May 23, The rest of the story

I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

Romans 1:16

One will do well to follow Paul’s passion for the Gospel.  And, the purpose would not be to simply emulate great forerunners of missions and evangelism like that of Paul, but rather to understand why this passion surged through his veins.    

From the context of this verse, particularly Paul’s salutation to the church at Rome (chapter one, verse one), he defined with simplicity his identity and calling.  Paul defined his own identity as a bondservant of Jesus Christ. The term in the Greek text is doulas, indicating one who is subject to the will and wholly at the disposal of the other.  This should describe our chief identity as well.  When we are totally and completely sold out to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, there will be intense passion for His Gospel – His story. 

I absolutely love telling the story of how my wife and I met.  I also love telling the adoption stories of our three precious daughters.  My love for my wife and daughters, and my devotion to them, allow the unique narratives of each relationship to flow through my life with passion and clarity.  And, why? The relationship! Paul defined himself as a bondservant of Jesus, which expresses that His relationship to Jesus formed His own identity. His identity was the reason He could express with clarity and passion the story of His beloved Savior.  And, the same should be for you and me.  

Paul also defined his calling: set apart for the Gospel.  The idea of “set apart” expresses “to be singled out.”  Paul personally viewed his responsibility to the story of his Savior to be his highest calling.  Paul actually understood the Gospel in the full context of God’s story: Paul referenced the Gospel as God’s good newswhich He promised long ago through His prophets and through patriarchs of faith like David (Romans 1:2-3).   Also, Paul held the Gospel in context with the power of the cross and the resurrection, and the need for the story to go out to the nations (Romans 1:4-5). He also recognized that through the Gospel of Jesus alone, lives were personally transformed as the church began to develop, as the evidence and power of the Gospel was very apparent in the church at Rome (Romans 1:6-10).  Paul then testified of his calling to preach of this power (Romans 1:11-17).  Paul did not in any way minimize the power of the story.  In fact, the power of the Gospel was a spiritual reality that constantly stoked the flame of Paul’s commitment to live out the Gospel of Jesus.  And, the same should be for you and me.  Our lives should reflect the story of the Gospel, as our motivation to live and share comes from the power of the Gospel.  

My dear friend, Clayton King, has been preaching as an evangelist for a very long time.  When I comment on an event Clayton has preached where hundreds have accepted Christ, he always humbly and consistently remarks, “the Gospel still works.”  Yes!  Yes, indeed. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.  This Gospel came unto the Jews and unto the rest of the world.  And, the same power that inaugurated the Gospel message of the first century is the same power that flows through the proclamation of the Gospel today.  

So today, remember your identity: a bondservant of Jesus Christ.  Remember your ultimate calling: to make certain that the Gospel is seen and heard.  The Gospel is the power of God.  And, the Gospel still works.  Tell the story!  It truly matters now, and years from now!

In September of 1999, Pastor Tuy Seng traveled to Kampong Thom Province in northern Cambodia. Throughout that isolated area, most villagers had cast their lot with Buddhism or spiritism. Christianity was virtually unheard of among this people group.  But much to Seng's surprise, when he arrived in one small, rural village the people warmly embraced him and his message about Jesus. When he asked the villagers about their openness to the gospel, an old woman shuffled forward, bowed, and grasped Seng's hands as she said, "We have been waiting for you for twenty years." And then she told him the story of the mysterious God who had hung on the cross.

In the 1970s the Khmer Rouge - the brutal, Communist-led regime, took over Cambodia, destroying everything in its path. When the soldiers finally descended on this rural, northern village in 1979, they immediately rounded up the villagers and forced them to start digging their own graves. After the villagers had finished digging, they prepared themselves to die. Some screamed to Buddha, others screamed to demon spirits or to their ancestors.

One of the women started to cry for help based on a childhood memory—a story her mother told her about a God who had hung on a cross. The woman prayed to that unknown God on a cross. Surely, if this God had known suffering, he would have compassion on their plight.

Suddenly, her solitary cry became one great wail as the entire village started praying to the God who had suffered and hung on a cross. As they continued facing their own graves, the wailing slowly turned to a quiet crying. Suddenly, there was an eerie silence in the muggy jungle air. Slowly, as they dared to turn around and face their captors, they discovered that the soldiers were gone. 

As the old woman finished telling this story, she told Pastor Seng that ever since that amazing  day from 20 years ago the villagers had been waiting - waiting for someone to come and share the rest of the story about the God who had hung on a cross.[1]

Today, who is waiting in your path to hear the rest of the story? 

Blessings.

READ

Read Romans 1:1-17 and allow the Holy Spirit to excite your life through the Word of God concerning the good news of Jesus Christ. 

[1] Doris I. Rosser & Ellen Vaughn, The God Who Hung on the Cross (Zondervan, 2003), pp. 35-37