Sacrifice V

It is impossible to get closer to the absolute core of Christianity, than the Gospel--the Good News about Jesus Christ--the Euangelion, the word from which we get evangelize, or evangelical.  The Apostle Paul said he faithfully delivered the Gospel.    “I make known to you, brethren, the gospel . . . by which also you are saved. . . . I delivered to you . . . what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:1–4, NASB95)   When he came to the great city of Corinth, Paul said,    “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)  In other words the Gospel was the heart of his message.  Today an entire movement in Christiandom is known by the description "Evangelical."  In the best sense, Evangelicals are those who believe and proclaim the Gospel.  If ever there was an Evangelical it was the Apostle Paul.  You just couldn't keep him quiet about that Good News. When we proclaim, or receive, the Good News what is really going on?  One of the present day distortions of the Good News is that it is entirely about me.  Some of us have observed that a slight change to a popular praise song is appropriate. "It's all about ME, Jesus." No, it's not. At the end of his great treatise on Christianity, the Book of Romans, he makes clear that ultimately its not about me, or even you.  It's about God.  In Romans 15:15-16 Paul says that it was God's grace that provided him the opportunity to minister this Good News to the Gentile nations.  The salvation of those people was not the final result.  Paul regarded those he reached as an offering to the Lord--dare I say, a kind of human-sacrifice?  His desire was that, "my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:16). It's one of the "spiritual sacrifices" that God's people ought to be offering to the Lord (1 Peter 2:5).  When I share the Good News and you receive it, it will change your life.  The Good News includes the message that there is forgiveness of sin, hope in life, and heaven after death, but that is not the end of the Gospel.  In the final analysis it is about the Glory of God. It's Something to Think About.