Gospel in Four

Four points seems like a really good layout for presenting the Gospel. It can also be seen in 1 Corinthians 15 (preached at my local church today). This is both in content, and characteristics.

Content (verses 3 and 4):

1. Jesus' death. Jesus' death was a real event, which followed His righteous life. His death paid the price for sin, satisfying God's wrath.
2. Burial - The burial was a real event.
3. Resurrection - The resurrection was a real event (the empty tomb).
4. Encounters afterward - The risen Christ was seen by over 500 people.

Characteristics (verses 1 and 2):

1. Preached - The Gospel must be preached (Romans 10:14).
2. Received - And received rightly (by turning from sin, and trusting God).
3. Standing - Having done that, we stand on God's promise
4. Saved - and are saved.

Gospel In Four

Today I had the distinct pleasure of attending the wedding of a brother and sister in Christ.

This is the first wedding I've been to as a Christian.

It was also the first with a clear Gospel message.

The message was spelled out in four parts:

1. Creation - God is the Creator of the everything. As such, He owns us and makes the rules for us. It is our rebellion against God (sin) which has broken this creation, and caused all the problems in the world (including male and female rivalry).
2. Jesus - God became a man - the Man, Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to God's rules, and paid the price for our disobedience (with His death). God showed Him to be innocent by raising Him from the dead.
3. Us - The question before us, then, is "What are you going to do?" Will you turn from sin, and turn towards God? Trust that Jesus has paid the price for your sin, and obey God (as spelled out in the Bible).
4. Eternity - Your response to that question will determine your eternal state - eternity with God, or in punishment (Hell).

(Note, I am rebuilding the detail for the points from general Gospel theory - I remember the four points as given, but didn't have my notebook for the finer details :)

Eight

Eight is the number of "new-ness".

Creation was finished in six days, and God rested on the seventh. Churches who meet on Sunday recognize this "eighth day" as a day celebrating the new creation in Christ Jesus (and His resurrection on Sunday).

This is also seen in the Old Testament:

"And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised." (Leviticus 12:3)

The sign of the Old Covenant (circumcision) was given on the eighth day of life. This symbolized the boys new life, devoted to God. The ceremonial cleansing (Leviticus 14:10) is similar, the sacrifice is offered on the eighth day, the day he is newly clean. And also the feast of tabernacles (Leviticus 23:36).

Five, Again

Last time I just gave some chapter 5, verse 5 references.

While reading the Orthodox Study Bible (which is very big on "spiritual" interpretations [rather than "literal"]), I did appreciate their comments on five.

Five is often associated with the Law (given to Moses). That is because Moses wrote five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) - the Pentateuch.

Gospel in Three

I'm going to switch from counting words to counting sentences, or at least ideas.

With three, we can start to get a progression to a story (two bad news, one good news):

1. There is none good, none who seeks after God, all have turned away and become useless (Romans 3:10-12).


2. God will by no means clear the guilty, an honest judge cannot be bribed, God owns everything, what can we give to Him? (Exodus 34:7)
   


3. But God, demonstrates His great love for us, for while we were without strength, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6,8; Ephesians 2:5)

The law (primarily the ten commandments) shows us our true selves, that we are not good, but rather sinners.

Our good works are actually filthy rags in God's sight, and even if they had some value, what is that to an infinite God who owns everything? And even if they had value, you cannot bribe an honest judge.

At this point, you want to shout John 3:16 or Ephesians 2:5!

Gospel in Two

Continuing the exploration of compact transmissions of the Gospel...

For a two word Gospel, I would say: "Repent! Trust!"

Again, this is straight from the Bible (Mark 1:15):

"And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."

The Greek word translated "believe" is πιστευετε (pisteuo). This is better translated "trust".

It is when we turn from sin and turn to God (repent) and trust in the atoning death of Jesus that we are saved.

Gospel in One

It has been very helpful for me to formalize and continually reprocess the Gospel message. This allows me to rapidly respond to questions people have, and to give a quick and concise message for any situation.

It this spirit, I am going to consider Gospel messages in limited formats. For example, what would you say given a limit of, say, one word!

This one is actually easy, because I pull it straight from the Bible:

"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn [yourselves] from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations." (Ezekiel 14:6)

"Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2, that's John the Baptist)

"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17)

Thirteen

There is actually some interesting stuff behind thirteen.

In the original twelve tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi was set apart as priests (Numbers 1:49-50). This included the partition of land. The Levites received no land for themselves, they were supported by tithes on the other tribes.

So certain counts have eleven tribes (because Levi is set apart). Sometimes, there are twelve (not counting Levi).

This is because Joseph took a wife from Egypt, and had two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 46:20). These are sometimes referred to as "half-tribes". Sometimes the two half-tribes are counted with the other ten.

So sometimes, there are 11, sometimes 12, sometimes 13.

