Why have daily devotions? Because Jesus did

Mark 1:35 "In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there."

Luke 6:12  "It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God."

Introduction:
What does it mean to have a private time with God? sometimes this concept will be called by other names: "daily devotions"; "quiet-time" and other such designations. Is spending personal time with God on a daily basis important for one's spiritual growth in the Christian life? As Jesus models for us in the above opening verses, having a daily time alone with God is crucial. Whether one takes times in prayer and the Word in the early morning or late at night - the point is getting with Him before getting to it. Since we are at the beginning of a new year, I thought I would share this key principle of Jesus' example in spending time with the Heavenly Father to encourage us all to make time with God a regular part of our life. 

Why have daily-time with God? Because Jesus did it
As we already discovered in the above opening verses of today's post, Jesus modeled a crucial component of true progress in the Christian life - personal time with God. In Mark 1:35, we find Jesus making His personal time with the Heavenly Father the very first thing that He did. In Luke 6:12, we find the Lord Jesus taking the late-night hours to spend time with God in prayer. In both instances, we find Jesus exercising the practice of alone-time with God to draw closer to the Heavenly Father, make important decisions and set the tone for His life and ministry. 

So why did Jesus do this? After all, Jesus is God in the flesh. He had already enjoyed perpetual fellowship with the Father from all eternity. Here is why. In passages such as 1 John 2:6 and 1 Peter 2:21-22; we are encouraged to follow in Jesus' steps. He modeled in His humanity the very life and principles he wanted His disciples to have. Of course, such principles were never to be isolated from dependence upon and the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, the Holy Spirit brings to bear in the Christian the living power of Jesus Christ. 

Closing thoughts
Thus, when we rely upon Jesus by the Holy Spirit, beginning the practice of daily devotions goes from being a duty to delight. The chief reason for getting into the habit of having daily-quiet times with God is because Jesus did.  

Convictions worth living for and dying by in 2017

Acts 7:59-60  "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.  ⁶⁰And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

MY CHALLENGE TO YOU FOR 2017           
As we begin this year of 2017, I want to propose to you that you make this the year that you find something that is both worth living for and dying for.  Many of you reading this blog have made a "New Year's Resolution" in which you believe you have found something worth living for.  Fewer people have ever found something worth dying for that is of eternal value. The Christian life cannot proceed on preference and opinion, since such things can never lead a person to live and die for something greater than them nor for the sake of others. True conviction identifies all at once that the thing worth living for and dying for is located in a Person (Jesus Christ) and the truth of the scriptures. Stephen was the first martyr recorded for the Christian faith. He modeled what it meant to live for and die by His convictions - The Entire Bible and the Entire Christ.

STEPHEN PREACHED TO THE DEATH           

As he stood before his accusers, the charges leveled against him were those of blasphemy and attempting to replace the Jewish religion with Jesus Christ.  The religious leaders who were accusing Stephen did not have anything eternal to live for or die for.  They had tradition, ideas, self-righteousness and themselves.  

When they actually ran across someone who was proclaiming what he believed was worth living and dying for, Stephen's words became as a stench in their ears.  Mediocrity will always hate excellence. Religion will always detest true godliness. Self-righteousness will forever wage war against Christ.

STEPHEN LIVED AND DIED BY THE ENTIRE BIBLE          

Stephen first of all believed that it was worth living for and dying by the entire Bible.  His sermon in Acts 7 gives the entire history, in highlight form, of redemptive history from Abraham to Christ.  Before it is all said and done, Stephen will had referenced over 60 Old Testament passages, mentioned eight major Old Testament figures, covered 2100 years of time and summarized 40 books of the Bible.  Stephen burned with a white hot passion for the word of God.  He knew that his sermon was going to end in death - yet he never felt more alive.

STEPHEN LIVED AND DIED BY THE ENTIRE CHRIST          

Then Stephen secondly believed that it was worth living and dying for the entire Christ.  In the lives of the people mentioned in Stephen's address, we find pictures of Christ.  Abraham pictures the promised Christ. Isaac the Sacrifical Son.  In Jacob's life we are reminded of Christ anticipated and in Joseph the picture of Christ's death and resurrection.  In Moses we see Christ the intercessor for His people. Moses' successor, Joshua, portrays the victorious Christ.  David reminds us that Christ was to be the King of Kings and Solomon foreshadows Christ our wisdom.  Stephen also briefly mentions the prophets, reminding us that Christ alone could reveal the glory of God - since He is God.   Is it no wonder that as stones bludgeoned Stephen to death that he echoed the prayer of forgiveness that Christ prayed when He was being crucified.

