Faith Basics: The Gospel Part 1

Two Ways to Live Overview

In this episode Dan and Nathan discuss the basics of the Gospel as presented through "Two Ways to Live". After an overview they focus in on boxes one and two: 1. God, the good ruler and creator. 2. Our rebellion against God. Plus they give some helpful ways to connect every day life and conversation to the gospel.

View Two Ways to Live

• Automated Transcription

• Dan Jarms 0:00
  Today on faith matters, we are continuing our Basics series. And we're going to do basics on the gospel.
  
  Dan Jarms 0:13
  I'm Dan Jarms. And you're listening to faith matters a podcast to help update you on matters of faith Bible Church, as well as equip you in matters of the Christian faith.
  
  Dan Jarms 0:32
  Before we jump in, I just want to highlight the fact we're using two ways to live as a way to help teach the biblical gospel. And as we go through it, we're going to be referring to these boxes, you will want a visual version of that, and there is a link in the show notes that you can pull up each time. All right, we are in the studio today with Nathan Thiry. Hey, Nathan, again. And we are continuing our basic series faith basics. And we're going to take a transition from God, we've looked at the trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we're going to bridge into talking about salvation. But before we do, I invited Nathan in and we want to do some episodes on the basics of the gospel. And there's lots of reasons why we want to talk about the basics of the gospel. It's the power of God, to salvation, the apostle Paul says, and we have lots of things right in front of us that make this really relevant, Nathan, stick about why talking about this as important with the faith and five initiative? Yeah,
  
  Nathan Thiry 1:38
  I mean, we want to be really encouraged and equipped with the gospel on the tip of our tongues, you have to be able to share with people, you know, as we're walking around, giving people door hangers, inviting them to our church, some of them are gonna have questions, and I want to be able to speak about the hope that we have within us. So it's certainly helpful for faith and five, but I think also about our time with our co workers. Yeah, I know a lot of people think about church or working on people who don't know Christ. And if the gospel is on the tip of your tongue in your hearts, meditating on it, and rejoicing in it, not only does that strengthen my joy in the Lord and my faith, but also, like more likely to talk about it. Yeah, whatever you're thinking about. Your neighbors, your kids. There's lots of people in our lives who need to hear the gospel, including us. So talking about it, thinking about it, as always really helpful and important. Yeah. Yeah,
  
  Dan Jarms 2:23
  for 20 years, I've been working with a general gospel outline that is called Two ways to live. But what it does is it It walks through the gospel in some segments, that are helpful hooks in your head to remember as you're talking to people, but we kind of want to walk through that. Nathan, you and I are sitting down on a bus, we got about 10 minutes, we've been sitting on the bus every day together for months. And you finally I finally say, So tell me, tell me what you guys believe you're Christians.
  
  Nathan Thiry 2:58
  Yeah. And if I had a little napkin, I'd get out a piece of paper, and I could scribble on I would draw the six boxes. So I'm gonna try to draw them with my words now, but I want to, I want you to understand that this all started with there being a God who's a good ruler, a good creator. That's why we do anything that we do. Because there's we believe there's a God who created everything. And he, he's the ruler of the world. You know, if you make something, you know, dandy, you'd like to make things out of wood. Yeah, you make a nice, a nice footstool out of a stump or, or a table, or maybe whatever, you watch a clock, you make something. Yeah, you have the right. I mean, who has the right to decide what to do with it? Yeah, you do. Because you made it, you're the creator of that thing. And so you have the right to, to rule over it to decide what to do with it. And God made us he made the world. He didn't just make the world and kind of indifferent. Oh, this would be interesting to make the world where he made it with a really big focus on the people in the world, being his sons and daughters and being rulers under him, the ruler of the world. So imagine the globe, God made the globe and then imagine the crown. The crown is God and representing God being the ruler and the creator of the world. And then imagine a little stick figure, because that's all I can handle as a stick figure. Me too. I'm no good at drawing. That stick figure represents all of humanity, men and women made in God's image, to be God's sons and daughters to rule underneath God's rule. And there's a verse in Revelation 411, that that describes that. It talks about God being worthy, our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power because He created everything. And by his will, everything was created and has its being so God made everything in his good. So that's the starting place for me as a Christian, is that God is the Creator. And I look around, look, you know, look out the window on the bus. We're driving right now look at the streets. Look at your hand. I mean, there's such complexity to all this someone intelligent design all this, and that's apparent to me, and Scripture explains that so that's the starting point. If we're pretend like you're my non Christian friend, we're gonna have more of a conversation. But yeah, for the sake of the podcast, we'll just keep going. So the question is, you know, this is how God created things, but it's pretty obvious. That that's not our experience. Now that wasn't perfect. God made everything perfect and very good. He didn't mess up. There weren't any parts of the world or God was like, Oh, that's not so great. So what happened? Why is the world a mess? You know, why do people fight? Why? Why is why are Israel and Hamas at war? Why is Ukraine and Russia? Or why is the economy a mess? Why is it hard for us to buy food? Sometimes? No. Why is Why did my kids fight? Why don't I love everybody in my life perfectly? Why are things not? Ideal? Yeah. And the reason is, the second box is we rebel against God, that's our sin, you know, our rebellion against God. So imagine that world that we drew with the Crown representing God, and there's extra that crown because we've rejected God. And we've said, put a little count on me, I want to be the ruler. We all reject God as a ruler, by running our own lives our own way. And by rebelling against God's way, we damage ourselves, we damage each other, we damage the world. That's why I think the world's getting messed up, you know, we spill oil all over the ocean and destroy resources. So we're not ruling under God's rule. Why do people abuse their animals? Why do people abuse their kids? Why do people kill their kids? Why do all these bad things happen is because of sin and our rejection of God? We're not under his rule. And so our rule is broken and corrupt. And we all can see examples of that. There's a verse that describes that and Isaiah 53, six, we all like sheep have gone astray, each of us attorney was one way, rather than going God's way we go our own way. And it's a mess. So the question is, what will God do about our rebellion against Him? Is God just like, well, that stinks. Maybe I'll start over somewhere else, you know, what is God going to do? No, that's not what God does. God does just and so the next box, I'm gonna draw a picture, a crown, and then a stick figure laying on the ground. There's a judgement, death. That's that's the requirement because God's just, he's a good judge. So he's not gonna let us rebel against him forever. His punishment against our rebellion, or for our rebellion is death and judgment. There's a verse in Hebrews that says, Hebrews 927, that God's people that Justice people are destined to die once after that, to not do that to face judgment. That's, that's what's true for all of us, we're all gonna die one time, and then there's gonna be a judgement, God's gonna judge our lives. And if we rebelled against Him, it continued in that rebellion, that the thing that awaits us is death, separation from God forever, which is hard to hear. It means that we're all in deep trouble. We've all got a more serious problem than our taxes or our whatever other issue, we might be facing our health problems or relationship problems. It's facing God's wrath. But that's not the end of the story. The good news is God sent Jesus to earth as the fourth box, we're gonna draw a j for Jesus in a little stick figure person that's cooler than the other ones in the crown is there now it's not being rejected, because Jesus came to earth, fully God fully man. Because of God's love, God sent Jesus to the end of the world to live a perfect life under God's rule. Unlike the rest of us, Jesus always lived under God's rule, as the perfect Son of God. And then he represented that rule perfectly to the world. And then he did the amazing thing that he did of dying in our place, you know, we draw the stick figure of Jesus with the little making the little cross, imagine the cross, we all kind of use the picture how Jesus died for us because he died in a cross. That's the second part of that verse in Isaiah 53. Not only have we all got our own way, but the Lord has laid the sin of us all on him and all of my sin, your sin was laid on Jesus. So Jesus died in our place. But that's not all. Not only do you live a perfect life, diner place, but the fifth box we're going to draw is Jesus. Now in the crown, the Crown has got to Jane and now Jesus is raining, he's risen from the dead. God has raised Jesus to life again, showing that he is perfect that he is vindicated. He's conquered sin and death. And now he's ruling over the world and He gives forgiveness in life to anybody who trusted him. That's the good news. That is the good news, definitively greater than any other good news ever. Jesus has risen from the dead and now is offering salvation to anyone who would repent of their sin and trust in Him. That's what verse Peter one three says, Praise be to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and His great mercy, He's given us new birth into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We've got this chance to be born into God's family, and each of us were born right and one point physically, so we have a chance to be born into God's family spiritually, to have a new life by believing in Jesus. So that leaves us now with a clear choice between two ways to live hence the name of this, this gospel track, I'm walking you through it, there's two, there's two choices, there's our way, continue rejecting God as your ruler, live your own way. Or it's going to be damaged by rebellion, and you're facing death and judgment. Or there's the other alternative, there's God's new way you can submit to Jesus as your ruler, rely on Jesus's death and resurrection, be forgiven by God, and receive a new life that lasts forever. Now there's a verse in John 336, that's really clear, it says Whoever believes in the sun has eternal life, whoever rejects the sun will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them. So the question is, what do you want to do, Dan, you know, how do you want to live? Do you want to live our way? Or do you want to live God's new way? By trusting in Jesus? So So I would ask you, then what do you think? Yeah. Can we talk about what your thoughts are?
  
