1 Corinthians 2:2 (NKJV) 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
This week I have been pondering the things I love, especially as I focus on the new year and examine my loves and purpose to love them more.
I love my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ the most. Then of course, comes my wife and my grown children, their spouses and our grandchildren. As I review my ministry I have found one thing that stands out as the most loved; the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even when it seems that all is dark, the Gospel stands as a bright light that motivates my preaching. It is found on every page of Scripture and hopefully in every message and class I have taught. Since I am quite fallible, I am certain there have been times the message from me of the profound Gospel truths may not have been as bright as they should have been. But one thing is for certain, once I focus on that message, I am lifted to see the glories of a message that was decreed in eternity past and reigns as the only hope, the only light, the only escape from the judgment of God and immerses me in His grace.
There are great terms and principles found in the Gospel that are alien to the world and essential to the believer and the church. They speak of who God is, what sin is, what God’s judgment is, what God in love and grace has done and much more. The Gospel message speaks about terms such as:
- Holiness
- Sin
- Justification
- Forgiveness
- Propitiation
- Substitution
- Reconciliation
- Regeneration
- Redemption
- Election
- Call
- Repentance
- Grace
- Mercy
- Union
- Faith
- Adoption
- Perseverance
These are lofty terms that express the redemptive work of God through Jesus Christ alone. They are inherently Gospel terms that transcend all other messages, all other circumstances, and are divinely authored, ordered, provisioned, and accomplished in Christ alone. In a phrase, it’s the greatest story ever told in 66 divinely inspired books called the Bible.
When it seems, all is dark or futile, I run to these truths and wrap myself in them as seen in the Scriptures to refresh myself in Christ, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). This message and the person of Christ is the reason I am in the ministry. It is why we say, “in Him we live and move and have our being…” (Acts 17:28).
It is in the Gospel message we see God’s eternal purposes (Ephesians 1:5,9) displayed, Christ’s supremacy proclaimed (Colossians 1:17-18; Philippians 2:9-10), and God’s glory manifested (Ephesians 2:6,12,14).
So, through the next several months, well, actually, the whole year of 2017, I will write on these glorious terms, the message of the Gospel as well as other topics. They speak of the message I love and live for.
-Michael Holtzinger