I’ve decided to do a Holy Week advent calendar on here. Each day this week I’ll be posting a reflection on the Gospel and the Easter message that I find to be particularly impacting. I felt the LORD really put this on my heart for a way to remind myself and us of what we really worship, 24/7, not just on Easter Sunday.
Today I want to reflect on the infinitely important role of the Gospel. The Gospel is the triumphantly glorious theme song of the mercifully redeemed Bride of Christ. Hallelujah! Praise God for a song like that. Think about that. The Gospel is the triumphantly glorious theme song of the mercifully redeemed Bride of Christ. A song that we, the body, sing in our hearts when we gather with each other to be mutually edified and glorify the Name of the LORD. But what is it really all about? Where does it start? What does it all hinge on?
Paul reminded the Corinthian church that when he was with them he “decided to know nothing among [them] except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2) The Gospel wasn’t just the harmony or even the second tune or the underlying tone, it was the glorious theme of his mission work and ministry! The Gospel was so important to Paul that he told the church at Galatia that if they abandoned it for another ‘good news’ or another ‘new thing,’ that they should be accursed (Galatians 1:9). The Gospel was Paul’s foundation in his ministry. The glorious cross of Christ was the unifying theme of God’s redemptive love for man.
On Easter, we will gather and spend time in serious corporate reflection on the day Christ died. May our hearts be grounded not on fleeting emotion, shallow feeling, or selfish pride but on the glorious unshakeable truth of the Gospel of our LORD Jesus Christ. That in our sin, in our rebelliousness, God came after us through Jesus Christ, an undeserved, unmerited atonement we could not begin to understand. That by the grace of God our whitewashed tombs, filled with dead men’s bones, are cleansed and stained red by the blood of the Lamb. Wow! Seriously, I hope you guys are excited about this. If the Gospel and Easter don’t make your or my heart quake in awe and grief at the tremendous sacrifice of Christ and then abound in joy in worship of the Father for freedom to have fellowship with God, may we seek scripture and the Holy Spirit earnestly to bring us to that place. It’s all about the Gospel, folks. Easter is all about the Gospel. The Church is all about the Gospel. Every day of our existence resounds with the theme of the Gospel.
“As he was drawing near – already on the way down to the Mount of Olives – the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’ ” (Luke 19:37-40)
On this Palm Sunday, may we resound with praises for the Gospel of Christ. It is the foundation of all that we are, all that we say, and all that we do as individuals and as the Body. Let’s be mindful of that.
-Riley