  Dan Jarms 9:48
  Yeah, yeah. And, you know, at some point, part of my testimony is that I didn't have these verses laid out, but I was living my own way. And my own way was Personally devastating. I got all the sin that I wanted. And it was nothing and worthless. And I knew I was going to be under the judgment of God. And my cry for salvation was not very theological. It was I'm ruining my life. I'm surrendering it to you. It's all yours do with me what you want. And in that was my version because I again, I didn't know a lot about the Bible is that was my sinners prayer.
  
  Nathan Thiry 10:28
  So you really saw the second box, the truth about sin saw the truth about sin that really made sense to you, I saw the same thing, but it really impacted me the most was that fourth box, I realized that Christ died for me, personally. Yeah, I think on some level, we all have to understand all six of these kind of realities and truths. But they had us in different ways,
  
  Dan Jarms 10:48
  ya know, and definitely, I had enough religious background, enough of Catholic background, that I knew that the purpose of Christ was to die for our sin. So I would see it in Easter, and I would see it in various places, but I was not willing to surrender, or submit for a long time, and, and then the glory of the gospel, really shined forward, I knew I'd heard that Christ died for my sins. I like that idea. But did I like the idea of surrendering and submitting and being free from the tyranny of myself, and the sin of the world around me that and that eventually brought me to the full picture. Yeah, thanks for sharing that it's great to have an overview. It's remarkable sitting on a plane, getting a longer conversation with somebody, if I get to know them, there are touch points, all along the way with their life. And that's what we want to talk about here. Now we have an overview of the gospel. But let's talk about those first two concepts. And both the touch points as we talk to people, and the theological significance of all of it. So we open with God, the Creator. And if you're drawn on your napkin, or your piece of paper, you've drawn a circle, that's the world you've drawn the stick figure on it, that's the man or mankind, you draw the crown above it, which is God, theologically, why is this important? And why is it good news? So let's, let's talk about that. Like there's, there's a couple of key elements that we always go back to creation for. Yeah, if
  
  Nathan Thiry 12:26
  you don't understand God being the creator, you don't have a frame of reference for why should? Why should I care about what Jesus did? Yeah, and a lot of times, you know, we want to start with talking about Jesus, or talking about sin, but without a framework of God being the creator. Like, we don't have anyone, that we should be accountable to it, because the lie of our generation is that you're it and you know, it's humanity, it's all about us. So you have to start with God being the creator, and your understanding, in order to even have a framework for what sin is, or if there even is sin. So I think Greg Gilbert wrote that book, what is the gospel, and he rightly emphasized that understanding God is the Creator, and the judge is essential to any of the rest of the gospel making sense. The
  
