What Is The Gospel? Part 6

The Good News

The good news is truly good. But, it is even better after following such bad news; when seen in the light that scripture shines onto sinful humanity. Oh, this is good news. This is great news. The gospel is so stellar because, as we have considered, mankind is depraved and has zero chance at saving himself. He is lost, doomed, damned, condemned, hopeless, ruined, wretched, guilty, and on the broad way which leads to destruction.

But God. God intervened and began to do a mighty work among sinners. This is so sweet after something so bitter. The gospel is a lush oasis in a dry wasteland. It lifts us up from depths so deep and dark. Believers are enraptured and captured by the omnipotent, efficacious, splendiferous, ineffable, loving grace and mercy of our amiable God. He did not leave mankind to its demise. No! He rescues the lost; adopts the discarded; cleanses the filthy; makes whole the incomplete; pardons the guilty; justifies the unrighteous; redeems the enslaved; reconciles the estranged; brings near those who are distant; gives new life to the dead; and glorifies himself by bringing piteous rebels to glory! That is good news.

God chose to save

That God chose to save, to enact deliverance, is astounding. He did not have to, but he chose to before the creation of the world. Which means that both the fall of man and angels was all part of his sovereign and good plan. How do we explain this? What we as believers know is this: God designed to glorify himself. In order to due this, God ordained the Fall and the redemption of some to magnify his attributes. Since he is sovereign, just, righteous, good, and holy, God acted how he pleased and only according to his will. It was God’s prerogative. He orchestrated everything with his own end in mind. He was and is motivated by one factor- his glory.

The gospel glorifies God. “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great” (Ps. 25:11). “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins. For your name’s sake” (Ps. 79:9). “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power” (Ps. 106:8). Read closely the words of Isaiah and John,

For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I might not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another (Is. 48:9-11).

And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed a people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom of priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped (Rev. 5:9-14).

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed (Rev. 15:3-4).

These verses make it clear that God chose to save to glorify himself. From the deliverance of the Israelites, to Christ sacrificing himself on Calvary, God does all things for the fame of his name. All things. For his glory.

Another aspect of God glorifying himself in the salvation of sinners through the gospel is the magnification of his attributes. Because of the love for himself and his glory, God sent his Son as a substitute to die in the stead of his chosen so they could relish in his love and enjoy his glory. It was the mercy of God that provided redemption. God’s grace is on display by drawing sinners unto himself. We see his power in the resurrection. Note his wisdom in contriving the plan of salvation. His faithfulness is demonstrated in the covenants. His wrath is seen in punishing the Son. The holiness of God is witnessed in his forsaking of the Son. Justice is satisfied by the imputation of sin to the Son in his propitiatory atonement. And mark the sovereignty of God in ordaining all things and bringing them to fruition.

If God does all things for his glory, then we can assume that his actions extol his attributes. Since God’s attributes are who he is, his characteristics, then they are put on display whenever he works. In other words, we read, experience, or see God’s work. Whether in creation, redemption, or his word, he reveals himself; he unveils his character and properties. He tells mankind who he is. All the world is his stage and he brilliantly acts out his attributes in all that he does. If he does not give a person what they deserve, God shows himself to be merciful. If he gives an individual something that they do not deserve, he makes known his grace. God “predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:5-6). “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:11-12). The Holy Spirit is “the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:14). God saved his elect “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7). God “saved us... according to his own mercy” (Tit. 3:5). “According to his great mercy, he [God] caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3). “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Ex. 34:6-7).