" In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)"
The Word is as John identifies as the Christ, the one who is clothed in a robe dipped in blood (Rev. 19:13), the living and active word of God, who is sharper than any two-edged sword, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb. 4:12), the one from the beginning, which we have heard (1 John 1:1).
Let us pray.
- He is Holy, I am nothing
- May his work be done
- May we cling to you for our needs
- May we persevere to bring you glory for your sake
Hello, my name is John Jelinek. I am a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington and I was asked to participate here as a speaker for the Bold Christian University Evangelism Training Conference. God is good and does good, and he has been very good to me. I will soon marry the lady he has set apart for me, that I might die daily and love her as Christ loved the church.
Today we are talking about evangelism, or more specifically the gospel, and sharing the good news that took place at the cross of Christ. So we will be exploring the cross of Christ to see just a tiny fragment of the depth that comes from that. Let us pick up in John 1:2:
" He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:2-3) "
So when the world was formed, Jesus was with God. Before all things, including the whole universe, he existed and he shared in the making of creation, that is:
- This verse disproves any suggestion that the Word was created; God the Father did not create the Word, for the Father would have to do this by himself, however John says that nothing was created that way when he says "without him was not anything made that was made."
- Christ was involved in making everything that is around us and nothing except for God has existed eternally.
" In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:2-5) "
Life, light, and darkness here are connections to themes in creation. In Genesis, we read "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3-4)" So, if Jesus is the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, in order to understand why he is light, we will need to first look at what this darkness might be.
To look at this darkness, let us turn to the book of Romans, we will pick up in Romans 1:16 where the apostle Paul writes:
" For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.' (Romans 1:16-17) "
Paul is excited and eager to preach the gospel everywhere, and he explains this: the gospel is the saving power of God, in which the righteousness of God is revealed.
He advocates that he is not ashamed of the gospel because in Rome, the Christians' lack of size, fame, or honor in Roman power and influence might have tempted those Christians to be ashamed of the Christian message, and even today, this is a struggle for those who want to share the faith of the gospel. However, there is nothing to be ashamed of, for it is a message coming with the power of God that brings people to salvation to the Jew first, indicting the priority of the Jews in salvation history and their election as God's people, but not limited to the Greeks, those in Rome, who are all Gentiles (those who are not Jews). This salvation brings people into the righteousness of God, which is a right standing before God, and this right standing is revealed and lived by faith. The life of faith encompasses everything, it is by faith that one receives the gift of salvation and it is also by faith the one lives each day forward in sanctification, which is the display of a life of holiness.
" For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:18-22) "
The wrath of God is his personal anger against sin. This is not selfish but represents his holy and loving response to human wickedness. His power and divine nature are clearly revealed through the world, the creation he made and so no one is without excuse, yet he is rejected by all people. The fault is with those who reject the evidence. The root sin is the failure to value God above all things. Although human beings know of God's existence and his attributes, they do not know him in a saving sense and they reject God's lordship over their lives. Brilliant people who do not honor God miss the whole purpose of life and are therefore fools because they have decided to worship the creation, and they ignore God in all of it.
" Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:24-25) "
" For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:26-27) "
" And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32) "
The darkness is in our hearts. God created humans in his image to worship him and bring him glory, but instead we have been skewed by the sin of the one man, Adam. When we humans separated ourselves from God through disobedience, we chose to worship the creation rather than the creator, and it has been this way since the first man and woman. Furthermore, rather than reigning down tribulations on the people, God ultimately gave humanity up to their own wickedness and lustful passions which feast on themselves. The penalty we see for sin is death (Romans 3:23) and this is still true today.
So where do we find ourselves in all of this? What we see is that God, before the foundation of the world, in eternity past, set in motion a purpose for our world, and prepared a mission for Christ to fulfill in our world. God says, "I am good, and I do good, and I will make a world full of a people whom I will set apart for a purpose, and some I will set apart for salvation, so that by my grace and mercy, I may receive glory and they may receive satisfaction in me."
Let us go back to John 1 now, and we will pick up in verse 9.
" The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:9-13) "
" And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-18) "
The human condition is bleak, we are evil from birth, incapable of doing what is pleasing to God, and the heart of all our issues is sin. Christ is the only one capable of breaking the trend of our sin and death, and that is because he has come to deal directly with our heart, that those who believe and trust in him might be saved and he might be glorified by the world by the heart-change displayed.
We have just covered what our problem is and why God has decided to fix it, let us now discuss how God reconciles the mess that is the human race in application. In God's sovereignty, he sent his son to be the light of men through the death and resurrection that came from bearing our sin on the cross. Therefore, his death is sufficient to pay the penalty of the sin for those who believe and trust in him. The human heart makes us numb to that, especially in modern American culture where media most often reigns supreme, but the Holy Spirit dwells on the earth bringing the understanding of Christ to those who, by the sharing of the gospel by his children, believe.