  Dan Jarms 13:06
  other common thing that we see in the world is just we're just material. And Chris, that makes a big impact on everything from how we counsel and offer hope to how we think about our world. So there's kind of this materialistic view, which is promoted through evolutionary language that we've all evolved. We're all just cells, we're all just materialist. But most people I even think I heard Neil deGrasse Tyson have some sort of spiritual sense to the universe, like he just can't escape. You know, some some thing out there. But there's materialism. In the ancient world, there was polytheism. So the Gospels given where we find the one true God, the Creator of all things, which the ancients really didn't have a concept for. The gods emerged out of some primal existence before they they also had origins. And so you'd never go back far enough to have a creator. So here we have the Creator God eternally existing. What about you know, is there a version Nathan of a of a deism that we see? Because it feels like people say, yeah, there's a God, but he's not very involved.
  
  Nathan Thiry 14:22
  Yeah, I think people can fall off on one or several different sides. It's like you're describing, thinking that there's just a God who started everything. He's like a watchmaker. He winds up the watch, and you let it go. Yeah, history just kind of happens. And he's not really involved. And you come we're kind of left up to ourselves to figure it out. Yeah, he's not personally involved or, and we're not really that responsible to him. He's kind of just gonna get some
  
  Dan Jarms 14:43
  people people can get on board with the first box. Yeah, there's a creator. I get that. But I don't think he's really involved.
  
  Nathan Thiry 14:49
  Yeah, which is definitely not the account we have in the Bible. God who is very involved, right, who very personally cares about us living as the sons and daughters and representing his rule. On the other side, there's there's like you mentioned the polytheists The view that there's lots of gods or spirits, and they're like mosquitoes, you're just trying to deal with them and try to figure out how to get them out of your Yeah, how to not let them ruin your life. Because their explanation for why everything's going wrong, is there's 100 or 1000 different gods or spirits who are messing with them. Yeah, it's the animistic or polytheistic view. Yeah. So having a clear view that God is the Creator, the only creator, to whom we all must give account and that's, that's huge and, and very hopeful and helpful that God actually has given us a pathway to know Him and to be right with him.
  
  Dan Jarms 15:29
  Yeah, and then the, the the Wonder on a conversation that I get with somebody and you're looking out the window of an airplane, and you see the mountains that you're crossing, you know, you just you see this majesty and creation. Are you talking about the latest discoveries in astronomy, and you see the vastness and beauty in the universe? Or yeah, you, you open up a human hand, which is this just this marvel? Like, you could see that something? Behind? This is intelligent and beautiful.
  
  Nathan Thiry 16:02
  Yeah, well, even just on that one, I can help you think about food and drink like, yeah, you're having a good espresso sitting at the coffee shop, or you're, you're eating some ice cream. Like, wow, this is good. I'm so thankful there's a good God who made flavors. Yeah, who wants us to enjoy his creation, you know, who made color flower over there. Because the face of that child, you know, there's just so many different ways we can use that first box as a way to connect with the things that are happening around us and that we're enjoying, Linda,
  
  Dan Jarms 16:28
  now we're talking about how bees make honey. It is B saliva mixed with the sugars that formed the honey. You're like, huh, I think I liked honey better. Before I
  
  Nathan Thiry 16:44
  knew that. I never knew B saliva can be so wonderful.
  
  Dan Jarms 16:47
  Be saliva is amazing. And it works together with pollens, and the various things that the nectar that the bees bring home. What a system what an amazing reality, from the smallest details to the largest realities. And he wanted Adam and Eve to rule under his loving headship, to manage and care for that world, and expand and fill it. But that's not what happened. That's not all we see.
  
  Seth Weber 17:18
  Hey, this is Seth Weber, Communications Director here at Faith Bible Church, I wanted to remind you that we've got to walk through the Bible events, otLIVE and ntLIVE coming up Saturday, February 24. These events are going to be an excellent way for adults and children, families to grasp the overall storyline of God's Word and where each book fits in. So we're going to go through every book of the Bible, all the different stories and prophets and all that and learn how they all fit into the big storyline of the Bible. There's also a group discount for families of five or larger, so head to fbchurch.org/events to sign up for each event.
  
