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Rom 16:25-26…Now to him that is of power to stablish
you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now
is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the
commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience
of faith:
The purpose of the Gospel was to offer the power and presence of Christ to an unsaved world. Saint Luke described the Gospel as a means of repentance and remission of sins. Mark described the Gospel as a means of being saved. The Apostle Paul described the Gospel as the power of God unto salvation. Repentance, remission of sins, and salvation for the soul is the power of the God that comes through the Gospel message. How? Through man’s belief in Christ as Savior and Lord based on what was written.
·
Rom 1:16 …For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth
Records
show that men of old that preached the Gospel were Jewish men. The Gospel message
recorded in the Holy Scriptures came through the Jewish nation. The Jewish
people from whom the Word of God came have always kept perfect records and
perfect genealogies concerning the Messianic lineage. Jesus was a Jew, the 12
Apostles were Jewish, and the Word of God was written by, and given to the Jew.
This is the reason why the Apostle Paul said the Gospel was to…the Jew first.
·
Rom 1:16 …For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
The Apostle Paul clarified what the Gospel was in the
following verses. As a knowledgeable Jew concerning the Law of Moses yet later converted
to Christianity, Paul understood how the truth of the Gospel was derived from
the Holy Scriptures.
·
1 Corinthians 15:1-4… Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein
ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto
you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all
that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; And that he was
buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
·
Rom 1:1-5…Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be
an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the
holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son
Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: By whom we have received grace
and apostleship, for obedience to the
faith among all nations, for his name:
The above
verses point to the prophetic truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of
Christ written in the Scriptures. The Grace of God was given to man and received
by man through faith in Christ. Faith came by hearing the Word of God. The Word
of God confirmed the person of Christ through preaching. The Word of God preached
by the Apostles was Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms concerning
Christ. Remember the New Testament
Epistles had not been written yet.
The ministry
of the Holy Spirit upon the human soul actually confirms the truth of the Word
of God through the Gospel message. This same Gospel message preached today contains
the same person of Christ preached in the first century… in repentance, redemption,
and the forgiveness of sins.
·
Acts 13:38-39…Be it known unto you therefore, men and
brethren, that through this man is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are
justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of
Moses.
Prophecy
reveals and confirms the truth about Christ. Messianic Prophecy goes back to the
Garden of Eden where God promised a Savior to the Serpent, after the serpent
caused the fall of man…Genesis 3:15. Genesis
3:15 was the first
prophetic utterance of the promised Savior. This Prophecy concerning Christ was
written in Genesis, the first book of the Law of Moses. It was concealed for
centuries but revealed in part when the Messiah actually came. Now, in the
Church Age it’s revealed more through the power of a Living Savior and the work
of the Holy Spirit. Even more is to be revealed after the Rapture of the church,
and the second coming of our Lord in the Kingdom Age to restore Israel
·
Gen 3:15…And I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel
·
1 John 3:8…For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy
the works of the devil.
Moses wrote
the first five books of the Bible…Genesis,
Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Leviticus. Being the Holy Scriptures for the
Hebrew, the Nation of Israel, and the Jewish people the first five books of the
Bible were called the Law of Moses. The Law of Moses pointed to the Messiahship
of Christ. The Gospel can be preached from prophecy contained within the Law of
Moses.
·
John 5:46 …For
had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
