Corinth – We have just caught up with Saul of Tarsus, who now calls himself Paul and claims to be an Apostle of Jesus. He has been traveling throughout Greece and Asia Minor preaching and teaching people what has come to be known as the good news of Christ. In addition to preaching and teaching, Paul seems to be spending a lot of time writing letters to cities where he has been and to other cities where he plans to go. In each city that Paul has visited, he has left behind small groups of believers. Many of his letters have gone back to these cities to encourage the groups of believers. The amazing thing is that these small groups continue to grow and attract even more followers to this sect that they call the Way. In some parts these people are also called by the name Christian.
Some things that Paul has written in a letter to believers in Rome caused me to remember what Peter said in Jerusalem during the Feast of Weeks, not long after Jesus was crucified. Peter said, "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross(Acts 2:22-23 NIV)." In Paul’s letter he is encouraging the believers in Rome by writing, "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-- how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things (Rom 8:31-32 NIV)?" And Jesus himself once said "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV)."
The love of God seems to be central to all that these Christians believe, for if not for the love of God, Jesus would not have been crucified and there would now be no gospel. According to Jesus and these apostles, God himself planned and then oversaw the sacrifice of Jesus as His Passover lamb. Central to their teaching is that God loved people so much that He didn’t want them suffer eternal death, so God put the sins of all on His son and caused him to suffer death once for all. In this same letter to the Romans Paul has written, "The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God (Rom 6:10 NIV)."
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV)." Now, that is good news!
If you have comments or suggestions, email me at gerrys@christianlight.com
Copyright © 1996 by Gerry Sturgeon
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.