The North Star of
The North Star of
the Bible the Bible
Paul here gives us a helpful summary of the gospel. First, we need to know that Jesus died for our sins. , in Lord’s Day 26, points out that His death has two effects. First, Jesus bore God’s wrath for our sin so that we would not have to bear it. He has delivered us from God’s curse so that we can instead enjoy God’s blessing (2 Corinthians 5:21). that we no longer must live under sin’s power (Romans 6:1-4). Instead, we are being cleansed of our indwelling sin to live in righteousness. This is our God’s will as we experience His favor and blessing.
The death of Jesus was foretold in Scripture in places like Psalm 22 and
would take blood to pay for our sins, and from Genesis 3:15 onwards, the Bible is the story of the coming of the Seed of the Woman who would pay for our sin. As you read the Bible, this is one of the key themes that you should watch out for in order to understand the text.
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ur Moderator has chal- lenged us with the need for us to consider the whole counsel of God. In a time when so- ciety and even many believers are less familiar with the Bible than ever before, we need to help people embrace Bible reading and study in worship, preaching, family life, and our daily routine as individuals. Yet the Bible is a very big book! As navigators of the earth orient themselves by the steady guidance of the North Star, so we must ori- ent ourselves in our reading and study of the Bible by the key theme of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only in this way will we be able to accu- rately handle God’s word (2 Timo- thy 2:15).
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Next Paul turns to something we tend to gloss over in our presentation of the gospel. Jesus was buried. Why does this fact need to be included in a summary of the gospel? This was also foretold by Scripture. In Psalm 16:10 we’re told that Christ’s soul would not be abandoned among the dead. This means that He would have to spend time among the dead but then leave. He therefore submitted to burial and a time among the dead. It’s also important that Jesus fully embraced death. Just as we must leave our bodies and suffer - mitted to death and allowed His body to be placed in a grave. Yet this is not the end of the story. On the third day, Jesus rose again from the dead! The debt of sin has been paid, and the curse of the law is no more. Death exists only as a legal requirement of God’s justice; once that justice is We are free from God’s wrath, which is spiritual death (Revelation 20:14-15). We also share in new life in Him so that we can serve God freely (Romans 6:8-11). This was also foretold in Scripture. Psalm 22, for example, speaks both of Christ’s death and His victory. This is another key theme to watch for in the Bible: God giving life by grace to His sinful people, leading them to live for Him.
This summary will help you as you read and study Scripture. When you read the threat of the law, don’t just think of hell, but think also of how Christ embraced God’s wrath for His people. When you read the promise of blessing for obedience, don’t think just of your heavenly reward but also that it is Jesus alone who has truly earned God’s reward by obeying Him perfectly; God’s blessings are ours in Him alone by grace alone because of His saving work alone. This summary is also helpful as we share the gospel. It gives us the broad outline of the gospel and a brief summary we can share when we don’t have a lot of time to share. If you haven’t trusted in Christ, do so now. Jesus alone saves, for He alone has delivered sinful people from sin and death. You can only escape death and live by faith in Him.
Rev. James Almond is the pastor of Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church. 19
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