The Intersection

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God--which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures--" Romans 1:1-2

In 5th grade, I had my intersection moment. I grew up in church for the most part and heard the gospel. But one evening in my room I lay in bed and suddenly it was pressed upon my heart that I was devoid of God truly present in my life. I had sin that separated me from Him and I needed Jesus. I wept as the conviction of my sin was made clear and my need. I prayed and asked God to intersect my life, to take over and make me what He desired. I was not in church when this happened. I was not in the middle of some amazing worship service that led me to hear from the Person of Jesus. No, I was in the quiet of the night, just me and Him. It was an experience, one I cannot deny, one that has put me on a path of a changed life forever.

Paul is writing to a church and in these first couple verses he is establishing who he is and the "credentials" of his authority to write the church. However, I find something deeper present. Paul writes about an intersection. An intersection is a point at which two or more things intersect or cross or meet. The "Paul intersection" is more about two paths of life that were perpendicular to each other that became parallel. Paul says he is a servant of Christ, called as an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God. James Edwards of the New International Biblical Commentary says, "Here are two planes of reality. There is Paul, a human being who belongs to the same world we do; and there is God, who is beyond our world and yet intersects it with the gospel of Jesus Christ." (26) God breaks into our world all the time, intersecting with us, bringing us His gospel, His grace! For Paul, this intersection experience was so strong that Edwards describes it as such, "The preeminence of that encounter forever changed his orientation, and at a deeper level his self-understanding." (28) Essentially, Paul belongs to Jesus, his allegiance is to Jesus alone. In reading this I have found two important elements critical to understanding our intersection with Jesus, our salvation moment if you will.

You Don't Possess the Gospel, It Possesses You

Edwards relates that the for Paul the above heading was indicative of his life. Here is why it is important for us to understand this. If we can possess the gospel of our own doing then it becomes of us. This means we bear the right to make the gospel what we want it to be. The gospel can become a social justice gospel alone that centers upon humanitarian aid. Social justice certainly is a part of the gospel, but it is not central and not something we get to direct as such. If we possess the gospel we can make it works based on our standards. If we possess it, then my standards I place on myself I get to place on you. The problem is I couldn't even keep my standards if I tried--even if I set the bar extremely low--so how could I expect others to keep them too? If the gospel is just a "get out of hell free" card or an adherence to "simple" church traditions that I want it to be, then I have made the gospel about works I can achieve. Or, I can make the gospel about a set of theological ideas that I grasp intellectually, but in my heart and in practice they mean little when I possess the gospel and I am not possessed by it. In fact, the gospel is more than any of these things I have listed. It is more than an idea I accept in my life. It is much deeper and more alive than that. Much like my intersection experience, I was not intellectually assenting to some theological ideas. I was intersecting with the alive, ever present God. Which leads to the second element.

"The gospel is really not a thing, but a person, Jesus Christ."

Edwards states the above heading from his commentary and this is key! If the gospel is a person, and a person a part of the Triune Godhead, then I can't possess it/Him. But...He can possess me!! This is what makes the gospel alive. Not a bunch of theological ideas (though necessary), but that the living, active God has and is intersecting in my life and yours. Perhaps this is why many churches in America have been found lifeless because they have made the gospel devoid of the one thing, the only Person who can give it and us life: Jesus. I am reminded of the church at Laodecia in the book of Revelation. They are devoid of anything that resembles what Jesus desired of them. They are called to repent, to turn back to Him. Not ideas, not a cool worship style, not the good old day hymns, not more service, not a church potluck, a new program, but Him. He says that He stands at their door and knocks waiting for them to open the door to let Him in. Only then, can true redemption, true transformation can take place.

Take some time to reflect on how you have understood the gospel. Has it been a mere idea that you just believed? Was it simply just some prayer you prayed without an understanding of the Person of Christ? If you believe, but have a flatness in your faith currently, could you need a reawakening to the Person of Jesus?