into the word and it will begin to prompt your heart to serve God and His people.
FIFTH, WE SEE THE PURPOSE OF THE GOSPEL. There are many purposes for the gospel. We have seen several already today. The gospel reveals God’s plan of salvation. There is another listed here about which you may never have thought. Paul rejoices with them because they had “UNDERSTOOD THE GRACE OF GOD IN TRUTH”. The purpose of the gospel is to explain the grace of God. God’s grace is a big part of the Bible. It explains why God is so compassionate to sinners. It explains how weak-willed people can be courageous.
Notice what Paul states about God’s grace. These people had first heard about it and then understood it. In other words, God’s grace is not something that comes to us naturally. You have to hear it and think it through. This is why we are told to think as believers. We read, ISAIAH 1:18; PHIL. 4:6-8 However, it doesn’t end with hearing. Learning is never the end of any discussion with God. You must understand and obey. There is a distinction between the Western mind and the Hebrew mind. In the Hebrew mind, to understand is to apply. No one can claim to understand who does not obey. To know is to do. In the western mentality, to understand still leaves open the will to disobey.
Notice again the connection of God’s grace to truth. We are not given the right to believe anything we want. This is a very controversial issue in the culture in which we live. We want to be free to do whatever we want. That sounds so reasonable, until you get into real life. When you go to the pharmacy and have a prescription filled, there is always a warning and an order on how to take the medicine. What happens when a patient says, “No way do I let the pharmacist tell me what is true and false. I believe any medication is alright and any dosage is my right. He has no right to impose his will on me”. There is a term for people like that and it is the word, corpse.
In the medical field we understand the importance of abiding by the truth of medical principles. When you get on an airplane, you want a pilot who believes in the truths of aeronautical principles. No one would fly on an airline which stated that truth was relative and planes can be flown all sorts of ways.
Why is it so difficult for people to yield to the truth of God’s word? It is very simple. To accept that God’s word is true also acknowledges that His word should be understood and heeded. It is from the truth of the gospel that we learn about God’s grace which is adequate to save us and is adequate to deal with any problem we run in to.
SIXTH, WE SEE THE COMMUNICATION OF THE GOSPEL. Paul tells us that this church had “LEARNED IT FROM EPAPHRAS…” The only way to communicate the gospel is for one person to tell another person. In the book of Acts, the first eight chapters take place in
The only means God has of communicating His truth to people is His people. When I was in college I read a book entitled, The Gospel Blimp. It was written as a parable on how Christians try to witness to people. It tells of a man who wanted to witness to his neighbor. He wasn’t quite sure how to go about it, when one day he sees a blimp sail over her city. A brainstorm hits him. He went to the bank, took out a loan, and purchased the blimp, flew over his friend’s home and dropped dozens of gospel tracts on the neighbor’s home. He then went home to wait for the neighbor to knock on his door to tell him he had read the tract and accepted Christ as his Savior. It didn’t happen, but others heard of his attempt and asked if they could come to their community and drop tracts on the homes of their neighbors. Hence was born “Gospel Blimp, Inc.”
Years later, the man was at a social gathering and he saw his neighbor. He asked how he was doing and was shocked and pleased to learn that the man had become a Christian. He asked the man what tract it was that he had read that had caused him to come to Christ. The neighbor stated that he hated the tracts because they clogged up his rain gutters. He said that a man at work took an interest in him, invited him to a church activity, and shared the plan of salvation with him. He came to Christ because someone came to him and taught him about Jesus. The moral of the story was that impersonal evangelism cannot be the way we witness; it cannot replace the one on one of personal witness. Is there someone you would like to come to Christ? You need to tell them.
The gospel must be communicated by people to people. God did not send an angel to Cornelius to tell him about Christ. The angel told him only who to talk to. The only way the people around you will come to Christ is if you tell them.
SEVENTH, WE SEE THE MESSENGER OF THE GOSPEL. The gospel must be communicated by people, but there is a certain type of person the Lord uses. We read VERSE 7, 8 This is a simple verse, but it identifies for us five characteristics of a good pastor.
First, he was knowledgeable. Paul says that in regards to the grace of God, they had “LEARNED IT FROM EPAPHRAS…” That is, he had taught them. Are you interested in little points of Biblical truth? If I was to tell you that I had studied all week to prepare for this message, what part of speech is the word “studied”? It is a verb. That is, it shows action. If I was to attend a seminar and I tell you, “I hope I learn something”, you would probably not think that same idea. When we think of teaching it is an action done by us. When we think of learning we think that it is an action done to us. We are passive in the process. When Paul writes that they had “learned” the word is a verb. That means when you come to church on Sunday, you need to do something, learn. It is an action on your part. It requires effort. My part is to teach, your effort is to learn.
Second, he was loved. He wasn’t a tyrant; he was developing a relationship with these people. I meet pastors periodically who treat their congregation like they were his servants, or like it was a boss/worker relationship. The relationship between a pastor and congregation should be one of mutual love.
Third, he was sacrificing. There is a servant in the pastor/congregation relationship and it is the pastor. Here is the distinction. The pastor is a servant of Christ, not the congregation. I serve Christ. A part of that responsibility is to minister to you. However, I am not your servant. I meet people who act like the pastor is their servant boy. He isn’t, he is Christ’s servant boy.
Fourth, he is faithful. There are so many ways in which this concept could be applied. The pastor needs to be faithful to the Lord, to the scriptures, to the congregation, to his wife, to his vows, to his integrity. This is a general word. The pastor cannot just be a great orator; he must be a great example.
Fifth, he is positive. I pull this out of verse 8 where Epaphras praised this fellowship for its love and spiritual dimension. Paul goes on in this letter to discuss some of the deep issues that this church was going through. However, his first response was to praise them, not criticize them. That is a good characteristic to practice. When you think of someone, do you think of their positives first or their negatives?
The gospel is a powerful tool. We read, ROMANS 1:16,17 The gospel is the power of God. It is the responsibility of God’s people to unleash it. It is your responsibility to take the gospel and bring it into your life. You need to learn it and respond to what it says. You need to have hope in what God wants to do in your life. You need to be grateful to those who are devoted to ministering to you and to those over the years who have invested their lives into yours.
This message is from the teaching ministry of Pastor Glen Jackson. All rights are reserved.
