The Heart of the Gospel
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© October 15, 2017
One might think that the Central message establishing the essence of the Gospel should be taken from the New Testament; instead, today let’s choose one verse from the Old Testament, written some 700 years before Jesus Christ, the Messiah, came to earth.
What verse do you think that verse might be?
Isaiah 53:6
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Body-Clock in “Nearly Every Cell”
This year, three scientists Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young received the Nobel prize for physiology/medicine with a study and analysis of the circadian rhythm, or “body clock” projected to be in living things in our world.
“The body clock - or circadian rhythm - is the reason we want to sleep at night, but it also drives huge changes in behavior and body function….
The Nobel prize committee said their findings had ‘vast implications for our health and wellbeing’.
A clock ticks in nearly every cell of the human body, as well as in plants, animals and fungi. Our mood, hormone levels, body temperature and metabolism all fluctuate in a daily rhythm.” [1]
There are Other Important Entities Embedded in Each Cell of our Bodies
Our individual growth and life are also implanted in the double helix strands of DNA in our every cell: the color of our eyes, the structure of our bones, and our predisposition for disease.
Sir Isaac Newton, and other notable scientists, gave us many insights and “laws” that reveal how God’s creation works together harmoniously. By understanding these standards by which the world continues to exist, science and technology has been able to progress to what it is today.
Two laws of physics have to do with Conservation of Energy, and Entropy
1. The First Law of Thermodynamics establishes the principle that in our universe there is a conservation of energy:
“the total energy of an isolated system is constant; energy can be transformed from one form to another, but can be neither created nor destroyed.[2]
2. The Second Law of Thermodynamics explains why everything diminishes and dies, becomes disorganized, or crumbles without an outside additional boost of energy, resource, or force. This law focuses on the concept of Entropy[3] throughout the universe.
All Life Degenerates and Dies Naturally
Life, light, movement and force, etc., degenerate naturally. Nothing can perpetuate itself indefinitely.
Without some form of energy, light, fuel or force to continue to support life, or stimulate movement, etc., then all matter naturally becomes disordered, ceases to grow, stops, dies, goes back to dust, or rusts away.
If something is left alone it will eventually crumble (and die) all by itself.
· Entropy: A plane cannot fly without fuel, an engine, or some force to propel it through the air. Eventually, the most sophisticated plane will be scrapped.
· Entropy: A truck cannot move by itself without an energy force moving it: a working engine (with fuel), someone pushing it, or gravity to compel it to roll downhill. The coolest vehicles will someday be in the junkyard.
· Entropy: A body cannot continue to live and breathe, move, think and be productive without energy from sustainable nutrition.
· Entropy: Vegetation cannot grow and benefit the world around it without sunlight, water and nutrition. Eventually all vegetation dies.
· Entropy: A fire only burns as long as there is fuel.
· Entropy: Nothing in creation can perpetuate itself indefinitely.
Order dissipates naturally to random chaos.
· Entropy: Something hot always turns to something cold.
Heat cannot be sustained without a source of energy to maintain any degree of its warmer temperature.
A cup of hot tea or coffee will not continue to stay hot without having a persistent heat source.
· Entropy: The sun cannot continue to bring heat and light to our solar system without fuel to burn.
· Entropy: If the sun runs out of fuel and stops shining, or if its light and heat is indefinitely and substantially blocked from earth, everything will eventually die. The sun cannot self-perpetuate itself without fuel.
· Entropy: Nothing is self-perpetuating…except God.
Naturalistic Order Breaks Down to Disorder –
The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics
· Something has been corrupted in our Universe to lead everything, always, naturally, toward disorder, chaos, and death.
People are not naturally programed to always be good, and to be kind and wise in all our decisions.
Our Human DNA has been Hacked
Human beings have something in their DNA that has been corrupted. We live in a world controlled by Entropy…physically, morally and spiritually.
This malicious code is in every cell of our earthly body.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics gives a practical definition for an outcome of the curse of sin, which came at the “fall of man.” Things do not naturally get better, they naturally degenerate, crumble and always die.
The Curse of Sin is the Reason for Degeneration and Death.
Depravity – Is also embedded within our being.
God, the Eternal Creator, calls disobedience to His Laws “sin.”
· Entropy: The Curse of Sin, has corrupted the DNA in our thinking patterns.
· Entropy: The Curse of Sin, has corrupted the DNA in our behavioral patterns.
· Entropy: The Curse of Sin, has naturally implanted Entropy and death in every living thing through the DNA of each succeeding generation, and there is Entropy in everything which has been created, since the fall, throughout the history of the world.
The natural outcome for those who are genetically infected with sin (which is everyone), is death.
Isaiah 53:6
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way…
Natural Entropy. “Going astray,” is consistent with all things affected by corruption from “the fall.”
Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
All People Naturally Abandon God’s Way:
“All we like sheep have gone astray…”
תָּעָה
The Hebrew word “astray,” used in this verse, has been translated to mean:
· to err;
· to wander off;
· to be seduced;
· to get drunk and stagger off;
· to go out of the God-given way;
· to be deceived [4]
Individual Dereliction
Those in the world have not only gone “astray” – like being herded together with wayward sheep; but, we have all individually chosen to be disobedient to God and the personal conscience God has placed in each one of us.
“We have turned—every one—to his own way” (Is. 53:6b)
Every person goes the way he or she individually wants to go.
Each person will also be accountable for their “own way.”
Going Astray from God’s Laws is a Natural Thing to Do.
Each one may meander different paths of our “own way” back and forth across the broad road leading to destruction, but the destination of the “broad” road is still the same.
Matthew 7:13–14
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
The self-serving direction of the most appealing individualistic way eventually and always will lead to destruction.
Deliverance
The Offer is Universal – the Acceptance is Individual
God has offered Eternal Life, throughout the Generations of the World, for each one who would personally accept His Provision of Redemption.
Isaiah 53:6
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.
In the Fullness of Time the Messiah Came
Galatians 4:4–5
4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. (see also Rom. 5:6; Eph. 1:10)
Isaiah 53:6, was written, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 700 years before Christ, the Messiah came.
Isaiah 53:6c
and the Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.
This verse offers Redemption through faith in the Sacrifice of a coming Messiah. We receive God’s Gift of Redemption through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah whose Sacrifice has already been revealed. We trust in Jesus’s Redemptive Blood to be our Atonement before God, to Cleanse Us from the penalty of our sin.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God’s Remedy for Mankind’s Sin – is the Heart of the Gospel
The Messiah, Jesus Christ, Our Sin-Bearer
John 3:14–18
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Christ Became a Curse for Us to Redeem Us
Galatians 3:13
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
God Made His Sinless Son to Become Sin, so We Could Become Righteous
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
There are Many Important Entities Embedded within the Cells of our Bodies
· The DNA Instruction mechanism for Our Physical Person
· Our Body Clock
· Our Human Depravity
· Our Unique Personality and Spirit
· Life Itself, a gift from God
· Other dynamics, formulas and structures yet unknown.
Our Living Savior Saves Us Completely
Hebrews 7:25
25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Jesus, Our Redeemer is Able to Keep Us
Jude 24–25
24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
From the beginning of time up until the present, God has revealed Himself – and His Salvation, to those in this world. When Adam and Eve sinned, and were cast out of the Garden of Eden, the great curse of depravity infected each living soul, and was passed down through the generations, causing the terrible Spiritual plague of sin and death.
God knew this was going to happen from the beginning. He would provide a way of Redemption to escape Spiritual death and call out for Himself a people, from this sin-cursed world, who would love Him, serve Him and become His Chosen Bride.
God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the fullness of time, who would offer Himself as the sinless Sacrifice for the sins of the world, to break Satan’s authority and the power of death, and to give Spiritual Life for those who would receive His free gift of Eternal Life.
The heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is aptly summed up 700 years before Christ’s first Coming, in the Old Testament passage of Isaiah 53, and particularly in 53:6:
Isaiah 53:6
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.
Those to put their faith and trust in the provision God has given us, through His Son, Jesus Christ, for the cleansing of their sins, will be redeemed and justified before His Holy Throne, and be given a glorious heritage in His Eternal Kingdom.
“And the Lord has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all.”
The following is a prayer to pray to God, from your heart, for repentance from sin, and to ask for Salvation, through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Dear Heavenly Father, I have sinned against You. I ask for Your forgiveness. Jesus Christ, Your Son, died on the Cross for my sins. I acknowledge and believe that Jesus died to bear the penalty of my sin. He was buried and rose again on the third day, to become my all-powerful Savior, over sin and death. I now, by faith, repent of my sins and invite Jesus Christ to come into my life to cleanse me from my sins and guilt through His precious blood, before Your Holy Presence.
I choose and acknowledge Jesus Christ to be my Savior and my Lord. By faith, I receive your free gift of eternal life, because of Your Grace, and ask that Your Holy Spirit come into me, fill me with His Presence, and transform me into Your Child.
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for Your Mercy and Salvation, in giving me such an opportunity to be born again into Your Heavenly Family.
In Jesus’ Name, AMEN!”
ENDNOTES
Luke 13:23–30
23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’
28 “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”
Isaiah 53
53 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous
servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/health-41468229
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_law_of_thermodynamics
[3] “Entropy: a measure of the unavailable energy in a closed thermodynamic system that is also usually considered to be a measure of the system's disorder, that is a property of the system's state, and that varies directly with any reversible change in heat in the system and inversely with the temperature of the system; broadly: the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system
2a: the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity
b: a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder
3: chaos, disorganization, randomness.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/entropy
[4] Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship.