Okay, so among other resources, I’m reading Karl Barth’s commentary, The Epistle to the Romans. Romans 1:1 says, “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,” (ESV). Here are Barth’s comments on the importance of the phrase “gospel of God”.
“The Gospel is not a religious message to inform mankind of their divinity or to tell them how they may become divine. The Gospel proclaims a God utterly distinct from men. Salvation comes to them from Him, because they are, as men, incapable of knowing Him, and because they have no right to claim anything from Him. The Gospel is not one thing in the midst of other things, to be directly apprehended and comprehended. The Gospel is the Word of the Primal Origin of all things, the Word which, since it is ever new, must ever be received with renewed fear and trembling. The Gospel is therefore not an event, nor an experience, nor an emotion — however delicate! Rather, it is the clear and objective perception of what eye hath not seen nor ear heard. Moreover, what it demands of men is more than notice, or understanding, or sympathy. It demands participation, comprehension, co-operation; for it is a communication which presumes faith in the living God, and which creates that which it presumes.”
That is amazing. I had to share it.
Thoughts?
Todd
Awsome… I need to get in a steady time each day to read the Word of God.
Human pride is sometimes a stumbling block to understanding the magnitude of how much “God (is) utterly distinct from men” and what a huge deal the Gospel really is. This also attributes to not comprehending the enormous price of our salvation. I agree it demands participation, but so few believers regularly open, let alone study, the Word… The Word is ALIVE, our GOD IS ALIVE and fear and trembling NEED to be part of our comprehension!
It is an awesome thing when we do make the choice to quiet ourselves, open our Bible, and anticipate God speaking into us. He will. He does. … and even if we think we have read a particular book repeatedly, He can cause the “familiar” passages to literally leap off the page and into our hearts.I got excited that this happened for you in your study and that you stopped long enough to remind us that He wants to do that with all of His children…. thanks for sharing, Todd!
What an awesome, thought provoking quote! So much substance. I’m struck by the simplicity of the word “gospel.” It’s a compound word meaning “good” and “message.” Somehow “message” has more weight to me than “news” as it is often translated. God’s good message to us … this describes a God who pursues a conversation with us–people who are not worthy of one nano-second of his time. And instead of that conversation being full of condemnation, which we deserve, he gives us a good message and seeks to engage us into even more good messages, or love songs from his good heart.
I like this quote from Frederick Buechner: “The good news that we are loved is better than we ever dared hope, and that to believe in that good news, to live out of it and toward it, to be in love with that good news, is of all glad things in this world the gladdest thing of all. Amen, and come Lord Jesus.”
The GOOD NEWS is that GOD “WANTS TO” communicate with us. He desires and SCANDLOUSLY pursues us for relationship. He has gone to great lengths, ahem–sacrificing His own Son–to woo us. What passion He has for us!
Yes Todd, this is a great quote and a great
reminder. We must be careful not to
become so comfortable with God that we forget who He is. Sometimes I head to the Old Testament just
for these type of reminders. Books like
Isaiah are filled with images of the majesty of God, and this can be a good
reminder. We should have an intimate
relationship with Him, and it should be our closest and most treasured
relationship, but we mustn’t begin to think that God is anything less than who
He is. We need to remember who He is and
what He has done for us and in us. How
great is our God!!