The Trustworthy Gospel - Part 5 (What did He do?)

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

--- 1Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)

2.     What did He do? (v15c)

Now let's move to the next phrase “to save sinners” This answers our question, what is He?/What did He do? In order to save sinners, Christ did not just come and go! Paul knew that His audience knew very well what Christ did! Christ accomplished four miraculous works for sinners! He lived, died, rose, and reigns!

i.       He lived (Active Obedience)

Firstly, He accomplished Life for us. He lived for us. Why didn’t Christ just come in one day to earth, die, rise, and go back to heaven on the same day? Why did it take thousands of years since Eden Garden, and lived 33 and half years in the Middle East, and a night of distressing agony in Gethsemane, and the Cross, and 3 days and nights in the tomb, and the resurrection, and 40 more days on earth and ascension to heaven?

The answer is – because we cannot just be forgiven to be acceptable to God; we must be righteous too! It’s one thing to forgive somebody and one thing to restore the rights when one is fired from a job! We have no righteousness. Christ has to live for us to give his righteousness! He obeyed the law perfectly which none could ever!

He was born of a virgin, that made him sinless from the mother womb. According to Psalm 51:5, we are already sinners from before we were born, because we are the descendant of Adam, the sinner! Sin passed through the first man Adam. Dogs produce dogs, cats produce cats, apple trees produce apples, Mango trees produce mangoes, and Sinners produce sinners!

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5

Christ is of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, He Himself infers in John 8:46 (Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?), that He is sinless and the people could not object Him! The righteous life He lived is given to us when we trust Him, just as our sins are taken on Him when He suffered at the cross! Thus, His righteousness is what we have to be acceptable unto God!

ii.    He died (Passive Obedience)

Not only did Christ lived His 33 and a half years of the life of righteousness for us, but that he also died for us – when he died it was not the sin that killed Him. His sacrifice was not for Satan. Christ died willingly. Christ laid down his life (John 10:15-18).

“As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

Christ sacrificed himself to satisfy God’s Judgment. When He bore our sins God the Father abandoned Him. Jesus cried out, “My God. My God why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt27:46). God damned Christ in the cross as if He was a sinner just like us because He bore our sins! Therefore, the death of Jesus is bearing the wrath of God, the abandonment/damnation of God, which we could never do even if we would be there eternally! He died our death!

iii. He rose

          Not only Jesus lived our lives, died our deaths, but He also rose again! If Jesus died forever then, that would be meaningless! He rose again to proclaim victory over the sins, death, and Satan!

          He rose again proving that God accepted His sacrifice, which, the Jewish sacrifices of bulls and rams could not make anyone acceptable! Now in Him, we have a new life!

iv. He reigns

          Not only Christ rose, but that He also reigns. Sin was reigning the sinners before; but now, He sets the sinners free from the guilt, penalty, and power of sin!

          Before you cannot please God, now you can; because of the power of Christ’s gifts on/to you. You are a dead man alive now! You are regenerated unto good works!

          You re no longer a slave of sin; nor under the power of Satan! Christ is your Master now! You are saved from the wrath of God. You are saved from the problem of death; you will live eternally. You can overcome sins in your life because of the new man in you! You can experience all spiritual blessing (Eph.1:3) in this life on earth, though, the world is still corrupt and under the power of Satan!

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” (Eph.1:3)

The Trustworthy Gospel - Part 4 (Who is He? - truly God truly Man)

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

--- 1Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)

Who is He? (v15b)

iii.             Truly God

Jesus is not only the promised Messiah, and the Savior, but also God, who is not from the world – “came into the world.” He was outside the world; He is external. He has no beginning; he is eternal. He shows up in the world in the form of a babe in Bethlehem. That’s why Isaiah, 700 years before Christ was born said of Christ in Isiah 9:6 “Son is given,” not born. As God, He has no birth! He is “Mighty God.” Colossians 1:15-18 further confirms that He is the Creator and Sustainer and Judge of the Universe!

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”

This is the God who loves the world. He never abandons his people! He could have annihilated the world on the first day Adam sinned through which the whole universe was bondage to sin! He could have started a new one! He has been patient!

