Thursday: The Everlasting Gospel
Read Revelation 14:6-7. What is the “everlasting gospel”?
The gospel is referred to here as “everlasting”. This is further evidence that God does not change. An unchanging God has an unchanging gospel.
Copyright lars justinen @ goodsalt.com
This eternal gospel gives assurance to all who are willing to accept it. The gospel reveals the unchanging love of God, and it’s this message that needs to go to the world. Everyone needs a chance to hear it, which is why God has called His people to spread it.
“[J]ust as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Eph. 1:4-5, NKJV). What does this tell even more about just how “everlasting” the gospel really is?
Chosen in Him “before the foundation of the world”. Talk about an “everlasting” gospel! Even before the Creation of this world, God’s plan was for us to have salvation in Him.
Look at some of the words here: “chosen”, “predestined”, “good pleasure”, “adoption”. Look at how much these two verses point to God’s desire for us to have eternal life “in Him”. And the fact that God had done all this in eternity past (see also 2 Thess. 2:13, 2 Tim. 1:9) points so clearly to His grace, showing that our salvation comes not from anything we can do nor from any creature merit, but totally as an act arising from God’s own loving character. How could salvation come from anything we could do if we were elected to have that salvation in Him even before we existed? The choice is for us to accept or reject it.
And how is this election made manifest in the lives of the elect? To “be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4, NKJV).This, too, is what we have been chosen for.
| We are called to spread the “everlasting gospel” to the world as part of the end-time message prior to Christ’s return. Why must we know and experience the reality of the “everlasting gospel” in our own lives before we can share it with others? |
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The Everlasting Gospel
Founded in God himself
Even before creation
I was redeemed in Him
I am being sanctified by Him
I will be glorified through Him
Even after restoration
The Everlasting Gospel
I was redeemed in him because of his son Jesus.
A am being sanctified by him for the same reason - Jesus.
I will be glorified by him because of his som Jesus.
I will be judged for eternal life because of his son Jesus.
I will be judged for eternal death if I am devoid of his son Jesus.
This is the Everlasting Gospel.
The Everlasting Gospel - The eternal unchanging message of the sovereignty of God. There is hope!
If I join some dots regarding points that have been raised during this week's lesson, it would seem that:
* my 'default' heritage/inheritance under the 1st Adam is a terminal condition - death (Rom 5:14, 6:23).
* my alternative heritage/inheritance (should I choose to accept and co-operate with the offer and it's 'terms and conditions' - so to speak) via rebirth (Jn 3:3-6) and adoption (Eph 1:4-5) under the 2nd Adam is "abundant life" eternal (Jn 10:10).
From the lesson: "The choice for us is to accept or reject it (salvation)."
I hope that is what you mean by "co-operate" and "terms and conditions."
When we accept the GIFT of salvation, it is God who does the work in us (John 14:10; John 14:14), the heart transplant (Ezekiel 36:26) and the adopting (Romans 8:16-17).
Let's never forget... God promises to do the work (Phil 1:6; 2:13; Is 46:11).
What do we do? We accept (believe) it or reject it.
Perhaps a good clarifying question is this:
What does it involve, in practical terms to "accept it (believe)"? Is believing the same as mental assent? Or is there more to it? (I recall that "the devils also believe." James 2:19)
Hi Inge. I would answer, "Accept Jesus as (my) Lord" (Romans 10:9; Acts 16:31). What happens after that is His work, not mine.
Sieg, I'm asking what it means in practical terms to "Accept Jesus as my Lord." Is it mental assent/belief that Jesus is Savior, or is there more to it?
In a community of faith, we tend to use expressions that we expect everyone to understand. Some may understand them as we do; others may not. Certainly those outside our community of faith need something beyond "Accept Jesus as Lord." Just exactly how does this play out in individual lives - like in your life, for example. We need to be able to communicate this to people who have no faith background at all.
I must not be understanding your question. "Believe" to me in practical terms means to take God at His word and Jesus at His word.
Jesus told them, "This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29 NLT).
Yes, this means accepting Christ as our risen Savior. Satan does not "believe" in Jesus in this sense.
Hope that helps.
If one believes in another, they will accept and follow what that other has taught. If Jesus taught; "Repent and believe the gospel", the believer will repent and believe the Gospel, which is a message of God(Rom 1:16) transforming a sinner into a saint, which He cannot do against their will. A study on the beliefs and actions of saints will reveal they "follow the lamb wherever He leads". Not in mere agreement or mental acceptance, but in every word and deed. "Follow Me" is where one imitates the One being followed. Jesus was saying "mimic me in all you say and do". Jesus "went about doing good", as will the saints.
Hi Sieg
In short, I believe my alternative heritage/inheritance is a salvation that involves complete restoration of my character 'back' to Christlikeness - back to what things were like for humanity prior to 'the fall' of Genesis 3 and what they will be like again in heaven and ultimately the new earth when this sad and sorry experience is eventually over.
I believe that God is the author of this process AND that I am an active participant in it - that it is a collaborative process that involves both faith and works, God providing me with the strength and me putting that strength into action. My works do not 'merit' my salvation in any way - but they are an essential component of my active participation in the salvation/restoration that God wants to bring about in me. I don't believe God restores my character for me - He needs me to be an active participant in the process of that because it is my character that has to be developed in the course of my daily living. No one can develop my character for me - otherwise it wouldn't be my character.
