The Transformational Gospel - Part 2 by Apostle Michael Orokpo: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The Gospel: A Royal Declaration

The gospel is a news that the Bible says is too good to be true — yet is true nonetheless. It is a royal declaration sent to one who is dead and condemned, to bring them back to life and to give them freedom.

The word for gospel in the Hebrew is bisora. In the Greek it is euangelion. It simply means good news. But the original rendering of that phrase — good news — is actually beyond what ordinary good news conveys. This type of news does not come from every quarter. It is usually a royal decree. It is news that has power to bring salvation.

Romans 1:16: Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ — for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes." When the gospel comes, those who believe are saved. And to give context to his audience, he said: "to the Jews first, and then to the Greek." The gospel is the answer to the crisis of humanity because therein is the power for salvation.

Everyone Needs the Gospel

There is nobody too good not to have need for the gospel.

Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23: "The wages of sin is death — but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

There is death and there is eternal life. The wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life. But since all have sinned, everyone is awaiting death — except as they receive the gift of God, which is eternal life, available only in Christ Jesus. The gospel is good news delivered in the package of a Person called Christ.

Three Broad Categories of the Gospel

1. The Gospel as the Power That Saves

   All have sinned. All are fallen. All await condemnation. The gospel comes as the power of God to bring salvation to everyone who believes. Salvation here — sozo — is comprehensive: it covers spirit, soul, body, circumstances, and destiny. The transformational gospel is not a partial rescue — it is a complete package of divine intervention that covers every dimension of fallen human existence.

2. The Gospel and the Restoration of the World

   Psalm 82:5–6: because man fell, the earth fell. The foundations of the earth are out of course. The earth itself became subject to the effects of the fall — corruption, decay, futility. The gospel is not just the vehicle for saving individual souls. It is the instrument through which God is restoring His government to the earth. Romans 8:19–22: the creation groans and waits for the manifestation of the sons of God — because the gospel, working through redeemed and mature believers, is the means of the creation's eventual liberation.

3. The Gospel and the New Creation

   2 Corinthians 5:17: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." The deepest transformation the gospel brings is not external — it is ontological. The believer becomes a new kind of being. Not reformed. Not improved. New. The nature that Adam lost in the fall — the divine image, the capacity for dominion, the likeness of God — is restored through the new birth. This is the heart of the transformational gospel.

The Scope of "Everyone"

Paul's use of "everyone that believes" in Romans 1:16 is not rhetorical generosity — it is a theological declaration. There is no person excluded from the reach of the gospel. There is no sin too deep, no history too broken, no situation too far gone.

• To the Jew first — those with religious heritage but who had rejected the Messiah
• And to the Greek — those with no heritage, those considered outsiders to the covenant

The power of God is available to everyone. The only condition is belief. The only barrier is unbelief.

What the Transformational Gospel Demands of the Preacher

If the gospel is truly the power of God unto salvation, then those who preach it carry a profound responsibility:

• To preach it fully — not selected portions, not safe portions, but the full counsel of God
• To preach it with power — not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Corinthians 2:4)
• To preach it without shame — in contexts where it is popular and in contexts where it is despised
• To preach it with expectation of transformation — believing that those who hear and believe will be saved, healed, delivered, and made new

The gospel is not the beginning of a long religious journey toward eventual transformation. It is the power of God — released now, working now, transforming now, for everyone who believes.