Extending Hope: God’s Part (Part V)

A Lasting Record:
As Jesus was praying in Gethsemane, He prayed to the Father: “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21). Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to aid the apostles in preaching the Gospel to their generation and to inspire them to write it down for generations to come.

Until the Word could be provided in written form, the apostles were to preach the gospel to any who would hear it. Jesus told them in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” As the apostles preached the Gospel and people responded, these new converts would in turn spread the Gospel to others (see Acts 8:1-4). How wide did this word-of-mouth preaching of the Gospel spread? Paul tells us in Colossians 1:23 that “[the Gospel] was preached to every creature under Heaven.” This means that, at the time Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians, the Gospel had been preached in all the known world.

So what about those of us who did not have the benefit of the words directly spoken by the apostles? God made provision for us, as well, by giving us a written record of their teachings. In Ephesians 3, Paul makes reference to his having received the “mystery of Christ.” What was this mystery? He goes on to say that it was “that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Ephesians 3:6). I can’t speak for all who read this, but I know that applies to me since I am not a Jew. How could the Gentiles learn about this “mystery of Christ”? Paul tells us that, too, if we go back and read verses 1-4 in their entirety (emphasis mine): For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) . . .”. This same principle applies to all of the writings of the apostles since they all wrote of the same hope that is available through Jesus Christ.

How comforting it is to know that I have a lasting, God-breathed record of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even more comforting is the hope that this record gives me because of its power to save.