Man took the patience of God for granted and kept on sinning. God will not be patient forever. He demonstrated once by drowning the world in the flood of Noah and said that he would one day annihilate the whole universe in fire and create a new one. God will surely do, but He is patient for us to be saved until now! He still calls each one of us to mend our ways and to follow Him before it is too late!

iv.             Truly Man

Jesus is not only truly God, but also truly man, because He came to the world and the world has seen Him, and even crucified Him!

This is the beauty of the Gospel. That God became a man to save man from their sins. Why, because we can never save ourselves! We can never make ourselves acceptable to God. We are destined to doom, to death and then to eternal hell! If there is any mean of Salvation, God has to save us! No man can save us because he cannot save even himself! Moses cannot save himself, Peter cannot save himself; Salvation has to be external – outside of us! Angels cannot save us because they too are created being like us, they cannot bear the infinite eternal punishment of God. Only Jesus who is God eternal, infinite can bear the infinite eternal punishment of God!

Have you ever wondered why God could not just forgive us and make us righteous without Jesus Christ going to the Cross? The reason is – Sin is so serious to God. And God has to be just. You surely will not want the Supreme Court Justice to say, “I have forgiven that party, they don’t need to come to the court!” The court will require you to be in the court, and the justice has to be pronounced – either jail or capital punishment. And God, the perfect Judge, will he not be more righteous? The punishment for sin is Capital punishment – death! Justice has to be met here on earth because the crime scene is here on earth!

Man has to bear for his sins, but no man can bear his own sins because God’s punishment is limitless. Therefore, the second person of the triune God becomes a man in the person of Jesus Christ to bear man’s sins! But, why would one man sacrifice forgive all the sins of all people of all times? Because He is not just a man, He is truly God. If you weigh the sins of all the people of all the world of all times putting in one side of a scale, and if you put the righteousness of Jesus in the other side of a scale, Christ outweighs our sins surpassingly! That is why God could forgive us all in Christ!

This is the good news of Jesus. He is the promised Messiah to deliver us from sins, He is the Savior of all people, He is truly Man to bear man’s sin, and He is truly God to bear it all fully!

The Trustworthy Gospel - Part 3 (Who is He? - the Savior)

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

--- 1Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)

Who is He? (v15b)

ii.                Jesus – Savior

Jesus is not only the promised Messiah but the next word says He is “Jesus.” This name is given to Him by an angel in Matthew 1:21, since before Jesus was born! It is a Hebrew word meaning ‘God saves,’ or ‘God is Savior.’ The angel explained why He should be given that name, because “He shall save His people from their sins!” Saved from what? Sin. What is a sin? Sin, in a simple sense, means – not reaching the standard of God!

Would God consider yourself a perfect, good, righteous person? (Forget about God,) even you yourself know you are not a good person! How many lies have you spoken? How many times have you spoken bad words? You may say, “I have done a lot of good things!” However, God is not going to judge according to your standard! He is going to judge as He is, and He requires righteousness, perfection.

          So, everyone failed the standard of God, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Paul, Peter, Mary and Joseph. We all are sinners! The word of God said very clearly in Isaiah 64:6,

“But we are all like an unclean thing,

And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;

We all fade as a leaf,

And our iniquities, like the wind,

Have taken us away.”

All our seeming righteous deeds are as filthy as rags before the holy and righteous God. God cannot tolerate sin! The logic is simple: if you love a clean room, surely you will not want to dirty it or put a filthy rag; you would put the waste to waste-bin or put on the fire to be burnt! Exactly that is the picture.

Sinners can never be in the presence of God. In fact, sinner himself will not be comfortable in the presence of God, just as a pig would want to roll back to muddy water!

The consequence of Sin is separation from God to eternal hell, where God will punish the sinners. You cannot undo sin so; the punishment is eternal. Eternal separation from God is not just the physical pain in the fire, but the pain of guilt. You may not be feeling guilty, but the verdict is ‘guilty!’ You will be brought to your sense there! You regret and regret but no chance to redo! How does it feel to be guilty?

