The Heart of the Gospel, by Dr. Patrick Ramsey, 3-21-21
The following points are highlights of the mp4 sermon at the end of this post:
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-10
- What is the heart of the gospel?
- The Cross, Christ crucified, which includes: His incarnation, life, burial, resurrection, ascension
- The cross is foundational to our salvation; the gospel writers focused on the cross: Matthew, Mark and Luke devoted 1/3 of their books to the cross; John, half of his book; furthermore, the cross was at the heart of the apostle’s missions (elaborated)
- The Old Testament predicted that the Christ must suffer and die (see Isaiah 53, e.g.); the New Testament declared that Jesus is the Christ
- The Apostle’s Creed and many church hymns also indicate that Jesus suffered and died for sin, indicating the significance of Calvary
- Despite the aforementioned, unbelievers often mock the cross
- Paul stated in 1 Corinthians that the cross is a stumbling block to Jews and that Gentiles believe it to be foolishness
- Pastor Ramsey used Christopher Hitchens as an example by sharing statements Hitchens made about the cross
- Hitchens mockery indicated, to all who know the Bible, that he was oblivious to its contents [The last time someone was mocking the Bible to me, I stopped him and asked if he had read it, when he said he had not, that ended the conversation because it became apparent to each of us that his mockery was groundless, and he saw fit not to go on in his foolishness]
- John Lenox, when debating Hitchens, noted that scientists know that energy exists and use that knowledge in calculations, yet they do not know what it is
- Similarly, we do not have to fully understand the gospel for it to be true; Paul called it the power of God to save all who believe it (elaborated)
- Therefore, we can invite unbelievers to church to hear the gospel preached, even though they might mock it, because we know that it is the power of God to save those who believe (elaborated)
- How does the death of one Man on the cross save all those who believe?
- What does the world need to be redeemed from?
- Genesis 1-2 state that mankind was made by God to dwell with Him; to love and serve Him; to rule His creation
- We had fellowship with Him; that was ended by sin, when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden
- Sin / rebellion brought with it guilt, defilement, spiritual death, separation from God
- Since being cast from the Garden, mankind has been dwelling with other sinners and demons in the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of darkness
- All human beings, since Adam, inherited his fallen state; that is, they are condemned by God; inherently sinful; deserving of death; spiritually dead
- The Bible uses numerous words to describe how God redeems fallen human beings: reconciliation; covering our sins; satisfying our sin debt; cleansing us; redeeming us; ransoming us; forgiving us; transferring us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light…
- At the heart of the aforementioned is the problem of SIN
- SIN (it’s transgression, guilt and defilement) is the reason we are alienated from God; live in the kingdom of darkness (before salvation); experience physical death; hurt ourselves and others; live in an evil world (due to our evil acts and those of others); and experience natural disasters (God cursed the world when Adam and Eve fell into sin – Romans 8 notes that)
- The sting of death is sin; the power of sin is the law [the commands of God reveal sin]
- God’s justice requires that sin be punished; His justice must be satisfied
- Before we can be redeemed, our sin must be dealt with
- Jesus dealt with sin on the cross via His sufferings; He is our substitute; He suffered God’s judgment against sin for all who would believe on Him by faith, dying the death they deserved
- Romans 4; 1 Peter 2:24 Jesus bore our sins in His body on the tree (elaborated via numerous other scriptures)
- In Adam all die; in Christ all are made alive: covenant headship explained
- To experience this new life in Christ, one must be united to Him by faith – explained
- Our union with Christ takes care of our sin debt, enabling us to again have fellowship with God the Father, eternal fellowship in the new heaven and new earth
- We know that there will still be unbelievers
- However, we will not be ashamed of the cross because we know that the cross is at the heart of the gospel and the gospel is the power of God to save all who believe
The following link is to Dr. Ramsey’s Sermon Audio page, for those who wish to hear other sermons by him, such as the series on the 10 commandments from Deuteronomy that he recently completed: