What Jesus Taught and Brought in the Gospel
The Gospel is not just a message, but a person, Jesus Christ, who embodies the character content of God and brings redemption and inner adequacy to the world.
E. Stanley Jones preaches on the foundational pillars of the Christian faith as outlined in the Acts of the Apostles. He emphasizes that Jesus is the embodiment of the Gospel, the Word made flesh, who brought the Good News through his teachings and actions. Jones highlights Jesus' atonement for our sins, his victory over death, his authority as the ultimate pattern for the new world, his position as the center of power at the right hand of God, and the inner adequacy provided by the Holy Spirit for believers to carry out the world revolution.
Text
In the opening lines of the Acts of the Apostles, Luke sums up the meaning of what Jesus taught and brought in the Gospel. "In the first part of my work, Theophilus, I wrote of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when, after giving ample instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up to heaven. He appeared to them and gave them ample proof that he was alive: over a period of forty days he appeared to them and taught them about the kingdom of God. While he was in their company he told them not to leave Jerusalem. 'You must wait,' he said, 'For the promise made by my Father, about which you heard me speak: John, as you know, baptised with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and within the next few days.'" (Acts 1:1-5)
First: The Word became Flesh. Jesus began to do and teach. The Gospel begins with Jesus, the Incarnate. You cannot say "God" until you have first said Jesus, for Jesus puts character content into God -- His own character content. You cannot say Christ, the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit until you have first said Jesus, for Jesus puts his own character content in all of these. The Gospel lives in his person-- he did not merely bring the Good News, he WAS the Good News.
Second: The Word became deed. Jesus did and taught. The Word was a deed before it was an exposition. Therefore it was not a philosophy or a moralism-- it was a fact, a deed; vital, not verbal. But his words were an expounding of what he was doing. So his deeds became words, and his words became deeds and, coming together with what he was, the Word became flesh.
Third: The Word became atonement after Jesus' death. When this Word came in contact with the sin of man, it crimsoned into sacrifice. He gave himself for our sins. The outer cross lighted up the nature of God as self-giving love.
Fourth: The Word became victorious. "Jesus showed himself to these men and gave ample proof that he was alive." Death could not hold him.
Fifth: The Word became the ultimate and final authority and pattern for the new world. "Over a period of forty days, Jesus taught them about the Kingdom of God." The Kingdom became the Unshakable Kingdom and Jesus the Unchanging Person, the absolute order and the absolute Person.
Sixth: The Word became the center of final power. "Jesus was taken up -- taken up to the right hand of God." So the earliest Christian creed was "Jesus is Lord."
Seventh: The Word became inner adequacy. "Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem. You must wait for the promise made by my Father... you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." The Word became inner adequacy for this world revolution by the coming of the Holy Spirit within them. The Holy Spirit was the applied edge of redemption.
These are the seven pillars upon which the Christian structure rests.
Sermon Outline
- The Incarnation
- The Word became Flesh
- Jesus is the Incarnate
- Jesus puts character content into God
Key Quotes
“You cannot say 'God' until you have first said Jesus, for Jesus puts character content into God -- His own character content.” — E. Stanley Jones
“The Gospel lives in his person-- he did not merely bring the Good News, he WAS the Good News.” — E. Stanley Jones
“The outer cross lighted up the nature of God as self-giving love.” — E. Stanley Jones
Application Points
- Recognize Jesus as the Incarnate, the embodiment of God's character content.
- Understand that the Gospel is not just a message, but a person, Jesus Christ, who brings redemption and inner adequacy to the world.
- Embody the self-giving love of God by following Jesus' example and teachings.