  Dan Jarms 17:58
  So we see some wonder, but we see some problems. So great. Let's go to that second box. You know, I always title that box, the fall, we're sin and, and the natural, you know, what's your world? Like? If I've had any conversations with anybody for very long, and we start talking about the heart in the world, man, there's there, we know why the hearts in the world. And I tell a little bit of my story about the heart in my life before I was a Christian, and sometimes they're telling the stories about the heart and their lives. And this is where it comes from, with Adam and Eve's rebellion, and are all perpetual rebellion. So why is it important theologically? What kind of touch points is this given a certain conversation,
  
  Nathan Thiry 18:38
  when we talk about sending the brokenness in the world, sometimes we miss a wonderful opportunity to really describe sin when we focus on the law breaking aspect of sin versus the lawmaker. Like we say like, oh, this, this act is sinful, that's bad, but it really helping people see, the reason why it's bad is because we're rejecting God and that God has God has designed the world in such a way that we're meant to be his, his loving children, his subjects. And when we do these things, it's because we're rejecting God, like ultimately, our broken relationship with God leads to all this other brokenness. And so, helping people see, the illogically cinders rebellion against God, it's a loving creator wants to be our father, he wants to be in a loving relationship with us and we reject him take his gifts, and we worship them instead of him. And then that breaks everything and then our capacity to actually love each other and to rule well and to be good managers and employees and, and stewards of the earth and good sisters and brothers and friends. And all those things get broken because spouses siblings, we reject this wonderful relationship that God wants to have with us and it doesn't work. Yeah, it's like unplugging the TV from the wall. It's not going to show your favorite show anymore because it's broken now. Yeah, so we are we are we are broken fundamentally. And so everything else gets twisted and helped people make that draw the lines back from Yeah, all these things are bad. It's bad that we hurt each other. It's bad that we break things and break each other but the ultimate reason is Because of God in us rejecting him. Yeah,
  
  Dan Jarms 20:02
  yeah, I think some of the things that are easy touch points about this, it's not bad government that's made the world the way it is. It's ultimately sin that's made the world the way it is. It's it's not just cancer, that's made my health the way it is. It's a sin that has introduced death, sickness and disease that's made the world where it is, and all the broken relationships that are in my life. Because everybody's got them. Those came to be because of my sins, and other sins against me, the injustice that's in the world, like all the wrong that's done to children, like when we watch the news, and see what's going on between Israel and Gaza, our hearts break, at turns of both sides, when we think of what's going on in Ukraine. Our hearts break at every turn. All of that is those are those examples, and they're those touch points. Would Adam and Eve have submitted and trusted the love and rule of God? We would not have to suffer with that. But that's part of the Good News of the Gospel. And here's here's what's so glorious about it is that there's, there's an answer. We're gonna pick up next week. But as you think about everything that's going on in the world, that is a touch point. And that's the, that's the relevance of all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But God, in His great mercy brought us the gospel brought us brought us Christ, His death for us. Next week, we're going to pick up on judgment. And we're going to pick up on Christ in that. So check in with us next week. As we unpack this a little bit more. I would just encourage if you're listening, create in your mind your own touch points about God's goodness in creation, God's right as the creator and King to do what he wants with his creation, and then the mess that we have brought to the world, like you'll have touch points of the gospel, to have casual conversations that are really important conversations. Nathan, thank you for joining me. Thanks, Dan.

Dan Jarms

Dr. Dan Jarms is teaching pastor and team leader at Faith Bible Church in Spokane Washington, as well as associate dean at TMS Spokane. He has been married for over 30 years to Linda, and has three adult children. He earned his B.A. in English at the Master’s College, B.Ed. at Eastern Washington University, M.Div and D.Min in Expository Preaching at The Master’s Seminary. His other interests include NCAA basketball, gardening, brick oven cooking.

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Nathan Thiry

Nathan Thiry is the Growth Groups & Outreach Pastor at Faith Bible Church. He enjoys biking and outdoor activities, and has a passion to see the gospel spread throughout our community and the whole world!

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