Understanding the Heart of the Gospel

 Understanding the Heart of the Gospel 


To walk in a manner worthy of the gospel, we must know the heart of Christ.


Christian living is not formulaic. It can’t be learned by rote, rule, or religion. It is not a series of questions and steps as if we were a service person responding to calls in a call center. What do we do in a given situation? “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.“ (Philippians‬ ‭1:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬)


You have likely heard the famous Christian acronym, WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) But we may more precisely ask, what is the heart of Christ? What does His heart communicate? For what Jesus did came from His heart as He communicated the heart of the Father. 


His heart goes out to the downtrodden and unworthy. His heart is the heart of a servant. He washes the grime, the dirt, the disgusting; the well-trodden feet of those who have walked through the difficult situations of life. His heart is lowly and gentle, humble and kind. He came so that we might be received. He laid aside the use of His divine rights by becoming a servant; Full Divinity robed in flesh.


The King became the slave so that we might become royal sons and daughters. Do we represent this in our living? In our interaction with others does the heart of Jesus beat? In any given situation, do we respond in kindness (appropriateness in word and deed) to the need?


The heart of Jesus was not forced, obliged to some eternal plan. What He does, He does not under compulsion, but with whole-hearted love.


Knowing His heart is a growth process. It is not an accumulation of facts, it is relational insight. In Greek (the New Testament Greek of the first century) there are a two similar words that can be used for our English word, “know.” One word is gnosis, where we get the term Gnosticism. It is the accumulation of information; knowledge, doctrine, wisdom. Paul uses this word when he warns us that knowledge puffs up.


The other word is epignosis. This is a contact knowledge, a knowledge we grow into as we relate to something and grow in our relationship with it. It is what Paul used when he prayed that we may know Jesus better. Instead of puffing up, this knowledge humbles us and informs us to a correct understanding of Christ’s heart, enabling us to represent Him correctly and thus glorify Him. This is the knowledge we seek as believers.


So how do we come to know this beautiful heart? Firstly we simply go to Him. Come to me and I will teach you my heart. We find it in His word correctly understood. We read about it in books by those who have studied His heart and reflected it. We find His heart in the working of His saints, our brothers and sisters. And indeed, we see his heart deeply expressed as we love one another deeply.




Comments

  1. Joe SchiavoneOctober 22, 2020 at 5:14 AM

    Love this ! I have heard many brothers and sisters expressing Their recently lack of intamacey with Jesus lately, and its a little alarming. I mean, I think we all go through times like these. But I sense a danger with those who have a "higher standing" in the church. Maybe, God is bringing to transparencey the deeper things hidden in our souls as everything will be brought into the light.
    This was a great word, to address this. I believe to walk closer, know His heart better and live that out means we need to obey what Jesus said was the first commandment; Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’. I think that following what seems to be of most importances to Jesus, will bring us closer to His, good, perfect and holy heart.
    Thanks for this word Joseph.

    ReplyDelete

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