If you ever read the Bible, you find that it is full of stories about people who did insane things for God—things that most would consider crazy.

• Noah built a big box of gopher wood on the dry ground in a day when it had probably never rained before. And he built this because he was convinced that two of every kind of animal on earth, from the miniscule flea to the massive mammoth would get on board before the world would flood. A flooding world in a time when no one had ever seen rain fall from the sky was as realistic to most people as a prince-turning frog. They probably didn’t even have a word for “rain.” And do you know how long he worked on this box-shelter? For 100 years.
• How About Abraham, the tenth generation down from Noah?¹ One day God tells Abraham, “Take your son, your only son whom you love, take him to the land of Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice to Me” (Gen 22:1-2). In Abraham’s day, people sacrificed animals to God. To sacrifice an animal required building a table-like structure called an “altar,” tying the animal to the structure, cutting the animal's throat, and then burning the carcass as a sacrifice to God. And God says, “Do this with your son.” Abraham doesn’t argue or complain. Early next morning he splits wood to make the fire, saddles the donkey, brings his son Isaac along with two servants, and heads up Mt. Moriah. They get to the top, Abraham builds an altar, stacks the wood on the altar, ties Isaac, his only son, to the altar, and raises the knife.
• Or what about Queen Esther who approaches King Ahasuerus while on his throne. In those glory days of the Medo-Persians, no one—not even the queen—could approach the king unless he sent for her. This was an action punishable by death.
• One of the most fascinating stories is the story of Daniel who chooses a den of human-hungry lions over obeying King Darius’ orders to pray to no one but him.
• And then there's John the Baptist, a wild man from the woods who rebukes King Herod for adultery and incest. He rebukes a guy who can have his life taken at the snap of his fingers.

What motivates such insanity? What moves people to do the unthinkable, to be sold out so recklessly for God? The gospel. God entering this world to save and forgive sinful humans. This is the power of God’s grace.

If the gospel really is the most important thing that ever happened since the creation of the world, it makes no sense to keep it safe inside the walls of a church. That’d be like the entire world having a disease and a doctor keeping the only antidote in his medicine cabinet in his bathroom.

If the gospel really is this important, as amazing and wonderful as people from the Bible so clearly illustrate by their actions, then it’d be the greatest crime on earth to keep it hidden inside Bible study clubs, church services, and chapels.

I want to give you three reasons why this gospel is so important; three reasons why it’s a matter of life and death.

Reason #1: The gospel changes lives.

Paul writes, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God” (Rom 1:1).

Paul’s life was transformed by the gospel. It changed who he was. He became a “bondservant.” It changed how he lived. He became an “apostle,” someone sent by Jesus who spent the rest of his life telling people about Jesus. And it changed how he viewed his purpose for existence: he called himself “set apart for the gospel of God.”

Paul was now bound to Jesus, called to preach Jesus, and set apart for Jesus!

But the gospel didn’t just change Paul’s life. It changed the lives of the people he wrote to:

...among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1:6-7).

These people were “called of Jesus Christ.” That means they were called to be forgiven of their sins and to change how they lived.

These people were also ”beloved of God” which means to be loved by God. No longer God’s enemies, they now became His children. They were also, “called as saints.” A “saint” means a “holy one,” someone set apart for living a pure life before God.

The gospel changes lives. Had it not been for Jesus, history would have buried Mary Magdalene as some unknown hooker. Had it not been for Jesus, Zaccheus would have died a miserable, greedy tax collector. Had it not been for Jesus, I would be addicted to sin, living for myself, and on the fast track to hell.

Let’s say that after you read this you say, “Seth, I want to talk about this more.”

“Great, when would you like to meet?”

“This Friday 6pm, at the downtown park.”

“I’ll be there.”

You get there on Friday and it’s 6 p.m. But I’m not here. You wait another 15 minutes and I’m still not there. You start to wonder if I completely forgot. Finally, I show up at half past six.

“What happened?” you ask.

“Oh, I am so sorry,” I say. “On the way here I was driving my van and a tire went flat. I got out the wrench to unscrew the lugs and one lug went flying across the freeway. I ran to get it and looked up and this 20 ton 16 wheeler ran over me. That’s why I’m late.”

You’d look at me and say, “That’s very funny, what really happened?” No matter what I said I could not get you to believe me. Why? Because no one gets hit by a 16 wheeler and walks away unaffected. Jesus is a lot bigger than a 16 wheeler.²

Reason #2: The gospel preaches truth.

Paul writes, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world” (Rom 1:8).

Paul’s letter officially begins right here. And the first thing on his mind is their faithful proclamation of the gospel. The gospel is not a static lecture to be hoarded and hidden, but a living message to be lived and proclaimed!

