C&MA 4-Fold Gospel: Christ our Coming King
Dr. James Smith
15 May 2005
During his life and ministry, the founder of the C&MA, Dr. A.B. Simpson became convinced that there were 4 basic messages in the gospel, which summarized what he called, “the complete blessings of Christ which should be emphasized among Christians.”
He called it the 4-Fold gospel; Christ is our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King and from the earliest days of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, nearly 120 years ago, the C&MA has been passionate about overseas missions.
So far in the series, we have talked about Christ as our Savior, Sanctifier & Healer.
In discussing, Christ as our Savior, I used the image of Jesus as our great physician. Christ is a skillful doctor and His cross is a surgical instrument.
God cares so much for us that if we believe that His son can literally “save us,” he will cut away everything in our lives that is sick or dying and bring us into a new place of health.
In Christ, then, “salvation” has deep implications for not only our spiritual lives, but for our mental, emotional, psychological and even physical well-being.
In discussing, Christ as our Sanctifier, I appealed to the image of a house or home.
In the spiritual life, Christians know that God is not interested in simply cleaning up our lives or “fixing up the old house.”
God isn’t even remotely interested in the “old shack” of our lives. He’s interested in the land, so to speak. And in salvation, Christ comes and tears downs the old shack of our lives, clears the land and then builds a completely new house.
Christ, as the builder and proper owner desires to come and permanently live and dwell in the house.
And sanctification isn’t primarily our work anymore than salvation is. Jesus is our Savior and our Sanctifier and His sanctification is experienced as both crisis as well as process.
In discussing, Christ our Healer, I employed the famous saying of the German philosopher, Ludwig Feuerbach, “you are what you eat,” for slightly different purposes.
Because we notice the Bible begins in a garden with a hungry man and woman. And the food that they ate and the world that they were a part of was given as a gift of God and to commune with God.
Very few people would deny that humanity is hungry, but very few understand that our hunger can only be satisfied by God.
Healing, then, has to do with a total walk with God and not simply an isolated occurrence or experience.
This morning we come to the 4th point found in the 4-Fold gospel; Christ our Coming King.
And in many ways, this doctrine of the second coming of Christ is the culmination of all other parts of the gospel; including Christ as our Savior, Sanctifier and Healer.
In other words, this message of the fullness of Christ finds its very climax in Christ our Coming King.
In fact, according to C&MA pastor and denominational leader, Dr. Keith Bailey, there seem to be over 300 references in the New Testament that point to Christ as king, as well as His return in glory.
And we could spend the rest of the day unpacking them together, but let me quickly just touch on three.
The story of the Magi coming to the infant Christ has been understood as an important foreshadowing of Jesus Christ as king.
Certainly, the Palm Sunday passages hail Christ as king, though most of the people clearly misunderstood the real nature of his royal power.
And finally, the sign over His cross, ironically place there by Pontius Pilate, hailed Him as “The King of the Jews.”
Most of us are aware, however, that there has been a great deal of speculation about the return of Christ.
Many have sought to predict the exact day and even hour of the 2nd coming throughout history. The Bible, however, does not give all the specific details that many would like.
And while it doesn’t allow for idle speculation, the doctrine of the literal return of Christ is one of the most encouraging and practical of all Christian teachings and it has the power to lift us from both spiritual apathy as well as despondency.
Now throughout the centuries, Christians have struggled to work through what I call the incarnational and eschatological tensions of our faith.
What I mean is that we know that we are to practically live out our Christian lives and testimonies in fruitful ways throughout the course of our entire lives.
And yet we also live with the realization that human history is coming to an end and that that should have practical implications for the way we live out our lives as well.
And so, however many years that God allows to each one of us, those years must also be lived in the expectation that Christ could return at anytime.
And such an expectation should function as a practical leavening agent for our lives.
After all, if the world could somehow become happy and holy on its own, would it want Jesus to return at all?
Probably not, and this is a dangerous place that many financially “well to do” and/or busy Christians find themselves in. And I dare say, that this is the place of many in our church due to the all consuming nature of our programs of study or our professional employment.
For Christians who suffer in one way or another, there is great hope in Christ’s 2nd coming. It is as Dr. Bailey says, “This hope is faith standing on tiptoe.”
And no matter what place each of us may find ourselves currently on this incarnation/eschatological continuum, we will find that the 2nd coming of Christ should address our lives in very practical terms.
For example, internalizing the spiritual truth of Christ our Coming King will mean adjusting your life priorities, making the things of this world less attractive. It will mean that we begin to live our lives making the most of every opportunity to serve Jesus Christ.
In others words, this hope of Christ our Coming King will shape our very lifestyles. Our lives will be purified in expectation of Jesus’ 2nd coming
Titus 2:11-14 reminds us, “For the grace of God has appeared to all people. It teaches us to say, ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope; the glorious appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
But there have been many people who have thought the belief in the second coming of Christ leads to some sort of fanaticism. Yet if we are really honest and discerning, virtually anything in life can lead to fanaticism.
An actually, for those who live in and with the expectation of Christ return, they will inevitably bring blessing to their neighbors who do not have this hope.
And so, the Scriptures teach us several valuable and practical lessons concerning Christ our Coming King; We are to be ready, we are to be watchful, we are to be faithful and we are to be diligent.
Let’s Pray