Separation from God is also the shame you face like a naked person; all your sins and wickedness are exposed to all! And above all, it is where the wrath of God is fully expressed! I dare not meet even an angry school principal, I can’t imagine meeting God if I refuse to accept His Gospel and choose to accept His punishment, which would be the greatest insult to His greatest gift!

Jesus the Savior is born to save us from that guilt of sin, that consequence of sin, that penalty of sin. His name means God provides a way to save you!

The Trustworthy Gospel - Part 2 (Who is He? - the Chosen One)

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

--- 1Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)

1.     Who is He? (v15b)

How would you trust the person unless you know him? The following phrase “Christ Jesus came into the world” teaches us four uniqueness of Jesus Christ

i.                   Christ – The Anointed

Firstly, He is the Christ! The name Christ has its meaning. Just like my name, Solomon means “peaceful” from Hebrew word shalom. Timothy is a Greek name meaning, “honoring God.”

Christ is a Greek word from ‘Christos’ which means “anointed one.” It is derived from the Jewish terminology Messiah, which means the same thing, “anointed one.” What is anointed one? In the times of the Bible when a specific person is chosen or appointed to do a specific task, the term ‘anointed’ is used, and often done with an oil! Therefore, it means, chosen one, appointed one.

It is a Jewish/Biblical concept, long established from the very beginning, Eden Garden when Adam and Eve first sinned. God promises them that a child would be born to bruise the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15).

“And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her Seed;

He shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel.”

This promised child was not born then, and you know that child is this Jesus born on Christmas day, 2000 years ago!

This concept of the coming Messiah by the times of Moses was more developed when he said a Prophet is coming after Him in Deuteronomy 18:18. Moses was just like an advertisement for this Messiah!

“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.”

By the times of Judges in Israel, it is more developed as expressed in 1 Samuel2:35, that God will raise up a Priest.

Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.

And by the time of Kings, it is more developed as seen in 2 Samuel 7:11-17 that God will raise up a King.

“since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.^[a] “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.^[b] Your throne shall be established forever.”’” According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.”

And by the time of the fall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, this is far greatly developed as seen in Jeremiah 23:5-6, Isaiah 9:6 that the Messiah will be a wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Prince of peace.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, ​“ That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; ​A King shall reign and prosper, ​And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, ​And Israel will dwell safely; ​Now this is His name by which He will be called: ​THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jeremiah 23:5-6

“For unto us a Child is born, ​Unto us a Son is given; ​And the government will be upon His shoulder. ​And His name will be called ​Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, ​Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

And then by the time of Daniel (Dan9:26), even the way how the world would treat the Messiah is prophesized.

“And after the sixty-two weeks ​Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; ​And the people of the prince who is to come ​Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. ​The end of it shall be with a flood, ​And till the end of the war desolations are determined.”

So who is this Messiah? It has been the promised one from the very beginning – the One to kill the serpent, the Prophet to represent God, the Priest to take away sins, the King to deliver and rule righteously, the Prince of peace to give peace and prosperity!

It was not yet born until Christmas day. The world particularly Jews, the Israelites, the covenant people of God through Abraham were waiting. That was why when Herod heard about the news of the birth of Christ in Matthew2:4, he knew what to do. He gathered all the priest and scribes, and asked where the Christ/Messiah would be born? And they told Him, “Bethlehem,” because Prophet Micah (Mic5:2) predicted it already.

All of them were waiting for Messiah, even that adulterous Samaritan woman was waiting for it in Jn4:25, because the sacrificial systems to take away sins for forgiveness are just the model for the true Sacrifice, Jesus would pay at the Cross! Without the true Sacrifice of God, there is no forgiveness of sins!

The name Christ rings out loud that God’s promise of Salvation is fulfilled. God has been in this program from day 1 when sin corrupted the world. Gospel to save you has been long before you were born! God’s desire and plan to save you is not random, nor hasty. It has been planned carefully, fittingly, graciously, and gloriously! And that plan is – the man Jesus, born on Christmas day whom you need to trust for your salvation!