Paul’s readers are not the only people who love to proclaim this living message as we see in verse 14:

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish (Rom 1:14).

Paul is obligated to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But Paul knows that this message sometimes offends people. Sometimes it contradicts them and goes against the grain of self-centered living. That’s why he writes in verse 16:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Rom 1:16).

The gospel is not a message for the religious and spiritual. It is a message for the doctor and the beggar, the drug addict and the business man, the young and the old, the mechanic and the lawyer, the single mom and the queen. The gospel is a message for humans like you and me, people who are great sinners in need of a great Savior.

How do you know that Jesus is the only way?

But why would Paul risk his life for the story of Jesus’ death and rising from the dead? And why would his readers risk their lives, telling others their need to be saved and forgiven so they too can have a relationship with God? In Paul’s day, telling people about the gospel was an offense punishable by death. People got their eyes ripped out of their sockets for doing this. Women got raped, children got charred by flames, men got eaten by lions in the gladiator arena. What idiot would risk his life for a single message? Because...they knew...the message...was true.

If someone asks me, “How do you know that Jesus is the only way to heaven? How do you know that Jesus really rose from the dead?” My answer is: people don’t risk their lives for something they know to be a lie.

Struck with the beauty of a gypsy girl, Steinberg a famous painter, took her to his studio and frequently painted her. At that time he was at work on his masterpiece, “Christ on the Cross.” The girl used to watch him work on this painting. One day she said to him, “He must have been a very wicked man to be nailed to a cross like that.” “No,” said the painter. “On the contrary, he was a very good man. The best man that ever lived. He died for others.” The little girl looked at him and asked. “Did He die for you?”

Those words struck home. Steinberg was not a Christian, but the gypsy girl’s question touched his heart and awakened his conscience, and he became a believer in Him whose dying passion he had so well portrayed.

Reason #3: The gospel saves souls.

In verse 18 Paul writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness...”

This is a strange shift in topics. How did Paul get from "the gospel" to "God's wrath"? The key word is “for.” Here is why the gospel is so important to be preached: for the wrath of God is revealed. Every man or woman will either be punished by God’s wrath or saved by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the following verses Paul argues that creation around us and our own conscience within us tell us that there is an all-wise God who is holy, who is against sin, and who made us. That’s why you don’t have to convince anybody (at least not most) that murdering children is wrong, that stealing a purse or wallet is sin. This innate knowledge of right and wrong comes from our Creator who made us in His image. We are like Him with a sense of good and evil.

A few days ago I was lifting weights at the YMCA, and I started talking with this guy named Justin. I asked Justin: “If you died tonight and stood before God and God asked why He would let you into heaven, what would you say?”

“Nothing but the mercy of God,” Justin replied. Justin understood something we easily miss: we will never be moral enough, righteous enough, or godly enough to be forgiven of our sins. If God judges you and me objectively, we are serious law-breakers and will be punished for all eternity in hell (Matt 5:48).

That’s why Jesus died. He paid your fine. He died for your sins. He suffered the wrath of God that you and I deserve.

Slug of Sin

The movie The Hanging Tree was set in a western gold-mining camp in the late 1800’s. Gary Cooper played the role of doctor for the camp. One day, a young boy was seen robbing gold from the camp. He was shot from a distance but managed to hobble into hiding. All hands in the camp spread out to see who would be the first to kill him for this offense.

The doctor found the hurt, frightened youth. He took him into his cabin, nursed him, and removed the bullet. After the boy regained consciousness, he asked what the doctor would do with him.

The doctor held the slug in the boy’s face and said, “You will be my servant for as long as I want you to be, maybe forever, because that is how long you would be dead if this slug had remained in you.”³

If you have not trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, the slug of sin lies in your soul; not just in your soul but running through your veins. You’ve lied, you’ve lusted, you’ve stolen, you’ve deceived, you’ve coveted, you’ve blasphemed, you’ve lived selfishly, just like me, and this slug of sin will destroy you on Judgment Day unless you let the Great Healer remove it. Your good deeds can’t remove it. Your church attendance can’t remove it. Your humble prayers cannot remove it. Only Jesus can. Let Him remove the sin from your life.

How? Just ask Him. Admit that you’re a great sinner, confess that Jesus is a great Savior, and trust God to forgive you, just like He did for me, eighteen years ago.

Endnotes

1. Abram was the 10th generation from Noah, or in other words, Noah's great grandson eight times over (Gen 11:10-27).

2. Thanks to Paul Washer for this illustration.

3. Michael P. Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively (Revised edition of: The Expositor's Illustration File, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989.