The Gospel Five

Five Fundamental Truths About Jesus

5. The Second Coming

Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary; he preached the gospel of the kingdom and was “a man approved of God by miracles and wonders and signs”; was crucified, died, and was buried; three days later he rose from the grave; he ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Is this the end of the story? He came from heaven, did his thing, and returned to heaven? No. No. No! This same Jesus will return in glory to set up his kingdom on the earth, and to judge the living and the dead. He will return literally, physically, bodily; with the very body that was crucified, died, laid in the tomb, and raised from the dead. When he returns he will resurrect those who believe in him (literally, physically, bodily). Maranatha!

Acts 1:9-11 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

The Prophets taught this
Daniel 7:13-14  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. 

Jesus taught this
Matthew 24:29-31 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 

The Apostle Paul taught this
1 Thessalonians 4:14-17  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

The Apostle Peter taught this
1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

The Apostle John taught this
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him... Even so, Amen. 

This is the Gospel: Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God; "he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead."

Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21)

The Gospel Five

Five Fundamental Truths About Jesus

4. The Resurrection

Christianity is not about being nice and sweet and kind to everyone you meet. The Gospel makes bold statements: The Son of God was made flesh by being miraculously conceived by the Spirit and born of a Virgin; Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved of God by miracles and signs and wonders; Jesus is the promised Christ, the Messiah, and he was crucified, died, and was buried.

Is this the end of the history of Jesus? A bright beginning and a tragic ending? Nope!

Mark 16:1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at the rising of the sun. 3 They said among themselves, “Who will roll the stone away from the door of the tomb for us?”

4 But when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. For it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white robe. And they were frightened.

6 He said to them, “Do not be frightened. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, as He told you.”

Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried; but on the third day he rose from the dead!

When the Bible says he was raised from the dead it does not mean he lives on in our memories, “What a great man he was!” Nor does it mean he died but his spirit lives on. It declares that he was dead but he came back to life. Literally, physically, bodily. That same body that washed the feet of the disciples, that was nailed to the cross, that was laid in the tomb, was raised the third day. This is how we know he paid our sin debt, that he defeated death – he was raised from the grave and lives forever!!

This the message we find the Apostles preaching in the book of Acts. We could look throughout the book, but the first sermon will be sufficient:

Acts 2:22-33
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:  
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:  
24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.  
25 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:  
26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:  
27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  
28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.  
29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.  
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;  
31 He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.  
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.  
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted...

Loosed the pains of death ... neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption ... the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. Jesus died, was buried, and the third day was raised from the dead, literally, physically, bodily!

As Jesus himself said in Revelation 1:17-18 

Fear not; I am the first and the last: and the one who lives, and was dead, and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and I have the keys of hell and of death.

The Gospel Five

Five Fundamental Truths About Jesus

3. The Cross

Jesus was crucified. The Gospel tells us that Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, the promised and long awaited Messiah, was crucified.

Mark 15:15-26, 33-37
And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him... And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ...And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

What kind of Savior story is this? Crucifixion was a horrible, painful way to die, yet we glory in the cross. But, it is not the agony that we glory in. We glory in the cross because by dying on the cross Jesus paid our sin debt. By the cross he defeated death. Jesus died: our sins can be forgiven. Jesus died: death no longer has dominion over us. And it is the incarnation that gives the cross infinite value.

This was always the plan. It cannot be said much plainer than Isaiah 53:

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.  
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.  
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.  
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.  
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

1 Corinthians 1:23  But we preach Christ crucified...
Christmas leads straight to the cross. The Son of God was born in a manger so he could die on a cross.

Acts 2:22-23 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

But, Why?

Jesus described his purpose:
The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10.45)

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.  
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (John 10:11, 17-18)

The Apostles take up this theme:

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 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...

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree... by whose stripes ye were healed.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God...

As we confess in the Apostle’s Creed:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. 
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;

The Gospel is clear, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, was crucified. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." (Ephesians 1:7)

The Gospel Five

Five Fundamental Truths About Jesus

2. The Earthly Ministry
Jesus' earthly ministry was one of signs and wonders, and the gospels unashamedly record them for us. I went through the Gospel According to Matthew and made this simple list of what he healed during his earthly ministry:

Chapter 4 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Chapter 8 Leprosy; palsy; fever; they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick, rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm; cast out demons.

Chapter 9 Palsy and forgiveness; raised a dead girl; gave sight to the blind; cast out a demon and made the mute to speak; And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

Chapter 11 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Chapter 12 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spoke and saw.

Chapter 14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick; fed about five thousand men, beside women and children with five loaves and two fish; walked on water; And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole; cast out a demon; And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them; fed four thousand men beside women and children with seven loaves of bread and a few little fish.

Chapter 17 A man brought his son to Jesus and said, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water... And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Chapter 20 Restored sight to two blind men

This is amazing! This is how Jesus began his public ministry:

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.’ 
And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, ‘This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.’ (Luke 4:16-21)

When Peter was preaching the gospel to Cornelius he summarized the ministry of Jesus: How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)

I began by saying Jesus' earthly ministry was one of signs and wonders. Why should he have a ministry of signs and wonders?

† He did them because of his compassion for the people

† His miracles were fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies of what Messiah would do and were therefore signs of him being the Messiah

† The miracles were demonstrations of the kingdom of God; by his ministry he demonstrated that the kingdom had come

From his ministry of signs and wonders we see the kingdom comes with power:

Power over sin - he forgave it

Power over Satan - he cast out demons

Power over sickness, disease, infirmity - he healed the sick and suffering

Power over death - he raised the dead

Finally, John tells us the goal of his ministry of signs and wonders:

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:30-31)

The earthly ministry of Jesus is a fundamental part of the gospel!

The Gospel Five

Five Fundamental Truths About Jesus

1. The Incarnation

Incarnation is actually not a Bible word, that is, it does not occur in the Bible. However, while the word itself does not occur, the thought does. Incarnate comes from Latin: in + carnes, in flesh. This thought is most definitely in the Bible:

And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:14

The Word was made flesh, became a man. What is he talking about, the Word was made flesh? Who is this Word? He tells us at the very beginning of chapter 1:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
2 The same was in the beginning with God.  
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

This is who is referring to when he says:

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...

and then

18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

The Word was made flesh, the only begotten Son of God became a man.

Does the Bible tell us how this happened? Yes! In the first chapter of the first book of the New Testament, the Gospel According to Matthew, we read:

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. 20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Luke, in the first chapter of his gospel, gives more detail:

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.  

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?  

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

This was prophesied in the Old Testament by Isaiah the prophet:

7:14 Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given...

This is one of the greatest events in the history of creation! But, Why would God send his Son to earth to become a man?

John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

1 John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son...

The Gospel begins on this note: God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son into the world that He might save sinners; the Son was made flesh that he might rescue those who had wandered far from God.