I am happy to be a Christian, I find it a great thing to have the knowledge of Christ and to be in a good relationship with Him. It has benefited me enormously, both internally and externally. Yet I know that the gospel would exist without me. Let me explain. The gospel is based on and composed of objective facts and truth that should be known, understood, and communicated as such. I like the personal application of the gospel, what Jesus did for me, and this is often what is lacking in the presentation of Christ by certain fundamentalist groups. He comes across as a distant and remote Being and Truth.
But I fear we are moving to the other extreme. Isn't our gospel excessively focused on our experience, leaving aside the exposition of objective truth? It is true that God intervenes in our daily lives; Jesus Himself intends to give rest to those who are burdened and weary. While you couldn't sleep before Jesus touched you, today you sleep like a baby, but that doesn't make Jesus a sleeping pill; so you can hardly limit your presentation of Christ to 'come to Christ, he will make you sleep.' If someone had told me that, I would have replied, no thanks, Valium will do.
It is up to every believer to go deeper into understanding the Person of Christ, His purpose, past and present, what He accomplished by His life, death, and resurrection, what happens when a person gives their life to Him, and the lifestyle that corresponds to this new situation. This is the history, present, and future of man. This is about biblical knowledge and experience, not about worshipping a Christ who is a figment of our imagination, tailored to our needs to please us and avoid any inconvenience in life. Many claim to know Christ but are unable to explain the meaning of the gospel. So what do they believe?
Creation, fall, separation, redemption, justification, propitiation, adoption; the gospel is a truthful narrative, a Person, a triumph, a transformation of the situation, a theology, and a life experience and reality. I have resolved that each year I will endeavor to preach a series of messages on 'What is the Gospel?' The gospel—the good news—set the early church ablaze; men and women were fully aware and grateful for this extraordinary gift given them and gave their lives to share it with others. It was an objective, essential, living, and experiential truth for them. Oh, that it may be so for us.
