We Must Point Everyone to Jesus
I am fully convinced that every single person I will ever meet would be better off with Jesus Christ at the centre of their life. This is not a religion I am a fan or follower of – I know the transforming relationship with God that he alone offers will provide forgiveness, healing, guidance, power, purpose, meaning and eternal security. We must share this by pointing to Jesus (not ourselves, our churches or programs) because he is the only Son of God, heaven’s greatest gift to humanity.
Do you believe this?
I am talking to church leaders here.
In 1995 I spent most of the night before I was ordained in the Church of England trying to discourage someone else from taking that step into church leadership too – why? Because over the few days retreat beforehand (which was meant to be spent in silence) he clearly stated that he did not believe Jesus is the Son of God, or that people need a Saviour. I couldn’t imagine what he thought the ‘job’ entailed and asked him what he thought the gospel was. He offered a word soup about loving everyone and doing the best you can. By the time I had left the CofE he was an Archdeacon.
The Power of a Clear Sound
Lessons from the Trumpet
1 Corinthians 14:8 the apostle Paul warns, “If the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” Imagine an army, thousands of troops, uncertain of what to do because someone plays a muffled or confusing signal. So many lives demand on the clarity of that trumpet sound!
Trumpets have a rich and fascinating history dating back over 5,000 years, first developed around 3000 BC in ancient civilizations like Egypt, China, and Mesopotamia. The earliest trumpets were made from natural materials such as animal horns, conch shells, and wood, later evolving into metal versions of bronze and silver.
The Egyptians used them for ceremonial and military purposes (Tutankhamun’s tomb contained two) The The Greeks employed them in warfare to signal attacks, charges, retreats, and orders, followed by the Romans who even had a trumpet school – why? To ensure uniform signals. Every soldier had to play the same sound, the same way. This was not jazz!
Playing the trumpet actually featured as an Olympic sport at one point—judged purely on volume!
I don’t know how loud it will be but 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says one day soon an angelic trumpet everyone everywhere will sound to announce Christ’s return – are we ready? Jesus’ own question about that time is, will he find faith on the Earth?
For faith to be there, saving faith, today perhaps more than ever, we must be absolutely clear on the gospel. What is it? The Bible says it is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). Jesus is the only way to the Father. If we are unclear who is offering what, the response required to the good news and what is at stake for those who hear it, people will not know what they are responding to—or rejecting.
The Transforming Power of the Gospel
If you read the blog regularly or know you’ll know I am a retired police officer. I saw some of the worst things people could do to themselves and to one another very early on (I saw my first suicide victim when I was 16).
Because I didn’t know there was a Saviour and all I could see was a world full of anger, hatred, and brokenness I joined the ranks of many fellow officers to become cynical and hard-bitten. I just wanted more bad people to go to jail, while I could enjoy my own kind of good time. Walking inner city streets seeing kids growing up just as messed up as their (usually absent) parents I wondered at times, what could change such places and people?
- A government policy?
- A business idea?
- An educational program?
I haven’t given up that some or any of the above could be helpful, but once I became a Jesus follower and saw the power of the good news and the difference that relationship with Jesus made in the lives of people of all backgrounds I knew eventually I would want to hang up the handcuffs and do whatever I could to help set people free instead. When it came to really changing lives for good and for God forever, the gospel is the only show in town.
The real heart change I have personally experienced and seen in so many incredibly broken lives since I signed up to that adventure has me convinced that only connection to a bold, loving, Christ-filled member of the local church could truly bring the change everyone needs. Just as much I needed to know, everyone needs someone to tell them that Jesus is inviting them to, “Come and see!.”
Are We Clear on What the Gospel Is?
We live in a beautiful world God made good, spoiled by sin and now filled with hate, selfishness, greed, and division. What can possibly transform a racist heart into a servant-hearted one? A hopeless heart into joy-filled one? Only the gospel. It alone has the power to save.
Substitutionary Atonement
When I was coming to the end of my time at Theological College we had what was called ‘A Symposium’ on the atonement. No, that is not another musical instrument like the trumpet.
The Symposium gathered many theological experts who all presented papers on what was happening when Jesus hung on that cross at Calvary. We heard about atonement as –
Christus Victor – Christ’s death and resurrection defeat sin, death, and Satan, freeing humanity from bondage (Colossians 2:15).
