The truth of Jesus Christ transforms us as it is certain, supreme, clear and relevant to our lives (1 Tim. 3:16a). In this verse, the Holy Spirit emphasizes six pivotal elements of this truth to help us appreciate the magnitude of Jesus Christ and His plan for us, including the great incarnation, the great vindication and the great exaltation.
Fourth, Paul emphasizes the great PROCLAMATION: “He was preached among the nations.”
As we wrap our minds around the amazing truth of Jesus Christ, consider these points.
The truth of the gospel is to be preached everywhere. Jesus commanded to “Go into all the world and preach” (Mark 16:15), and the first-century Christians did just that. Just 30 years later, Paul affirmed that “the word of the truth of the gospel” was taken to “all the world” (Col. 1:6, 23). Those early believers “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).
The truth of the gospel is to be preached universally, to every person. This may seem redundant with the previous point, but the emphasis here is on the impartiality of the truth of Christ for every single person on the earth. God foretold that His plan was for “all nations” (Isa. 2:2; 42:1; 60:3). “Every creature” needs to hear the gospel (Mark 16:15), for God “desires all men to be saved and to come a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). Our “God shows no partiality,” and He accepts “every” person who “fears Him and works righteousness” (Acts 10:34-35). Truly, “the blessed gospel is for all!”
The truth of the gospel is desperately needed by every person. The reason that the gospel needs to go to every soul is because every soul is lost without it! The “gospel” alone is “the power of God to salvation” (Rom. 1:16). Every accountable individual needs to know of their condition without Christ (Eph. 2:1-3) and to know of the “great love” that sent the Savior to die for us (Eph. 2:4-7; Rom. 5:8-9). The world is dying without the gospel!
The proclamation of the truth of the gospel cost many their lives in preaching it. Persecution against gospel-preaching Christians began quickly, and it was not long before faithful proclaimers of Jesus Christ lost their lives (Acts 7:57-60; 12:1-4). History would record many other souls who were “slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held” (Rev. 6:9). The devil fights against the truth of Christ, which shows how valid, certain, relevant and needed it really is.
This indisputable truth ought to transform our lives toward godliness! As the Lord’s church, we are “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). We must know it! We must teach it! We must defend it! (more next week)