As I see it, James was addressing this matter in James 2:14-26 where he goes to great lengths to outline the inseparable and reciprocal relationship between faith and works in the life of the believer. Then there are the instructions of Paul and Peter regarding behaviours that believers needed to be intentional about fostering and those that they needed to be intentional about denying.
If the Christian walk is only about believing and that God will do all the changing inside of me without me doing anything more than believing, why is there so much instruction on how to live as a believer?
However, if I am misunderstanding your position, please correct me. Text-alone communication unfortunately carries a much higher risk of misunderstanding than face-to-face dialogue.
I would agree with Phil, and simply add the example(one of many)from scripture, where Abraham believed God, and followed His instructions to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God, which Abraham set out to do. The tangible evidence was sharpening the knife, gathering the wood, placing items for the trip on the donkey, bringing servants, and most importantly of all....Isaac.
God could not do any of that for Abraham without Satan crying "Foul!", and he would have had a legitimate case. It's our duty to cooperate by faith seen in actions that are in accordance to God's requirements. Both the law and the gospel have requirements which we must fulfill in active faith if we are to be found "faultless with exceeding joy" in the very presence of God.
Eph 1:4,5,11 & Rom 8:29.30 raise the question of predestination and what it means the the whole context of the Bible.
This effects our view of the character of God. Some people believe that God decides in advance who he will save and who he won't save while I believe God gives us the free will to choose to serve Him or not.
How do we share the good news of this aspect of God's character with those who believe God doesn't give us a choice?
I believe that the Everlasting Gospel is the good news about the Everlasting Covenant that we find God offering to His people through out the Old and New Testament i.e. I will be your God and you will be My people and I will dwell with you!
It isn’t “wrong” to refer to the gospel as part of the “end-time message” but I prefer to think and speak of the end-time message as part of the gospel. The gospel is the message about how God saves us.
Some people teach that God’s forgiveness is a free gift and call that message “the gospel”. Some people teach that sanctification is as much a free gift of God’s grace as justification is and refer to those two messages, taken together, as “the gospel”. I think there are thousands (and there may well be tens of thousands) of people who include an “end-time message” in our definition of “the gospel”. We can no more save ourselves from this environment of sin than we can save ourselves from the guilt of sin or the power of sin. All three are aspects of God’s gift to us. My point is that I think Christians do well to start our presentations of the gospel with an in-depth examination of the evidence that salvation from guilt and condemnation is a free gift. People who love the Lord because they have learned to trust him for salvation from guilt are better able to understand (and to avoid misunderstanding) a message about the purpose of the return of Jesus and the nature of his millennial kingdom.
The word ‘gospel’ means good news, as we all know. Why is it good news? “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed” (Rom. 1:17). So the focus of the gospel is the character of God about which questions were raised at the beginning of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. And it is the character of God that will ultimately be vindicated when the redeemed sing on the sea of glass, “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!” (Rev. 15:3).
Jesus must be real in my own life first. How can I be convincing of His Love for others when I myself have not tasted It? One thing is to know a story to tell others about it, but when I have lived the story things are different. I can only give what I have.
Everlasting gospel is a gospel that lasts forever. This is the gospel as God intended it to be and not the theological contortions devised by men.
It is a message that God saves people from sin to live a life of holiness.
In the Bible, every age had a message e.g During the times of Noah he had a message to people that "The flood is coming". The times of Lot he had a message "Sodom will be destroyed by fire"
And this present Endtime Age towards the closing of this earth's history we have an everlasting message/gospel which is in Rev 14:6-10 (3 angels message).
QUESTION:
As Adventists we do emphasize on this "everlasting gospel" of Rev 14:6-10 as the last day gospel. why does it differ from the gospel emphasized by our Lord Jesus ,apostles and the early church that should be emphasized in this last days? "Repent and accept Jesus as your savior"
In Rev. 14, John describes the gospel as ‘the everlasting gospel’. Truly understood, the term means that it was good news even before Satan’s fall in heaven.
And the gospel is not just about the salvation of mankind. Through the blood of the cross, God plans “to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven”. (Col. 1:20). The same idea is conveyed in Ephesians 1:10 that all things, on earth and in heaven, need reconciliation through Christ. Jesus said, in John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up out of the earth, will draw all to me” (Darby Bible Translation). The word ‘men’, found in KJV translation of the verse, is in italics and has been supplied and is not there in the original manuscripts I’m told.
The gospel reveals the righteousness of God (Rom. 1:16-17). It is everlasting which means that from eternity past the gospel has always been about the righteousness or goodness or love of God.
What is the gospel for the last days? "The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love." {COL 415.5}.
Kemunto...in my understanding the threefold messageof Rev.14 is emphasized because it is justification by faith...a message to be lived as reality by God's people in the endtme. Read alsoTM 91-92.
The everlasting gospel in Revelation 14:6, is answered in verse 7. Fear God; give Him the reverence and Glorification that He alone deserves. Why? It is time to judge the earths inhabitants, Babylon, verse 8.
If we follow this narrative from Revelation 12 - 20, the judgement of Babylon comes during the 1000 years. So this judgment in the message of the 1st angel is the judgment that determines who has accepted the power of God unto salvation through faith. Those saved will judge Babylon with Christ during the 1000 years.
Probation closes before Babylon is judged, and the message of the 1st angel calls for repentance and holiness, which would be irrelevant once probation closes.
For sure the reality of the everlasting gospel should first transform our lives, by portraying good character and love and faith in what we believe wherever we are and then we can tell it to others for them to accept it.
We have to consider our owns characters before telling people about Jesus. We have to make a good characters like Jesus did. Thanks