Gospel-Prophecy week #1: How is the Gospel and prophecy intertwined?

By Elizabeth Prata

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the greatest GOOD NEWS ever delivered to men and to a man or woman. Jesus Christ is the greatest Person ever to walk the earth. His message of sin, judgment, atonement, repentance, and peace is the best news a person could ever hear.

Most people on earth do not believe this.

The Gospel is the GOOD NEWS of Jesus. Is judgment good news? No, but is a necessary part of the PRE-good news. We must understand our condition from the moment of birth to the moment of death, with the knowledge that we are born sinners. (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Sinners cannot live with a holy God. In fact, our sin enrages Him. (Psalm 7:11). We are transgressors on His earth, (James 2:9) His wrath abides on us, and our end will be a just punishment in hell.

But God.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18).

Jesus is the Way to heaven and His righteousness. However, we must repent of our sins first. In other words, we must acknowledge our sin, renounce it, and turn to Him for eternal assistance in pursuing the holiness a relationship with Him requires. He will justify us (declare us righteous instead of sinner in a judicial sentence) give us His Spirit as the guarantee of that assistance, (because our innate sin nature will not allow us to do that on our own) and from then on we pursue righteousness as explained in His word.

The moment we repent and believe, we are justified. The rest of our believing life, no matter how long or short it is, we pursue righteousness in ever-increasing sanctification. When the Lord calls us to His home in heaven we are glorified. This means we are given a body fit for eternal life and that can withstand the weight of holy glory shining from Jesus.

In between justification and glorification, alongside sanctification, is prophecy.

We are also given the mind of Christ at the moment of Justification. At that point when we read the Bible we can understand it. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ. This new mind will understand God’s word, which is His revelation of Himself and his plans, to us.

His will for us is revealed. We not only know how to live according to His will, we understand what will happen in the future. His will for us includes working on earth in the knowledge of the future of ourselves and of the lost. In other words, prophecy.

“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them at the present time. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take from Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; this is why I said that He takes from Mine and will disclose it to you. (John 16:12-15).

Barnes’ Notes says of the above passage:

Things to come – Probably this means the meaning of things which were to take place after the time when he was speaking to them – to wit, the design of his death, and the nature of the changes which were to take place in the Jewish nation. It is also true that the apostles were inspired by the Holy Spirit to predict future events which would take place in the church and the world. See Acts 11:28; Acts 20:29; Acts 21:11; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3; 2 Peter 1:14; and the whole book of Revelation.

The word of God in the historical narratives, wisdom literature, epistles etc are fuel for our living. Prophecy is the fuel also, but its result should be to fan the flames of our ardor for reaching the lost with the Gospel in ever heightening flames. We alone know what is to come. The very next event on the prophetic agenda of the LORD is the removal of the church from earth while His Son pours out wrath on the remaining peoples. In light of this, how should we be? Fervent for the Gospel.

We know the future! Prophetic passages of forthtelling proclaim God’s sovereignty in showing His will and plan for saints and sinners. Once we realize the horror of eternal judgment in hell, the horror of the upcoming Tribulation, the horror of being a sinner in the hands of a holy God who holds the cup of judgment aloft, ready to pour, we should run to our Bibles to refresh ourselves on the great Gospel, and preach it with all we’ve got.

Sometimes we can get wound up in things that make our attention from the #1 job drift away. Intradenominational scuffles may arise and are important to address. Battling false teachings are important to wade into. Theological wrestling on this or that point are always ongoing. But let’s not forget the main reason for us being here: sharing the Gospel and making disciples.

So, to that end, here is Paul Washer on the Gospel, let’s refresh ourselves in the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ: