You are warmly welcome to Pearls from the Word program, -
all you dear children of God, even those children of God -
who haven't yet found Jesus as your Savior and Redeemer.
My name is Miisu Piipari. Today I talk about the Gospel and its meaning.
Let us start with a lovely piece of Scripture, Romans 1:16.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God -
that brings salvation to everyone who believes: -
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile."
Let us have a look at the Greek word for salvation. It is euangelion.
I'm not sure if I pronounce it correctly. It means a good message, -
the good news of the coming Kingdom of God, -
of the salvation that is available through Christ -
and everything related to this salvation.
It also means proclamation of the grace of God -
that is manifested and promised in Christ.
Sometimes it also means the story of the words, deeds, -
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
When talking about the power of God, the writer of this verse, Romans 1:16, -
uses the Greek word dynamis. It means the ability to do miracles.
It means such a huge power that can change our whole life.
It brings us the salvation and completely transforms our lives.
The Gospel has the power to make you a citizen of Heaven.
It also gives you the strength to know the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
God is not ashamed of His desire to help His children, on the contrary.
His heart is to reach everyone of us. That is why in the beginning -
I also greeted all you children of God who haven't found Jesus yet.
If you are only starting to know Jesus and who He is, -
I warmly recommend you to watch this video again.
The Gospel or the Good News has the power to transform your life.
This is your chance when your life is at dead end.
What an appealing offer!
But I believe that this message is also for us who already believe -
and who already are being saved, for often our lives are such a mess -
that we really need the help of God's Holy Spirit.
Then the power of the Gospel that Jesus released in us brings us hope.
It says in Colossians, chapter 1 verse 5 -
"...the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven -
and about which you have already heard -
in the true message of the gospel." We continue to verse 6 that says -
that this Gospel has spread widely and is bearing fruit.
Later it talks about -
how through the Gospel you are going to know God's grace in truth.
God is not afraid of telling us true facts of our lives, -
but as He doesn't say them in anger but through love -
since God is love, we are able to receive the truth of ourselves.
And this is the point when our lives can change, if we receive the truth.
In other words it says in 2 Corinthians 3:18 -
how we are being transformed into God's likeness.
God wants to sanctify us through His Holy Spirit -
and release the Good News into the real life inside of us.
God wants to help you and give you a new hope, as Colossians says.
He wants that the Gospel in you is bearing fruit -
and that it keeps spreading.
If we think of the very beginning of John's Gospel, -
who brought the Gospel into the world? Jesus brought the Gospel.
The core of the Good News is the message of Jesus Christ, -
His life, death and resurrection.
All the Gospels in the Bible write about these.
We can read straight in the first chapter of John's Gospel -
how Jesus, the Son of God, brought the Gospel message.
He brought Himself, a living message about the love of God.
Let us read a few verses of it. Gospel of John, chapter one.
We will start from verse one and continue to verses four and 14.
Verse 1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, -
and the Word was God."
Verse 4 "In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind."
Verse 14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, -
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
In the verse from Colossians it said that through the Gospel -
we will know God's grace in truth. It means that -
when you can't do it on your own, God's grace comes to help you.
We cannot save ourselves, we can only receive it -
and say yes to Jesus. It is His work in us.
If you think about it, Jesus was the Living Word, -
the Word that showed us what the Father is like, as is says in John 5:19.
He came to show us what the Father is like.
He only does what the Father does.
The mission of Jesus was to glorify us the Father.
Here we see a Father missing His children and His family.
This Word brought people the salvation, a message from the Father.
Maybe you can think of Jesus as a living letter.
He was a love letter from the Father and he wanted to give it to you: -
"My beloved child, I want to tell you -
that your life is important and that you have a Father who loves you, -
a Father who wants to save you, look after you and teach you."
What a great message! He is your true Father, -
and this true Father wants to have a close relationship with you.
He wants to talk to you and to tell you about Himself.
But as Jesus was the Living Word, it's not only about hearing with ears.
It's also about the fact -
that Jesus wants you to live the Word out in your life.
But how can we receive such a faith?
After all we can receive the salvation given by the Gospel -
only through faith. John 1:12 "But as many as received him, -
to them gave he power to become the sons of God..."
Again the dynamis power, the miracle-making power.
He gave those who believed in His name this miracle-making power -
to become children of God.
But it says in Hebrews 4:2 -
"For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: -
but the word preached did not profit them, -
not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
So we need faith, confidence in God in order to receive the Word.
This explains why someone next to me -
hears the same message and doesn't receive it -
but I do because my heart wants to trust God -
and get to know the living person of Jesus Christ, amen.
When Jesus came and brought the love letter from the Father, -
the Good News that transforms our lives, He brought a lot of other things.
He also brought the way to salvation, the way to forgiveness of sins, -
the way to fellowship first with God and then with people, -
to a close relationship with God.
Jesus brought the possibility to hear God's voice.
In the New Covenant we can hear God ourselves and be close to Him.
He also showed what the Father God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are like.
In other words, because God is love, Jesus came to show what love is like.
He also showed what is faith or trusting God.
He showed how we can submit ourselves to obedience and God's will.
Jesus gave us an example with His own life and showed us how it is done.
He showed the way to truth and godly life together with God.
He also showed how we can be children and members of God's family.
He showed the way to the heavenly inheritance -
such as healing, spiritual gifts, offices of the church and so forth.
The mission of Jesus was to preach the Gospel.
In other words, Jesus really was the Good News, the Gospel Himself.
If we think of the fact that the Living Word now lives in you, -
if Jesus showed us the model that we should follow, -
He brought the example of the Father and told what the Father was like -
and all the other things I mentioned, shouldn't we all do what He did?
There is an amazing power in our newborn spirit.
The Bible says that the One who lives in us is greater -
than he who lives in the world. I want to encourage you.
Have the courage to step into the calling God has given you.
It says in Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, -
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor..."
The anointing means that God has equipped you -
with everything you need to preach the Gospel in His name.
Since we know that when we speak the words given by God -
and do the deeds guided to us by the Holy Spirit -
or let God's Spirit to lead us, there is life in all of them.
Peter himself says in John 6:68 -
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
How is it with you?
Would you be ready to say the words Jesus is speaking to you?
Would you be ready to step into His will?
I want to warmly encourage you to do it and to bless you.
Start walking in Jesus's footprints.
He loves you, He wants you to hear His voice -
and wants to speak through you to save as many as possible. Be blessed.
We are asking for your help. Please pray for these videos.
We also ask for financial support so that the Word could reach everyone.
If you want to help us, there are different possibilities on the screen.
There is a support phone number. You can choose the sum and call.
There is also the bank account number and the reference number.
If you use them, all your support will go into these videos.
There is also a text message number and a possibility to donate online.
I want to thank every giver and bless your offering.
May your harvest be plentiful also in your own lives. Amen.
English translation: Anni Lähteenmäki / TV7