He is doing a great work in the world today and he has extended an invitation to his worshipers to participate in this grand work. He does not need us and is fully capable of bringing about his glory however he chooses, but he has decided to allow us to partake in this great commission to share the good news of Christ with the entire world. Why do we need to share with the whole world? Because we do not yet know who all his children are and we might receive the opportunity to see his work done in our world.
Finally, let us discuss how all this works in our evangelism. God has given all of us a conscience. Conscience means "with knowledge," con meaning with, science meaning knowledge. God has written the Law of Moses, or as we are most familiar with them, the Ten Commandments, on our hearts. We know even from very young that lying, stealing, and killing, to name a few, are wrong, and we do not need anyone to tell us these things. God has written these on all of our hearts to bear witness that we are guilty of God's righteousness. The law then becomes a tool to reveal the sin that is already a reality in the unbeliever. When a person is aware of their poor condition, they will be eager to reach for a cure.
If you went to a doctor visit, and the doctor says: "Sir or Ma'am, it appears as though you have a rapidly growing skin disease that might lead to your death, and you will need to take pills for the rest of your life," you may be disgruntled that you must not take pills for the rest of your life and may not really believe you have this alleged serious condition at all. However, if he says "Sir or Ma'am, you are displaying some concerning symptoms: a rash under your arm, sporadic spots and discoloration in various areas along your body, these are symptoms of a very rare and terminal disease if not treated immediately. We have a cure ..." and before he finishes talking, you say "GIVE IT TO ME! I WANT TO LIVE," you see the condition that already exists in you, you understand the cure and you receive it, and the necessity of taking those pills for the rest of your life does not bother you because you want to live.
We can use the law of sin and death to make an unbeliever aware of their sin, and God may convict them. A technique for sharing the gospel by using the law is by using the "Good Person Test," a quick questionnaire that helps a person examine themselves by the law. An example might look like this:
"Sir, would you consider yourself to be a good person?"
-- Most people do consider them to be better than another person, and quickly justify that they are not a rapist or a murderer, so they will in most-situations answer yes
"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions to see if that is true?"
- "Have you ever told a lie?"
If they answer yes ask them, "What does that make you?"
-- By asking this, you have him or her evaluate himself or herself against the law of Moses - "Have you ever stolen anything?"
If they answer yes ask them, "What does that make you?" - "Have you ever used God's name as a cuss word, or to express disgust?
If they answer yes ask them, "What does that make you?" - "Have you ever lusted after someone?"
If they answer yes ask them, "What does that make you?"
"By your own admission, you are a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. If you are to face God on judgment day, will you be innocent or guilty?"
-- God will not let sin continue forever without being reconciled, and he resolved this with the death of Christ on the cross, so no one may boast that their own good deeds obtained them salvation. If they say they are innocent if they ask God to forgive them, God will not reconcile them. You may want to paint a scenario for them:
"If you were in a civil courtroom and were caught red-handed for stealing a car, will the judge let you go free simply by asking for the judge's forgiveness? Of course not! There is a penalty that must be paid for the crime. If the judge did let you go free, he would be unjust for letting evil go unpunished. Would that judge proclaim you innocent or guilty?"
-- This question will either result in a search for mercy from conviction, or a prideful display in self-righteousness.
--If they are willing to admit their sin and receive mercy, move on to the exciting good news of Christ!
"In the civil courtroom, if someone you didn't know came in and said, 'I love you and have given away everything I have to pay for your freedom,' and hands all the payment to the judge, the judge then looks at it and declares that they payment has been met. 'You are free to go,' he says to you. How might you feel towards that person who paid your penalty?"
-- If would be grateful, it is time to share that Christ died on the cross and paid the penalty for the sins they admitted to, and more. It is a free gift from God, and by believing that Christ is who he says he is in the word of God, and trusting that he will save you from your sins (as desperately as you would trust a parachute to save your life if you had to jump out of a plane), he will grant you a new heart with new desires and you will move from darkness to light, from death to life.
So this is a great technique that quickly addresses and I strongly encourage you to utilize the Law of Moses in your conversations with unbelievers about the gospel. By doing this, you circumnavigate the place of argument and aim straight for the conscience, which exists to convict. Let me stress however, although I think this technique is highly effective, these are just some tools rather than rules. God moves forward his purpose for his glory in many different ways, but the only way to the father is through salvation by his son, Jesus Christ.
Today, we have discussed a lot of information: from the deity of Christ, being one with God who saved us by his death and resurrection on the cross, to the human condition that is at enmity towards all things holy, incapable of pursuing and fulfilling the work of God without the intervention that is Christ. We also talked about God's choice to let us participate with his work in the world and how to go about sharing our faith with unbelievers around us. In the end, my hope is that you are encouraged, and are not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God to save those who will believe.
