When we speak of “the gospel,” we often think of the basic good news of forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. This is not inaccurate, but it is helpful to remember that the gospel message is ultimately about God’s own glory and includes all the benefits of salvation, including the goal of God’s grace: our glorification with Christ in the new creation. Paul speaks of “the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me” (1 Tim 1:11), and this gospel of God’s glory entails our glorification: “He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess 2:14). This expectation of glory was apparently at the center of Paul’s preaching: “God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim” (Col 1:27–28). Or as he puts it elsewhere: “What we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord. . . . For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:5–6). The glory of God, the glory of Christ, the glorification of believers—all, it seems, are part of one grand gospel message.
VanDrunen, David. God’s Glory Alone—The Majestic Heart of Christian Faith and Life: What the Reformers Taught…and Why It Still Matters (The Five Solas Series) (p. 89). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
