The Gospel of Victory
The problem with the Church is the Gospel we preach, was word the Lord gave so strongly to our hearts as we sought Him on the mountaintop of Lamma Island in Hong Kong (please see our previous post). It was so clear and direct we went down from the mountain to spend the next four months re-examining the Gospel as it is revealed in His written Word. We were amazed at what we discovered. Far from being just the "entry point" into the Kingdom of God we found it covered the whole life, from beginning to end and into eternity.
So many of us have seen the Gospel purely as the message of salvation...in other words, the work of Jesus on the Cross to give us forgiveness of sins and eternal life, restoring our relationship with God...and it is, of course, wondrously this. But it is far, far more. It's very name - "Gospel" - reveals this. The word "gospel" is an old English word translated from the Greek word "euanggelion". It's literal meaning is "good news". But, unlike the English term which can be used generally for many situations, the Greek word related to a specific area of society. It was a military term.
In ancient times, when an army went out to wage war, they would fight the battles in the foreign land until the war was won. When the enemy was totally defeated, the commander of the army would then send a runner back to the home town. This was their only means of communication in ancient days. The runner would run all the way back. When the watchmen on the walls of the home-town saw him coming, they would open the gates of the city. The runner would run through the gates and begin shouting at the top of his voice, in the equivalent English,
"Gospel...gospel....gospel!" "Good news....good news....good news...."He was declaring total victory over the enemy!
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is a message of total victory over the Enemy. As you study the pages of the New Testament you find that it covers every part of our life...down here on earth as well as for eternity. Jesus said...
"The thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full [KJV: more abundantly]" (John 10:10)Paul calls it..
"...the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:4)To understand what this total victory is we need to go back to the beginning.
"And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.....And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die'" Genesis 2:9,16-17.The two trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden represented a choice to Adam and Eve. The Tree of Life represented the Life of God Himself - all that He is in His nature and His glory. They had been created in the image of God. Eating the fruit of the Tree of Life represented to them their growth in God's image - "from glory to glory" as the New Testament expresses it (2 Corinthians 3:18). Nowhere is it recorded that they ever ate of this fruit. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represented all that the Enemy stood for - independence from God and Self-glory.
When Adam and Eve sinned, disobeying God's instruction not to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, nine specific things happened as a result. Each of these nine devastating results were answered by Jesus on the Cross, bringing about a total reversal to the "Fall" and bringing us back to God's original plan for mankind.
The judgment for sin was meted out
"And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die'" Genesis 2:16-17.The moment they disobeyed and ate the fruit, the Spirit of God which had been breathed into Adam (and therefore Eve as she was part of him - Genesis 2:7, 21-23) left. They died spiritually and death then began to work from the inside out...from the spirit, through the soul (the mind, the will and the emotions), and ultimately to the body and Adam died 930 years later (Genesis 5:5).
When Jesus died on the Cross he was taking the judgment for our sins in our place. He died as our substitute. The moment we believe that and receive it for ourselves it becomes a reality.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 6:23.As Paul joyfully declares in Romans 8:1....
"There is therefore now no condemnation [pronouncing as guilty] for those who are in Christ Jesus...."
Sin and death began to reign
Romans 5:12-21, deals very specifically with the two representative men who have effected the whole of mankind...Adam whose act of disobedience caused sin and death to begin to reign and the Lord Jesus who brought the answer."Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin....how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!.....For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousnes reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.....just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"The last part of Romans 8:1 wonderfully declares the Gospel...
"....for the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death".
Self was deified
The temptation to Adam and Eve was not just a delicious looking piece of fruit, but was the word"...when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God [literally - gods in your own right], knowing good and evil."Although they had been created in the image of God, Adam and Eve yielded to the temptation to be gods themselves, independent from God. In other words, Self became god. Romans 6:6 declares God's wonderful answer to the deified Self...
"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin."
The knowledge of good and evil became the guiding force
In eating the fruit Adam and Eve did, indeed, gain an ability. They received the ability to judge between good and evil....between right and wrong. It is interesting to note the words of the Lord in Genesis 3:22..."...The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil..."In other words, if Adam and Eve had eaten of the Tree of Life they would also have gained the knowledge of good and evil - the ability to judge between right and wrong - for God has this knowledge. But with it would have been so much more. They would have grown in the nature and character of God Himself...His love, His mercy, His grace, His faith, His patience etc...so all knowledge and judgment would have come balanced with that. But in eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil that is all they gained, and it was a knowledge that was now coming from the perspective of the diefied Self. In other words....what is good or right for me; what is evil or wrong against me.
