We Rejoice in God

Excerpt from John Piper sermon:  God in Christ:  The Price and the Prize of the Gospel

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To unfold the meaning of this and to show how biblical it is I think it will be helpful to take three snapshots of the sermon title from three different places. One from Romans 5. One from church history. And one from 1 Corinthians 15.

Price and Prize in Romans 5

Keep in mind that the word “gospel” means good news. In this case God’s good news for the world. What is the price and the prize of that good news according to Romans 5? Here’s the price in Romans 5:6–8:

While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The price of the gospel is the death of Christ. Verse 6: “Christ died for the ungodly.” Verse 8: "Christ died for us." God loved us while we were sinners and paid a price so that we might have an infinite prize. That price was the death of his Son. And what was the prize that he bought for us when he paid that price? Verses 9-11:

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in Godthrough our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

What did God purchase for us by the price of his Son? Verse 9: “We have now been justified by his blood.” And more. Verse 9b: Because of that justification we will be saved by him from wrath. What do we need to be saved from? The wrath of God. “Much more shall we be saved from the wrath of God” (verse 9). But is that the highest, best, fullest, most satisfying prize of the gospel?

No. Verse 11 begins with another “much more.” Verse 10 ends: “We shall be saved by his life.” And verse 11 takes it up a level: More than that: we rejoice in God.” That is the final and highest good of the good news. There is not another “much more” after that. There is only Paul’s saying again how we got there. Verse 11b: “through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

The end of the gospel is “we rejoice in God.” The highest, fullest, deepest, sweetest good of the gospel is God himself, enjoyed by his redeemed people. Hence the title of this message: “God in Christ: The Price and the Prize of the Gospel.” God in Christ became the price (Romans 5:6–8), and God in Christ became the prize (Romans 5:11). The gospel is the good news that God bought for us the everlasting enjoyment of God. That's what I mean when I say "God is the gospel."

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