THIS IS MY GOSPEL
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Key Verse 8
“Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is
my gospel”
Introduction
Paul knew that his suffering was meaningful. He foresaw great hope after his sufferings, as Jesus had risen from the dead. Suffering is not the end of everything. Gospel workers must envision the glory that will come after their sufferings. God will crown us with eternal life in his kingdom. God will welcome us with arms of love saying, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” Therefore fixing our eyes on this glorious hope, let us join with Christ in suffering for the gospel and for serving God’s flock!
1. Read verse 8. Why is it important for us to remember Jesus’ resurrection and Jesus as the descendent from David? In what respect does Paul declare “This is my gospel?”
1-1, Read verse 8.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel,
1-2, Why is it important for us to remember Jesus’ resurrection and Jesus as the descendent from David?
8 Remember Jesus Christ,
Paul encouraged Timothy to remember Jesus Christ no matter what happened.
Paul remembered that Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross. But there is more to come which is the “resurrection” of Jesus.
raised from the dead,
This is a perfect passive participle which implies that Jesus was raised by the Father and that He remains the resurrected One.
Jesus' resurrection was the clear sign that the Father fully accepted the Son's earthly work, teachings, and sacrifice for sin.
Jesus' resurrection is one of the central pillars of the gospel together with his cross and death. No resurrection, no gospel.
1 Cor. 15:1-4 reads,
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
The Greek people had difficulty in understanding and accepting the resurrection. So apostle Paul explained logically in 1 Corinthians 15.
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
During this time, Christians had probably been influenced by either Greek philosophy (which considered the resurrection undesirable, thinking the state of “pure spirit” superior), or by the thinking of the Sadducees (who thought the world beyond this life, to be just wishful thinking). The bottom line is that they believed that they lived forever, but not in resurrected bodies.
Remember that resurrection is not merely life after death. It is the continuation of life after death in glorified bodies, which are our present bodies in a glorified state.
The divinity of Jesus rests on the resurrection of Jesus
Romans 1:4 reads,
and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
The sovereignty of Jesus rests on the resurrection of Jesus.
Romans 14:9 reads,
For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
Our justification rests on the resurrection of Jesus.
Romans 4:24-25 reads,
but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Our regeneration rests on the resurrection of Jesus.
1 Peter 1:3-5 reads,
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Our ultimate resurrection rests on the resurrection of Jesus.
Romans 8:11 reads,
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
In Short, the resurrection of Jesus represents our resurrection, because if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection
Romans 6:5 reads,
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.
The resurrection of Jesus also anticipates our resurrection, because we will be raised with a body like His.
The resurrection of Jesus is also the firstfruits of our resurrection in the sense that He is our “entrance fee” to resurrection. Jesus paid our admission to the resurrection!
This is the great fact, the great credential of the authenticity of Jesus Christ – His resurrection from the dead.
Remember that Jesus was the first one ever resurrected. Only Jesus had been resurrected – raised to a new order of life, with a new body, which though based on the old, was still new and fitted for the glories of eternal life.
Jesus’ resurrection was the proof that though it looked like He died on the cross like a common criminal, He actually died as a sinless man out of love and self-sacrifice to bear the guilt of our sin.
Jesus’ death on the cross was the payment but the resurrection was the receipt, showing that the payment was received as perfect before God the Father.
descended from David.
This statement means that Jesus was fully man, while raised from the dead means Jesus was fully God.
For Paul, it was essential that Timothy should remember and teach the truth about who Jesus is.
1-3, In what respect does Paul declare “This is my gospel?”
This is my gospel,
Of course, the gospel belonged to Paul in the sense that he preached it many times in many places.
But it also belonged to him in the sense that he believed it personally. It was his gospel and it should also be the gospel of each individual Christian.
Remember what the word gospel means “good news.” For Paul, the best news was not about more money, more recognition, more status, or more stuff.
The good news was about a real relationship with Jesus through His finished work on the cross and His complete work through resurrection.
It reminds us of what apostle Paul desired in the book of Philippians.
Philippians 3:10-11 reads,
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
2. Read verses 9-10. How much had Paul suffered for the gospel? What does it mean that God’s word is not chained? What is the purpose of enduring everything for the sake of the elect? (10)
2-1, Read verses 9-10.
9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
2-2, How much had Paul suffered for the gospel?
for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.
“For which” is for His gospel truth.
So he participated in Jesus’ suffering to the point of being chained like a criminal. His pain was nothing compared to Jesus’ pain.
By participating in Jesus’ suffering, Paul could see God’s way to serve the world.
This gospel did not bring Paul a life of glamour and ease. It brought him a life full of adventure and challenge, and a life also marked by suffering.
It was around this time that a terrible fire destroyed much of Rome, a fire that was reportedly set by the emperor Nero as the first step of his own peculiar urban renewal program. The fire destroyed vast neighborhoods of the poor, and when they rioted, Nero blamed the Christians. He then arrested many of them, perhaps including Paul.
Any true follower of Jesus Christ will be willing to suffer with Him. Those who are determined to never suffer for Jesus may admire Him from a distance, but they do not genuinely follow Him.