Thus, right from the start, relationship is broken as the "blame game" begins. Adam blames not just Eve, but the Lord Himself...
"...'The woman you put here with me - she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it'" Genesis 3:12.Down through centuries since, the knowledge of good and evil, coming from a self-centred motivation, has been the most dangerous force in the hands of mankind. Every war, every argument, every broken relationship is based on that "tree" - "I'm right - you're wrong".
The Lord Jesus is the Tree of Life. As we "eat" of Him (John 6:35,50-51) we partake of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4) as God intended from the beginning.
The curse was unleashed
See Genesis 3:14-19. Because of their disobedience to God's command the curse, instead of blessing, became their experience. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 also lists the curse of disobedience to the Law of God.But the glorious good news is found is Galatians 3:13-14...
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.' He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."Blessing, not the curse, is now the inheritance of the believer in Christ...
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ" Ephesians 1:3.And as Balaam discovered when the enemy king tried to get him to put a curse on God's people...
"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it" Numbers 23:19-20.
Satan gained the right and authority in the earth
By listening to the Enemy, and actually obeying him instead of the Lord, Adam and Eve sold out the authority God had given them over the earth (Genesis 1:28). As Satan expressed it in his temptation of the Lord Jesus..."The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him 'I will give you all their authority and splendour, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.' Jesus answered, 'It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only'" Luke 4:5-6.When the Lord Jesus died on the Cross He paid the ransom price (Matthew 20:28). He redeemed mankind and Satan lost all his right and authority on the earth.
"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake" 1 Peter 1:18-20.Jesus declared...
"...The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work" 1 John 3:8.
Religion was born
"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves" Genesis 3:7.Prior to the Fall religion did not exist because Man experienced a perfect relationship with God. All religion, whatever name it is under, is an awareness mankind's distance from God because of sin and is the attempt to fix the problem. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, it is a "do-it-yourself cover-up".
God's answer, however, is not what we can do, but what He has done!
"The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them" Genesis 3:21.The first blood sacrifice took place in the Garden of Eden, pre-picturing the once-for-all blood sacrifice that was to come - Jesus, the Lamb of God (Hebrews 10:8-14). As John the Baptist declared when he saw Jesus...
"...Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29.
Access to the Tree of Life was denied
"And the Lord God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.' So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life" Genesis 3:22-24.In His love and mercy God kept Adam and Eve from the Tree of Life for if they had eaten of it in their fallen condition no salvation would have been possible. They would have "live[d] forever" in their fallen state.
But now, through the finished work of Christ on the Cross, the Tree of Life is again open to the believer. All that God is we can now know through His Son,
"...I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him...Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father..." John 14:6-9.
The glory departed
After Adam and Eve sinned their nakedness became apparent (Genesis 3:7-11). Prior to that, created in the image of God, the glory of God would have "clothed" them. Just as the disciples saw the Lord Jesus' clothes become "as bright as a flash of lightning" on the Mt of Transfiguration (Luke 9:29), and Moses and Elijah appearing "in glorious splendour" (v.30-31), Adam and Eve would have been clothed with the glory of God.In His prayer to His Father in John 17:4, the Lord Jesus declares...
"I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do"...And in verse 22 makes this wonderful statement concerning His believers...
"I have given them the glory that you gave me..."Because of His completed work...finalised on the Cross and in the Resurrection...the glory of God is again "clothing" the believer (see Revelation 19:8 and 2 Corinthians 5:2-3).
Paul writes wonderously in 2 Corinthians 3:18...
"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
A Total Salvation
All that happened in the Garden of Eden - all nine drastic effects - has been dealt with and restored by the Lord Jesus Christ. The revelation of His finished work on the Cross and in His Resurrection is the sure foundation upon which our new lives are built and will grow.We will be looking into each of these aspects in more detail in the posts that lie ahead.
posted by David A.Collins @ 3:58 PM
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