SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/21/2016 10:38 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Gospel Truth Reaches the World
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Colossians 1:6a
Message of the verse: “Which has come to you, just as in all the
world.” This verse of part of verse six
is in the middle of the second paragraph of the first chapter of Colossians
chapter one, a chapter in which Paul was giving thanks for these people, and
also reminding them of what the Gospel is all about as we have been looking at
in our previous SD’s on Colossians chapter one.
When the
gospel was first preached by Peter on the first day of the church era many of
the Jews through that it was only for them, but as we progress to the tenth
chapter of Acts we see that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not only for the
Jews, but for the Gentiles too, and it was the joy of Paul to spread it all
around the Roman Empire as he and his partners in the faith went from country
to country telling others of the saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Christianity
turned the Roman world upside down and Paul was the major person who began
this. John MacArthur writes of Christianity: “It was and is the good news for the whole
world. The gospel transcends ethnic,
geographic, cultural, and political boundaries.”
We will now
give some quotes from different portions of the New Testament which show the
universality of the gospel:
“"This
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to
all the nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:14).
“Then Jesus
again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows
Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life" (John
8:12).
First, I
thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being
proclaimed throughout the whole world. 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. 1:8, 16).
“For the
word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have
no need to say anything (1 Thess. 1:8).
“9 After
these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count,
from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in
their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to
our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb"(Rev. 7:9-10).”
When we
come to the end of the book of Acts we see that Paul is left in Rome, the
headquarters of the Roman Empire, and so the gospel spread throughout the
entire Roman Empire with the aid of its good roads to help swiftly get the Word
of Truth out, and from there is eventually spreads around the entire world in
to all the different people groups and nations with the aid of missionaries and
even the internet.
12/21/2016 10:55 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment