Seven Aspects Of The Gospel Of Grace

Uplook – December 2023 — Grace & Truth Magazine

Seven Aspects Of The Gospel Of Grace

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. —John 3:16 NKJV

This well-known Bible verse is actually a concise summary of the truth of the gospel. We find here no less than seven aspects of the good news.

1. God Himself
First we see the important truth about God Himself: He is the greatest person in heaven and on earth. God is presented here as the One who acts, gives and loves. He stands at the beginning of all things, the beginning of creation, the beginning of the world of man. After all, man is created in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). But God is also the Origin of our salvation, of redemption and of the new creation (Eph. 2:8-9, 1:7; 2 Cor. 5:17). He is the First and the Last, the Eternal God of the universe, the Alpha and the Omega (Rev. 22:13).

2. God’s Love
God’s love is great and unparalleled. This is the greatest conceivable devotion and self-sacrifice found in the universe. The love of God cannot be compared to anything. It is a completely selfless love and surrender, which has been revealed to us in Christ. In Him we see that God is light, and that He is love. This is also the theme of John in his first letter (1 Jn. 1:5, 4:8,16). Light and love are always in balance with God. His holiness and justice are not in conflict with His love, grace, mercy and compassion.

3. Love’s Object
The object of divine love is “the world” (Jn. 3:16). That is, the entire human world for all time – the greatest number imaginable! God’s love applies to all people – all humankind – but not to the evil, hostile world system controlled by Satan, who is the “ruler of this world” (Jn. 12:31, 14:30, 16:11; see Eph. 6:12). This system came into being after the flood in Noah’s time and the introduction of idolatry at the construction of the tower of Babel (Gen. 6-9, 11). It has been opposed to the one true God ever since.

The message and the ministry of reconciliation always applies to human individuals, although Israel as the people of God has a special place in the offer of God’s grace. The proclamation of the gospel applies first to the Jew and then to the Greek (Rom. 1:16). God in Christ reached out to the people of the world – and He still does. But He never did, or will, reach out to the world as the system of Satan. Therefore, in this respect the commandment, “Do not love the world or the things in the world,” applies to us as Christians (1 Jn. 2:15). The ministry of reconciliation includes the ministry of the apostles (2 Cor. 5) and the many centuries in which the good news has resounded in this world.

4. Divine Giver
Then we see that God is a giving God. He gave, expressing His great love in the most unique act. God’s gift was an act of love with tremendous consequences for us and for all creation, and that into the far future. God is the great Giver. “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15). This is now the standard for our life as Christians: it is about giving and serving love; the cross is the ultimate proof of that.

5. God’s Gift
What has God given to us? It is the greatest gift, the most precious thing God possessed: His only begotten Son. The word “only begotten” has the meaning of “unique” (consider Gen. 22:2). It is His own Son, the Son of the Father’s love (Rom. 8:3; Col. 1:13). God did not even spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all (Rom. 8:32).

6. Intended Recipients
Some may wonder for whom is this gift of love intended and on what condition we can partake in it. It is the most attractive condition, namely a sincere faith in God’s great work of salvation. Our good works cannot save us, but by looking at the cross of Christ there is life and salvation. Salvation is by virtue of faith in the Crucified One, in His finished work and His resurrection from the dead.

7. Glorious Result
The result of our trust and faith in the Savior of the world is glorious! It is the greatest conceivable favor on the part of God toward lost, sinful man: it is that we should not perish but have everlasting life! On the one hand, this means that we are saved from the lake of fire and the never-ending destruction in the outer darkness. On the other hand, it means an awesome, joyous future for all those who believe.

The possession of everlasting life is the most glorious result of salvation that we can think about. For this is eternal life, that we may know the Father and the Son, to be in God’s presence and to worship Him (consider Jn. 17:3). It is living in the atmosphere of God’s eternal glory. Eternal life is already now the portion of the believer, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Jn. 5:13; 1 Cor. 6:19). Such a person “has passed from death into life” (Jn. 5:24)!

By Hugo Bouter

The greatest love-gift ever given was when God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, into the world to rescue mankind, who had been bitten by the poison of sin and was condemned already. He sent His Son to suffer in our place on the cross “once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet. 3:18). John 3 ends with another reminder of God’s great gift, which is offered to anyone who believes in the Son who has come. In verse 36 we read: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” God is holy, and He condemned sin in the flesh when He sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin” (Rom. 8:3). At the same time, He demonstrated the greatest act of love and gave the greatest gift anyone could give! Have you received His gift of salvation? —Timothy P. Hadley