In 1st Corinthians 15, the inspired apostle relates the very essence of the Gospel in a very succinct way. One might call it the “Gospel in a nutshell.” Even though it is barebones minimum, it still contains the essential ingredients of truth one must know in order to be saved. “Here it is,” said Paul, “For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.”
There it is… death, burial, and resurrection. They sum up the objective for Christ ever having come into the world… death, burial, resurrection. This is the why of the incarnation, why there was that manger in Bethlehem. It was all about death, burial, and resurrection. And, this is why there was a place called Calvary, where He was crucified. All about the death, burial, and resurrection. These are the historical realities, this triad of divine accomplishments, that provide the very pivot point for all humanity of all times bar none. Nothing more central to all time and eternity than the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Nothing more consequential to all of humanity for all time than the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ… the very focal point of time and eternity. These are the facts that were the producers of the Gospel, the Good News. Without the death, burial, and resurrection there is no Good News God has to reveal. Because of these incredible events, the Good News came into being, the essence of which is that Christ died for our sins.
And is it not so very fitting that the Holy Spirit acted in concert to contribute to making the Gospel a historical fact? How so? It was through the eternal Holy Spirit that Christ was offered to God upon that Cross. We are told that in Hebrews 9. And 1st Peter 3 informs us that “Christ also had also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” The word “quicken” literally means “to make alive”, as Christ was offered through the eternal Spirit and subsequently made alive by that same Spirit via the resurrection. Then, Paul tells Timothy in 3:16 that Christ was justified in the Spirit. What a package! In all the redemptive events accomplished by the Redeemer, they were done in loving, cooperative concert with the Holy Spirit and the Father… eternal inhabitance of the eternal Godhead.
And, today, the Holy Spirit remains on the job just as He has since the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ occurred two thousand years ago. He, through this Gospel and man’s believing it, supernaturally regenerates the one believing so as to make spiritually alive that which was spiritually dead and separated from God.
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