September 5

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God – the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son…”  —ROMANS 1:1-2

There are about eight major religions in the world, and among the mostly widely practised are Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity. Of these, how do we know which, if any, are true? 

Paul speaks of the gospel of Jesus Christ as the gospel God promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son. There are many prophecies and promises made in the Old Testament which look forward to Christ, but the gospel did not begin with Jesus Christ. The message of the gospel has its roots in history and prophecy long before Christ was born. Christ did not arrive on the scene as a surprise. He is not the founder of Christianity, but the fulfiller of Christianity.

The only scriptures Paul had to preach from were the Old Testament Scriptures, and he’s saying that the message he’s going to give isn’t something that’s just evolving now, but goes centuries back into Old Testament history and prophecy. In Ephesians 2:20, he tells us the church was built on the foundation of the prophets and the apostles, which is why we need to understand the prophets as much as the apostles.  

Not only does the gospel go back to precede Christ in time, it goes back beyond time. Paul speaks of it as “the gospel of God.” It has its origin, not just in the history of Israel, it predates that; not just in the history of the human race, but goes back outside of time.  Ephesians 1:4 says that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.  In other words, God wasn’t taken by surprise when the human race fell. He didn’t say, “We need to come up with plan ‘B’ here.” He knew in advance; He prepared in advance, and He revealed in advance His solution.

The gospel is objective truth and stands above every human philosophy and reasoning. There are over 300 prophecies concerning Christ in the Old Testament, some written in explicit detail up to eight centuries before Christ was born, and they all came to fruition exactly as written. Had they not, Christianity would have been short lived, but the gospel has revealed itself to be authentic, true and trustworthy. If the gospel were not objective truth, then faith outside of Christ simply becomes a matter of personal preference and opinion, which on the Day of Judgment will be of no more value to us than our favourite colour. 

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the Old Testament prophecies that gives evidence to the authenticity of the gospel, and thank You for Jesus Christ, your solution to this fallen world. I pray for everyone to come to know Him.

TO REFLECT UPON: When reading the Old Testament, am I making note of the prophecies concerning Christ?