The Gospel According to Joshua
April 21, 2010
The gospel is the message of what God has done for us to redeem us for himself. For us this finds its fullest expression in what God accomplished for us in his Son’s death and resurrection, namely, forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Yet this gospel grace existed before Jesus. Immediately after God pronounced the appropriate curses on rebellious Adam and Eve, he promised them a redeemer and sacrificed animals to cover their shame (Genesis 3:15, 21). From the beginning, the gospel has been the same: God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, that we might belong to him. Our only response is to receive this by faith.
Consider the gospel grace that we saw in our Bible reading plan as we wrapped up Joshua earlier this week. Notice what God accomplished for his people, then the response expected of them:
I took your father Abraham…and led him…and made his offspring many.
I gave him Isaac. And to Isaac
I gave Jacob and Esau. And
I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. And
I sent Moses and Aaron, and
I plagued Egypt with what
I did in the midst of it, and afterward
I brought you out. ” ‘Then
I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. And when they cried to the LORD,
he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what
I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time. Then
I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They fought with you, and
I gave them into your hand, and you took possession of their land, and
I destroyed them before you. Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel…So
I delivered you out of his hand. And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you…And
I gave them into your hand. And
I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.
I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant’” (Joshua 24:3-13).
How were God’s people to respond to all his activity on their behalf?
“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:14).
Let us hold fast to the gospel by intentionally recalling all God has done for us to redeem us for himself. Let us soak in God’s long list of “I did …. for you” and respond to him with trust, fear, love, and obedience.
Pastor Chris