Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved,

Yesterday, I used parts of one of Paul’s letters to the Corinthian Christians to emphasize the authenticity of the gospel message. Today, I am using the same verses to focus your attention on the essential aspects of the good news message about Me.

This note is especially important because it addresses the very core, the bedrock, of your faith. You will find certain phrases highlighted in the verses below to help you see the core gospel and what your response to the gospel should be. This core gospel is the central truth of your faith. It is the good news that I want to be preached about Me. It is the foundation upon which you are to build your life, your values, and your witness before others. This core gospel is emphasized, proclaimed, and used in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians as motivation and assurance for faithful living and authentic ministry. Notice three aspects of this core gospel in the verses below. These three truths are the foundation of much of what your New Testament teaches.

Core Gospel Emphasized: The first few phrases in bold emphasize the foundational nature of the core gospel. It is “the essential message,” “the central story,” and the “gospel” by which “you are liberated” from sin and death because this core gospel is “the crux of it all.”

Core Gospel Proclaimed: There are phrases in bold and underlined that summarize the proclaimed message of the gospel. I, the Christ and “the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for” your sins and “was buried and raised from the dead on the third day,” and I subsequently “appeared alive” to many witnesses who knew Me both before and after My resurrection. Tomorrow we will look at Scriptures that foretold My sacrifice and that illustrated how My disciples and I used those Scriptures.

Core Gospel Used to Inspire Faithful Living: The phrases in bold toward the end of the verses leverage your faith in the core gospel to inspire and encourage you to holy living. “What matters is… that you have faith in this message,” that “you now base your life on” this gospel, and that you “stay firmly planted — be unshakeable — [and] do many good works in the name of God” because you know that “your labor” is not wasted, is not in vain, and “is not for nothing.” As the year progresses, more will be said about how you are to live your life as My disciple.

Verses to Live

I endured death to defeat its hold on you. I was raised victoriously back to life to share that life with you. To show the power of God over Satan, hell, and death, I appeared after My resurrection to those who knew Me best. I did this to help you know that your life matters — not just to you and to those you love, but it matters to the Father. What you do because you are My disciple will never be forgotten! Following, beloved, is the core gospel, the good news that saves you.

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I preached to you when we first met. It’s the essential message that you have taken to heart, the central story you now base your life on; and through this gospel, you are liberated — unless, of course, your faith has come to nothing. For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God’s covenant story. Afterward He appeared alive to Cephas (you may know him as Simon Peter), then to the rest of the twelve. If that were not amazing enough, on one occasion, He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. Many of those brothers and sisters are still around to tell the story, though some have fallen asleep in Jesus. Soon He appeared to James, His brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church, and then to all the rest of the emissaries He Himself commissioned. Last of all, He appeared to me [Paul]; I was like a child snatched from his mother’s womb. You see, I am the least of all His emissaries, not fit to be called His emissary because I hunted down and persecuted God’s church. Today I am who I am because of God’s grace, and I have made sure that the grace He offered me has not been wasted. I have worked harder, longer, and smarter than all the rest; but I realize it is not me — it is God’s grace with me that has made the difference. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether it was I or the other witnesses who brought you the message. What matters is that we keep preaching and that you have faith in this message.

…

Sin came into this world, and death’s sting followed. Then sin took aim at the law and gained power over those who follow the law. Thank God, then, for our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, the Liberating King, Who brought us victory over the grave.

My dear brothers and sisters, stay firmly planted — be unshakable — do many good works in the name of God, and know that all your labor is not for nothing when it is for God.

(1 Corinthians 15:1-11; 1 Corinthians 15:56-58)

Response in Prayer

Almighty God, I humble myself before You as I think of Your wondrous grace! Thank You for making the core gospel so plain, so clear, and so powerful. I believe that Jesus died for my sins. I believe that He was buried. I believe that He was raised to life on the third day and showed Himself alive to those who knew Him. I choose to offer my life to You. I want to be used to share Your core gospel with those who do not yet know of Your saving grace. In Jesus’ name, I pray and offer myself to You, for Your glory, so that others might be saved. Amen.

‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware.

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.