Moral Influence – Christ’s sacrifice demonstrates God’s love, inspiring repentance and transformation (Romans 5:8).
Ransom – Christ’s death is a ransom paid to free humanity from Satan’s hold (Mark 10:45).
Governmental – Christ’s death upholds divine justice, allowing God to forgive while maintaining moral order and ushering us into a new Kingdom (Romans 3:26).
These are all perfectly valid and helpful, none of them contradict the others – and there are times when sharing these aspects of salvation can prevent us from seeing following Jesus merely as ‘my personal faith’ or a transactional get out of hell free card as we glimpse its cosmic dimensions.
But the one ‘theory’ that it seemed every eminent theologian there agreed was not ‘a useful model’ happened to be the one that showed me that I was a sinner who needed a Saviour. The gospel message that Jesus died for me (for = in my place), clearly trumpeted by the evangelist Eric Delve is what brought me to know God by grace, through faith.
Ironically when they were asked, most of the experts grudgingly admitted that yes, hearing that message was the reason they had become Christians too: Substitutionary Atonement.
1. Atonement – Satisfying the Demands of Justice
Last week I sat in a courtroom (accompanying someone I know who is thinking of becoming a magistrate), time after time we observed offences listed and heard, and a punishment was given, usually a fine was levied – and must be paid to satisfy justice. There are crimes against the crown.
Biblically, sin demands a price, and everyone’s sinned! Throughout Scripture, atonement was always made through sacrifice.
- Genesis: After Adam and Eve sinned, God covered them with an animal skin—the first recorded death. Innocence covering guilt.
- Exodus: The 10th plague took the firstborn unless blood covered the door. A substitute spared the household.
- The Sacrificial System: Sin required a payment—a lamb or scapegoat to bear the penalty.
- John the Baptist’s Declaration: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29)
2. Substitution – Someone Pays on Our Behalf
In every other religion, wrongdoers must try to self-atone—keep rules, perform rituals, or endure punishment, in the hope you might do enough to be accepted. Biblical Christianity is different. God arranged for someone else to pay our price.
On the cross, Jesus, the true Lamb of God, cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). The work was done. The curtain in the Temple torn from top to bottom. No more lambs, rams, or sacrifices—Christ fully atoned for past, present, and future sins.
The Ultimate Question: Who Will Atone for You?
Every person, the good, the bad and the ugly, will stand before God when this life is done. Nobody likes to think of it but death is the ultimate statistic facing 100% of us. Right then as we stand in that awesome holy presence, the courtroom of heaven, the question is not how big or small our sins were, but who will pay for them?
You have two choices:
- Self-Atone: Face eternal separation from God, full of regret (gnashing of teeth).
- Accept Christ’s Atonement: Receive His free gift of salvation – He paid the price on the nail (2 Peter 3:9).
Salvation is not about doing more, trying harder or being good enough—it is about receiving what Christ has already done:
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)
Are We Proclaiming the Gospel Clearly?
I recently sang the words of Amazing Grace and was quite overwhelmed that yes, this is the gospel that saved ‘a wretch like me.’ Can I ask my fellow church leaders, amidst all the programs we have to run, the people we have to see, plans and appointments we have – are we in danger of forgetting the cost of our salvation? “I once was lost!” How about you? To the extent that I can sing such words and not be broken again by that grace that found me, I am on dangerous ground.
Have we truly experienced Christ’s love finding us?
Do we revisit Calvary often, in gratitude?
One of the greatest aspects of the Christian life is thanking God for substitutionary atonement and committing to share it with others.
Action Steps for Church Leaders:
- Clarify the Gospel: Do not water it down. It’s not about recycling so we can save the planet. Jesus, the perfect and holy Son of God paid the price for our sins!
- Make it Unmistakable: Saying “Invite Jesus into your heart” is vague. What does that mean? Don’t leave people to guess what to do about the gospel – they won’t!
- Proclaim Without Shame: Romans 1:16—“I am not ashamed of the gospel.”
- Declare It Loudly and Clearly: A trumpet call, not a muffled sound.
We owe everything to this message, forever. If we are saved, we must not only receive it but declare it. With a clear trumpet sound!