We see a similar occurrence with the apostles. There were twelve apostles, minus Judas. Judas was replaced by Matthias. But, Paul was also a replacement. So, sometimes 11, sometimes 12, sometimes 13.

Twelve

Twelve is the number of foundation.

Jacob had twelve sons. These sons became the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. The foundation of God's chosen nation.

Jesus chose twelve apostles. This reflects back on the twelve tribes, but these apostles are the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20).

Ten

I'm not sure what is up with ten.

First, most human cultures use "base 10", counting groups of ten, tens of tens, etc. So, "ten fold" becomes a measure of estimation (a small group - 10, a big group - 100, etc.).

Then we have the Ten Commandments. Maybe it's a 7+3 thing (the ultimate, complete law of God). There are also ten horns on Daniel's fourth beast (horns are the symbol of power, particularly, worldly power; there are also ten horn references in the Revelation to John).

Seven

Seven is the number of completion. The creation was completed in seven days (including the day of rest).

Revelation 4:5 speaks of the "seven Spirits of God", and "seven churches". These are references to the completeness and holiness of God and the whole church being present before Him.

The final judgments on the earth are a set of three sevens. Complete and ultimate judgment. These take place during seven "days" (probably prophetic days, that is, years), the complete time allocated for this judgment. This is the completion of the shadow seen before the Flood (the first judgment) - Genesis 7:4 "For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth."

Six

Six is the number of man. It is noticeably one short of the number of God (7).

Man was created on the sixth day (Genesis 1:24).

Also, the Babylonians (often the model of human centered society) were facinated with 6, and 60's, and 600's. Our system for time is influenced by them (60 second minutes, minutes in hours, 360 (6 x 60) + some days per year, 360 degrees, etc.)

As, I mentioned earlier, the number of the ultimate (final) man is 666 (Revelation 13:18).

Five

There is no particular theme attached to five. Instead, I have selected a few verses (chapters 5, verses 5), and there contexts:

• "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died." (Genesis)
• "In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote." (Daniel) One of the three instances of God writing with His finger. The other two are in Exodus 31:18 (the Ten Commandments) and John 8:6 (Jesus writing in the sand)
• "Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew)
• "And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things." (Acts) Don't doubt that a single sin is not worthy of punishment. Adam and Eve were cast out of Eden for one sin. Ananias and his wife died for a single lie.
• "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." (Ephesians)
• "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." (Revelation) Referring to Jesus, set to open the title deed to the universe, and bring about the final judgment.
• "For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." (Galatians)
  

Four

Four is not a particularly special number. There is a sequence in Proverbs 30, of "three, yes 4", which have four points each (verses 15, 18, 21, 24, and 29). There is often a punctuating statement at the end ("The eye [that] mocketh at [his] father, and despiseth to obey [his] mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." - verse 17 after the verse 15-16 list).

In Amos, there are several "three and four" statements. But these have seven parts. Pastor Wilson did an excellent exposition on them.

Finally, John describes four living creatures before God's throne (Revelation 4:6). They are:

• Lion - king of the wild animals
• Calf - probably representative of the ox (the Greek is "young bull"), strongest of the tame animals
• Man
  
• Eagle - highest flying of the birds

These beings seem to represent all of creation worshiping God.

Three

Three is the number of the ideal or ultimate.

The holy of holies (in God's temple) was a cube (three dimensional square), 20 cubits on a side (1 Kings 6:20). Some say the huge cube in Revelation 21:16 is a reference to this cube (others say it is not actually a cube).

The ultimate man is given by the number 666 (six is the number of man, coming up!).

It is believable, then, that God should be three persons in one (although this is not sufficient). We can know that God is multiple persons; because God is love (1 John 4:8), and love is a relationship. The proof is related to the number of witness (2):

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." - 1 John 5:7

Any two members of the Trinity can bear witness to the third. I mentioned the baptism of Jesus. In addition, we come to know God (the Father) through the preaching (Romans 10:14) of the Word (Jesus), and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26-27). This passage in John also describes (among others) how Jesus and the Father send us the Comforter (the Holy Spirit).

Two

Two is the number of witness. For major events, two witnesses were required:

"At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; [but] at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death." Deuteronomy 17:6

Jesus, describing the process for church discipline, said:

"But if he will not hear [thee, then] take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."

This principle of witness also plays a role in the trinity, which I will discuss more at 3.

Matthew 3:16-17:
"And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

At Jesus' baptism, the Holy Spirit and the Father bore witness to the veracity of His message.

One

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4)

"One" is related to the prefix 'uni-', which we see in "universe", "unity", "union", etc.

"Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. [There is] one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who [is] above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." (Ephesians 4:3-7)

New Series - Numbers

I am going to run a series of small posts on numbers (math, not the book of the Bible). I'll reflect them back into the Bible, but I'm not endorsing numerology :)