To the point of chains - Paul’s wrist was shackled at the very moment he wrote this.
2-3, What does it mean that God’s word is not chained?
But God’s word is not chained.
Paul said that they could chain him but they could never chain the word of God.
Isaiah 40:8 reads,
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.
The Word of God is not chained. No government, no religious authorities, no skeptics, no scientists, no philosophers(evolutionists), or no false teachers have ever been able to stop the work of the Word of God.
Yet, it is quite possibly bound when it is abandoned by its very friends. We are supposed to study the Words of God and preach it diligently so that God’s words may not be bound.
2-4, What is the purpose of enduring everything for the sake of the elect? (10)
10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Paul might have said that he endures all things for the sake of God. Yet Paul stressed here that I endure everything for the sake of the elect.
He knew that his love for God could reliably be measured by his love for God’s people.
Paul was much sustained by the thought that his labours and sufferings were beneficial to others.
Paul believed that the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes including all people on earth, the Jews and the gentiles (Rom 1:16).
So he suffered without shame for the sake of God’s flock so that they could obtain Christ’s saving grace.
That they may too obtain the salvation: Paul’s life was not only aiming at getting people rescued in Jesus, but also in seeing them grow and become complete in their relationship with Him.
Some people may dispute that the word “the elect” support different doctrine. But it indicates the Jews in the flow of the context, and to the words, “they too,”
Paul was called as an apostle to the Gentiles. But he was also concerned for the salvation of the Jews, even though he had suffered at their hands.
Paul is not speaking of the elect in terms of Christians, but of the Jews, who are referred to as an elect people, or the Chosen People, so that they might also obtain the salvation that the Gentiles were experiencing.
Given that the Jews and Gentiles were differentiated by the terms “circumcised” and “uncircumcised” (Galatians 2:7, 9), Paul could just as easily have said: “I endure all things for the sake of [the circumcised], so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”
Eternal glory: a glory that belongs to the people of God in eternity that is greater than any earthly glory. Eternal glory is worth much more than earthly glory.
Romans 8:18 reads,
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
3. Read verses 11-13. What will happen to those who die with Jesus? (11) Who will reign with Jesus? (12a) What is difference between disowning Jesus and being faithless? (12b, 13) How has God been faithful to us despite our unfaithfulness? (13)
3-1, Read verses 11-13.
11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
3-2, What will happen to those who die with Jesus? (11)
11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him;
Here Paul quoted an early Christian hymn known among the Christians of his day.
Thankfully here we go! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2anssjXDEY
The song begins with a promise of resurrection to those who have died with Jesus.
Paul was waiting for his own execution by Nero. Just as he wrote Romans 6, he died with Jesus every day. So it is not surprising for him to die with Jesus.
He was ready to pay the ultimate price to following Jesus.
Romans 6:3-11 reads,
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
3-3, Who will reign with Jesus? (12a)
12 if we endure, we will also reign with him.
The song assures the faithful believer of eternal reward. This principle assures us that our present difficulty or trial is worth enduring. The reward is greater than what one might gain from quitting. We will reign with Him!
The Bible says that we will rule and reign with Jesus Christ. This future destiny explains much of the difficulty described in this passage. We understand that God is training us to rule and reign beside Him in the world to come.
Romans 8:17 reads,
Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
3-4, What is difference between disowning Jesus and being faithless? (12b, 13)
If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful
The song warns those who deny Jesus that they themselves will be denied. By doctrine or manner of living, one may deny who Jesus is, deny what He has done for us, or deny what He commands us to do.
The difference between disowning Jesus and being faithless can be compared to Judas Iscariot who allegedly denied Jesus and committed suicide without repentance. Peter also denied Jesus three times but later repented of his sins sincerely. Thanks to Jesus’ faithfulness he resumed his relationship with Jesus.
Matthews 10:33 reads,
Jesus said it plainly: But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
3-5, How has God been faithful to us despite our unfaithfulness? (13)
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
We cannot deny Jesus and we must keep our allegiance to Him. Yet if one does fall away, it doesn’t change who God is – He remains faithful.
It is a terrible thing when people who name the name of Jesus show themselves unfaithful; many have been turned away from Jesus because of the hypocrisy of those who take His name. But all the faithlessness of man doesn’t disprove the faithfulness of God.
But Christians can stand faithful as God empowers them. Even if one has been wavering, they still have time – as the Spirit of God calls to them even now – to turn back to the faithful God. We can be like the prodigal son, who came to his senses, saw his faithfulness, and came home to his father who had been faithful to him the whole time.
Conclusion
Today we have studied about apostle Paul’s clear statement by saying, “This is my gospel.” When we fix our eyes on Jesus’ suffering and death only, we are discouraged easily. But when we fix our eyes on Jesus who was raised from the dead, we could see eternal glory with Jesus. May the Lord help us to suffer with Jesus and die with Jesus with resurrection faith. Help us to be faithful to the end so that we may sing the same song that apostle Paul did. Amen.
One word: This is my gospel!
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