The Gospel and You (Sermon Summary of Colonel Moyo)

Main Text: Luke 2:8-14 (KJV)
⁸  And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
⁹  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
¹⁰  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
¹¹  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
¹²  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
¹³  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
¹⁴  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Verse 13 says that the angels were jubilating. Verse 14 was the angels announcing the essence of what Jesus came to do. It was not an announcement of men living at peace with each other. It was not an announcement that Iran & Iraq will stop fighting. What they were announcing was that the middle wall of partition between God and man has been Broken. The wall that raged from the Garden of Eden was finally over with the coming of Jesus. The announcement was about what Jesus had come to do.

Isaiah 40:1-4 is the message that God gave to John the Baptist because when they asked John the Baptist who he is, he said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness” (John 1:23) He was quoting from Isaiah 40. John the Baptist’s God-given message was “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” This means that your struggling and problems are over. You may say “The problems I have is because of the sins I have committed.” That is what this message is answering now. You will be given double for your sins. It means that the perfect sacrifice that will be more than the guilt of all mankind will be given. Double for your sins is the New Testament message.

Our warfare is accomplished because God has given us double for our sins. It means that when Jesus came and died, the payment for our sins was more than enough to satisfy the claims of justice. God was merciless on Christ. He did not hold back anything, any punishment or any judgment from Christ when he was on the cross. The full Judgment was meted on Christ. When the claim of Justice was met, Christ said, “It is finished.” You are not to restart what Christ has finished. He has taken your failures, fear of failures and shame on the cross. Because of this, we can stand free and justified, just as if we have never sinned. The word reproach means shame and Christ has taken all your shame. Generally, in society, many people are held down because of shame. “If I do this and it does not work, how would people see me?” Every shame has been taken by Jesus and success has been given to you.

Scriptures say that “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10:11) You shall never be shamed. You may be believing God for something and people know about it. You may be afraid that if the thing does not turn out, what will people say? No! The possibility of being put to shame has been taken by Christ. It may seem that everything has crashed before you. No! The Shame has been taken and the vibes of success have come upon you. Christ sacrifice has paid once and for all, all our sins and transgression. Your days of sins and unworthiness are over. Your days of righteousness have come forever. Hallelujah.