Which Gospel Do You Follow?

Galatians 1:1-12
1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers and sisters with me,
To the churches in Galatia:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.




In our scripture for this morning we find Paul speaking very bluntly to the people of Galatia. He was very upset with them because they had started to believe those who were speaking against Paul’s teachings. Those people were trying to get the Galatians to believe something other than the gospel of Christ and it is this same battle that we are still enduring to this day. There are so many things that distract us from the Gospel of Christ, there are so many things that try to change our opinion of the Gospel but Paul tells us that if anyone, even an angel from heaven, tries to teach us something other than the true Gospel of Christ then they will be under God’s curse.

So far I have mentioned the “gospel of Christ” four times but how do we know the gospel of Christ is? How do we know if someone is trying to teach us something that is not part of the gospel of Christ? How do we know if society is trying to pervert this gospel? And how do we know if we are following the correct gospel? To answer these questions we must first know what the gospel of Christ is. The gospel is a summary of Christ and his teachings. First and foremost, God raised Christ from the dead, declaring that death no longer had a grasp on God’s people. The gospel is Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, telling us that it is ok if we aren’t perfect, our sins have been wiped clean and the price paid in full. And finally, Christ loved every person who walked the earth and we are called to do the same. These three things sound great don't they? They seem simple enough... God raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus died for our sins and Christ loved the world. In those three short phrases we see the entire Gospel of Christ but still questions remain.

How do we validate this gospel in our lives? The answer to this question is one of the most important aspects of our faith. We so desperately want validation for our faith, that we are on the right path, we keep looking for the over-stated, over-dramatic signs that tell us that we are on the right path. We keep looking for that huge, unbelievable miracle that shows us without a shadow of a doubt that what we believe is correct. Society tells us that we must have this validation or our faith is meaningless. I say to them, fine, God validates His existence to me on a daily, if not hourly basis. Their argument back to me usually is that I am a preacher or that I have had a faith for 12 years now, God should be very easy seen by me and the wonder to themselves, most of the time secretly, why aren't they able to see God as I do. The answer is simple, He does, they just aren’t looking hard enough. Griffin loves to ask where someone is. When sitting on my lap, next to his mom, Griffin will ask “Where’s mommy?” He just loves to ask where, which is much easier than trying to answer the age old question of why, so I will take it. Anyway, Griffin is always asking where’s nanny? Papa? or Daddy? Even if the person he is looking for is right next to him, he still asks the question and as I was preparing for this sermon, I could not help but to be reminded of this. When God is right next to us, we still find ourselves asking where are you God? Where have been while I struggled so much? Why did you abandon me when I needed you most? All the while, God was there, we just weren't looking. We can spend so much of our lives looking for God only to not find him... Why is it easier for some to see Christ than it is for others? This is a question that I cannot answer for everyone, this goes back to what I was talking about earlier. Within your very heart, you have to be ready to see God. If you are not prepared to do so, then it is likely you will miss your chances to see Him.

So now the question becomes how do I prepare my heart to see God? The answer to this is easy to remember because it is the Gospel of Christ: God rose Christ from the dead, conquering death; Christ died for our sin, showing mercy and grace; and Christ loved all of God’s people, teaching us how to help each other. If we can acknowledge these three things and live a life that illustrates to others that we believe these things, then I promise it won’t take long for you to see God. It won’t take long for God to make his presence known in your life. Paul reminds us that we are not seeking human approval nor are we trying to please them, all we are called to do is love them. If we are trying to please everyone, Paul reminds us, almost humorously, that being a servant to Christ is not the way to go about it. I often asked myself, why do so many people get uncomfortable around those who are faithful to God? Why do so many in society look down on the Christian faith? It becomes obvious that our striving to be faithful to God causes them to doubt the very core of who they are. Christians can be a constant reminder that there is a way to live life that is not of this world and some people take this reminder in a negative way.

In the sermon title I encouraged you to ponder what the gospel is that you follow? If someone were to write a gospel about you, what would it say? How different would it be from Christ’s Gospel? Would it demonstrate to the world the kind of mercy that Christ did? Would it be a gospel of grace or one of judgments and condemnation? Would it be a gospel of loving the world or a gospel of loving yourself? I read an article this week about how the hot-button issue of the day often replaces God’s gospel and morphs into the gospel of that time period. The article talked about communism in the 1950’s and how the gospel of mercy, love and forgiveness was slowly transformed into anti-communist gospel. Today the same can be said for such issues as abortion or homosexuality. Where you stand on these issues is completely up to you, I will not try to convince you either way but I will encourage you to not allow your stance to become your gospel. Do not allow your opinions of what matter to become the platform in which you justify or validate your faith. If you are looking for validation in your faith look for God, search the depths of your heart, seek God in all facets of your life, do not look to society and it’s issues.

If you have been seeking God, unable to find him until today then run to Him. Some people see God more clearly than others, some people can run faster than others and some people can eat ribs faster than others it is just how God made us. There is no need to be jealous of the gifts of others. God created you the way you are for a very good reason, there is no need for you to try to change that. Take what God gave you and apply it to Christ’s gospel. Our validation comes from within and above, my faith is no better than your faith, we are worshiping the same God who sent his son to die for each of us. Amen.

God Bless,

Clinton

Fairview Christian Church