The Trustworthy Gospel - Part 1 (The Importance of the Gospel)

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

--- 1Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)

The Importance of the Gospel

Gospel is not just about the news to escape hell to heaven! Gospel is everything! Gospel is God’s Grace reaching to Human beings! We all need God’s grace at all time. The fact that we are breathing now is God’s grace!

If you think, you have understood the Gospel enough, or if you think you have outgrown the need for the Gospel, I have to tell you that you are wrong! I am afraid that you have misunderstood what Gospel truly is.

We never understand the Gospel enough! We never outgrow our need for the Gospel! That is why Paul repeated his Gospel repeatedly! He wrote that he was determined to know nothing and preach nothing except Gospel. He was not ashamed of the Gospel nor ever gets tired to proclaim repeatedly! Therefore, whoever we may be we need Gospel all the times!

However, this does not mean that the Gospel is difficult or not understandable. (Jesus says that even children can understand!) It just means the Gospel is great! To illustrate, it is just like you live in Delhi as Indian. You do not need to have a home in every village of India to call yourself an Indian. The point is not to tell you that you do not understand the Gospel, rather it is to say that the Gospel is beyond our comprehension, just as India is bigger than your village!

Paul summarized the great Gospel in one line, just nine words in 1 Timothy 1:15

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

This is a magnificent verse. It is deeper than the Pacific Ocean, higher than the Mount Everest, wider than the North Pole to the South Pole, grandeur than the Taj Mahal!

Now, I want to tell you up front, the main thing we want to learn from this trustworthy Gospel is this: “TRUST JESUS CHRIST AND BE SAVED!” It means if you would put your trust in Jesus, you will surely be saved! That is what this verse means in simplest understanding!

In fact, this is one of the key messages of this book! Look at the very beginning of this book (1Tim1:1). How does Paul begin? He describes God in the business of saving people – “Savior.” 1Tim2:3 – “God as Savior.” Look again at 1Tim4:9 – “Savior of all men.” 1Tim2:4 – “all men to be saved.” He wants you to be saved! This is the message of the Gospel, our message today! Not to postpone for tomorrow for you could die anytime; death gives no warning and no excuses!

There is a real danger, and need of being saved, and as we think through this verse to trust Jesus for our salvation, Paul answers three basic questions, which we are required to know here! The first question is, Who is Jesus? “Christ Jesus came into the world.” The second question is, What did he do/What is He? to save sinners.” The third question is, What to do with Him “of whom I am chief.”

Paul begins by saying “this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance” The word “this” refers to what he is about to say, that is the proceeding phrase “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

Why is Paul saying this? Does that mean the other verse are not worthy of full acceptance! No! This is a way of getting attention! This is a way of highlighting the truth of the greatest importance! It means we should never, never, never miss this! In fact, the word “worthy” in Greek has the idea of being weighed in the weighing scale as if you put a kg of potato in one side and the 1kg stone in the other side before you buy. It is weighed, evaluated. This is not just feeling or opinion; it is a fact. You can bet your life on this. This is trustworthy!

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.” It is all, not some, not half, but all, full, and complete. This word in Greek has an idea of not just believing it to be true but also to respond accordingly! Paul is saying, this, you’ve got to believe it, you’ve got to respond to this trustworthy Gospel!

How I develop an Expository Sermon from Jeremiah 45

Image Scripture: A Devotional Reflection of Scripture

(These are some of the screenshots of my sermon preparation on Jeremiah 45. One does not need to know Hebrew to come up like this! It just needs a diligent study!😊😊😊)

Deriving exegetical and expositional outlines from the passage

Sermon Outline

I with UESI (SSEU 2010-2012)

(Note: I wrote this piece of article in 2013, and does not contain my present assessment of SSEU. Btw, SSEU has become SSICEU now!)

Why I join

I started to fall in love with Bible in 2005, and the word of God transformed me radically no sooner. God gave me a gift of faith to trust His word even when I was just a child. I always believe Bible to be inerrant and infallible, therefore has supreme authority over my life.

