"I Stand in the Gospel of Jesus Christ"

"There is one gospel to which I cling. All else I count as loss. For there, where justice and mercy meet, he saved me on the cross. No more I boast in what I can bring. No more I carry the weight of sin. For he has brought me from death to life. I stand in the Gospel of Jesus Christ!" - CityAlight 

CityAlight released a new single called "There is One Gospel"  this past Friday. I have been listening to this song on repeat. The lyrics are wonderfully simple and deeply rich. The last lyric for each stanza is, "I stand in the Gospel of Jesus Christ'.  I have been thinking the past few days about what that means. What does it mean for Christians to be able to stand in the Gospel of Jesus Christ? 

Stand in Christ's Righteousness 

To stand in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as a Christian means to stand in His righteousness. It is to understand that everything that He has earned for us in his living is now ours by faith.  We believers, who have been regenerated to a new sensitivity of sin, are acutely perceptive of the accusations that come from our own hearts. Christ has actively obeyed the law in our place, and it is marvelous to think about what that means. The imputation of Christ's righteousness to us by faith means that we can stand in the security and safety of Christ's merits. I love the way Belgic Confession Article 22 describes this: 

" But Jesus Christ is our righteousness, crediting to us all his merits, and all the holy works he has done for us and in our place. And faith is an instrument that keeps us in communion with him and with all his benefits. When these benefits are made ours, they are more than enough to absolve us of our sins..." (Belgic Confession Article 22)

"No more I boast in what I can bring. No more I carry the weight of sin"...

To stand in the righteousness of Christ means we have the joy of boasting in our weakness, and the rest  in knowing that  we cannot bring anything that contributes to our salvation. We no longer carry the weight of judgement and condemnation, but are carried by the weight of Christ's life. 

Stand in Christ's Intercession & Mediation 

"Oh what a Gospel! Oh what a peace! My highest joy and my deepest need.."

"I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth..." John 17: 16-17

"Consequently he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" Hebrews 7:25

I love the way the Belgic Confession describes the office of Christ as Mediator: 

"He therefore was made man uniting together the divine and human natures so that we humans might have access to the divine Majesty. Otherwise we would have no access. But this Mediator ought not to terrify us by his greatness so that we look for another one according to our fancy. For neither in heaven nor among the creatures on earth is there anyone who loves us more than Jesus Christ does..." (Belgic Confession Article 26)

Christ forever and always is our great High Priest and Mediator who has reconciled us to the Father by the shedding of his blood. We can always draw near to our Father through the mediation of Christ. He has fulfilled all righteousness in our place and is able to save us to the uttermost. Uttermost is defined by dictionary.com as "of the greatest possible degree, or extent, or intensity". That means that our salvation is complete and total in Christ. He is the source and giver of all of our needs. He loves us. We can always be confident that he will hear and sympathize with us because he lived a human life filled with suffering.  We are constantly plagued by the suffering and evil that we experience in this broken world. We are often tempted to despair and confess,  "yet often our circumstances seem to testify against Your promise. What we see does not appear to agree with what we have heard..." (URCNA Forms and Prayers - Prayer for the Sick and Spiritually Distressed). 

Oh what a comfort and peace to be able to confess our suffering, our sin, and our weaknesses to our Father in the mediation of Christ!  Jesus Christ prays for us and pleads our cause before our Father, and it pleases the Father to answer the Son's prayers for his people. 

 "We have this sure and steadfast anchor of the soul a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain..." Hebrews 6:19.  Weary and struggling saint, your sin may tempt you to question God's love for you in Christ. However, let us imagine what it would be to know that this triune God is in our corner. And so He is. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life for us. This truth is objective and not a figment of our imaginations. 

Stand in Christ's Second Coming 

"The third day he rose from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead..." (Apostle's Creed)

So often we as Christians fear the second coming of Christ. We think that perhaps we ought to get our act together in order to be assured of our heavenly home.  However, to stand in the Christ's Second Coming, means to stand in the confidence that our judgement day has already occurred. 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ was slain to satisfy divine justice. He absorbed the Father's full wrath and anger towards our sin. Christ is our propitiation who endured our judgement so that we may enjoy the Father's favor. When we look forward to Christ's coming we are not awaiting judgement, we are awaiting vindication and redemption. Christ will come back and execute perfect justice on his and our enemies. He will bring with him the fullness of our redemption. We will see Christ in all of his glory and will not be consumed. Consider why Heidelberg Question & Answer 52 calls Christ's return a comfort: 

How does Christ's return to "judge the living and the dead" comfort you? 

In all distress and persecution, with uplifted head, I confidently await the very judge who has already offered himself to the judgement of God in my place and removed the whole curse from me. Christ will cast all his enemies and mine into everlasting condemnation, but will raise me and all his chosen ones to himself into the joy and glory of heaven..

In the  Gospel of Jesus Christ, judgement day is not a day of fear for us. For when "Christ, who is our life appears, then we also will appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4).  When we are hard pressed on every side, both inwardly and outwardly, we may continue to look upward to our Redeemer who remembers us and will someday bring an end to our groaning. Remember, "our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." (Philippians 3:20-21). 

To "stand in the Gospel of Jesus Christ" means to exhale with relief and inhale the deep truths of Christ's works for us and in our place. We are completely and eternally safe in the righteousness, mediation, and intercession of Christ. We can blossom in the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. May the truth of Christ's love be your anchor that grounds you always.