In 2010, I came to Shillong for my college education. There I was introduced to Shillong South Evangelical Union, a unit of UESI. I started attending SSEU Meetings regularly because I identified myself with the movement, ‘UESI is Bible Believing.’ I found myself so satisfied to read the third Doctrinal statement of UESI, that says, “The divine inspiration and infallibility of Holy Scripture (by which we mean the sixty-six books of the Bible) as originally given, and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.”

How I join

However, as time went by, I realized after reading the Manual book of UESI, “Witnesses for Me” that most of the members who attended SSEU has lost its vision. After deep thought, I decided never to attend its meeting again. I had been attending over 5 Christian fellowships (one after another) on every Sunday. I had to skip breakfast and lunch the whole day - right from dawn until night. It was so exhausting but I was so desperate to grow exponentially in my Christian life. I thought to skip the SSEU program from then on.

However, before I could ever miss the next EU meeting, the then Secretary of SSEU surprisingly approached me to take up the leadership as a Committee Member. I was startled then accepted willingly, having in mind to let SSEU what it supposed to be. That was how I joined UESI in 2010. For the next 2 years, I have strived and devoted to let my EU function in the Vision and Mission of UESI. We took out a few things and introduced a few things to be what we have been claiming to be.

What UESI (at least our SSEU was) is (from UESI Manual Book)

Evangelical Union is a fellowship of Born Again Students, who are Bible- believing and accept the authority of the Bible for their faith and conduct. Its aim is to make Jesus known to fellow students (post-matric students in India), nurture them as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they may serve the Church and Society.” The life of EU members is expected to exhibit core values such as Quiet Time, Personal Evangelism, Fellowship, Life of Faith, Prayerful, Discipling, Giving, Leadership, Study of the Word and Centrality of Scriptures.

"UESI has Three Relevant Principles: That we are called to be witnesses, that we are called to preserve and defend the truth, that we are commanded to avoid those who teach doctrine contrary to apostolic teaching." It has 10 Doctrinal Statements. Unless there is agreement on the fundamentals of the faith as outlined in the UESI doctrinal statement, there cannot be organizational co-operation.

UESI is an Evangelical, who believes salvation is through faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone. It strives not to engage in unprofitable, negative criticism of those who differ from them. They rejoice in the witness of every college student truly born again by the spirit of God and desire that the love of God may characterize all relationships with other members of the family of God.

UESI has four aims: Evangelism, Fellowship, Testimony, and Mission. The first three aims of EU are on the campuses, the fourth ‘Mission’ is outside the campus. Mission and Evangelism are the fruits of Fellowship and Testimony. So, Fellowshipping is the backbone of the aims. Fellowshipping is done by two means: Bible study and Prayer. In short, UESI is all about Bible Study and Prayer.

"We, however, live in the world though not of the world and therefore must seek and strive to maintain the Principle of a Student with faithfulness to the call of God. Mark 12:17 says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God.” Since we are created in the image of God, we belong to God and must live accordingly."

How I left

I was with SSEU as Secretary of the unit with interesting experiences. Organizing camps, raising funds, leading Bible studies and prayer groups, outreaching to various hostels, preaching, mentoring, visiting EGF homes, outing, participation in meetings and training programs, planting cell groups in hostel and college, evangelism and fellowship were some of the joyful experiences. I graduated from St. Anthony’s College in 2013, and it was a high time for me to leave SSEU and Shillong. I read out this poem on the farewell day as a valedictory message.

My time is getting over soon

I must go back to the land I belong

Have I been a bane or a boon,

Throughout my stay in Shillong?

One thing I desire is to kindle fire-

In your heart to love God more

May this be your heart's pleasure

To glorify God as never as before

I have lived and spoken diligently

Which I want you to do the same

May you too be in SSEU faithfully,

Without looking for a name or fame!

I have learned never to mind

Though sometimes, it really hurts

I have won some people's mind

May you win their souls and hearts!

Prayer

Lord, give me hope

That I may be Prayerful!

Also, Lord, make me prayerful

That I may have hope!

What do I desire to see

My God, than this from Thee!