SO WHAT ABOUT YOU?     

Will you this year make the entire Bible and the entire Christ your standard by which you determine what is worth living and dying for? There is an old saying that goes something like this: "whatever is done on this earth will pass; but whatever is done for Christ will last".  Christianity's cornerstone is shaped by the Written Word and The Living Word - Jesus Christ.  Make 2017 your year by which you make the Christ of the word and the word of Christ your core convictions worth living for and dying by. 

P2 Why the Gospel is so powerful - Romans 1:1-17

Romans 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Introduction:
Yesterday we considered why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is so powerful. We noted two reasons. First, the gospel is so powerful due to it being based on life-giving words - the scriptures. The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are God's written revelation. In 40 some people, God moved by His Spirit so that they in their own language, writing styles and thoughts could convey His purposes and will towards mankind. The Bible is a living book - meaning that whoever hears its contents has the opportunity to be changed. Hence the Bible's life-changing power in its living words inform the Gospel - making it God's power unto salvation.

A second reason we noted yesterday as to why the Gospel is God's power unto salvation is due to its focal point and subject - the Lord Jesus Christ. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as the following to say about Jesus:

"He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord."

Paul unfolds in Romans 1:3-7 of how Jesus Christ is the "seed of David", meaning that in His humanity He powerfully fulfilled all that God promised and predicted through the patriarchs and demonstrated such by His resurrection from the dead. By raising from the dead, Christ also demonstrated the claims He had made in His earthly ministry of He being God. 

As the God-man, all that Jesus achieved on the cross was accomplished as God in human flesh. As man He died. As God His sacrifice was infinite in value. As man His resurrection vindicated all He did. As God He demonstrated that He had life in Himself. Such a powerful Person is brought to us in the Gospel - thus making it a powerful message. 

Today we want to consider two other reasons why the Gospel is so powerful.

The Gospel is powerful due to God's ordained method of its delivery - preaching

In Romans 1:8-15 we find various terms used by Paul to indicate how the preaching of the Gospel and God's power are associated with one another. In Romans 1:8 we find the Gospel being proclaimed throughout the then Mediterranean world, resulting in lives being changed. In Romans 1:9, Paul indicates that in his preaching of the Gospel, his prayer life on behalf of the Romans is empowered by the Holy Spirit. In Romans 1:15 Paul states - "So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome." 

Preaching is God's ordained means of communicating the good news of Jesus. If it were up to human beings, others means would had been chosen as the flagship method - entertainments, dramas, music, art and other tools of communication. Certainly these other methods have been used throughout the history of the church and some have proven more beneficial than others. Undoubtedly music for example plays a very vital role in the life of the local church. However, preaching is God's primary method. Its seemingly "intrusive", sometimes "out-of-place" function in a world of visual effects and technology make it the perfect vehicle for transformation of sinners and strengthening of God's people. Preaching is the tool where man has the least likelihood of getting the credit and God getting the full credit. This is the logic behind God choosing preaching as the primary means of communicating the Gospel. 

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:20-21 "Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." Or again, Romans 10:14-15 "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!"

Now what makes preaching so powerful is not the preacher, but rather God's Holy Spirit attending and empowering the sermon and the preacher. Furthermore, the Spirit works to open the ears of the hearts of people listening to the Gospel. This is God's choice method. Anything He chooses to use, no matter how seemingly weak, is made powerful. 

Think of Moses' staff for instance. In Moses' hand it was but a walking a stick. When God told him to lay it down and pick it up again, it turned into something other than what it was. The point being made by God was that in the hands of God so-to-speak, a plain stick can split seas and bring mighty monarchs to their knees. In God's hand, Moses' staff was used to deliver the people of God. Was it Moses holding the staff? Yes. However, it was God working through the man and the gifting to bring about the effects. 

So the Gospel is powerful due to the living words of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ and His choice method of preaching. Now lets consider one final reason...

The Gospel is powerful due to it's life-changing power

Let's place before our eyes Romans 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” When I was a boy, I would often find myself getting into mischief. When I would carry-on and engage in horseplay, I would hear my mother or father tell me: "Mahlon, straighten-up"! Now why did they say that? was it because I was bent over in poor posture? no; instead, I was exhibiting a crookedness in my soul. Whenever I would "straighten-up", I would modify my behavior to appease them and to avoid discipline. But do you know, deep down inside I would often think: "what right do they have to tell me to "straighten-up". In those moments I exhibited the truth contained in Romans 3:23 - "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God".

No man has the power within himself to "truly straighten-up". The word "righteousness" used by Paul here in Romans 1:16 speaks of a moral and spiritual standard whereby one is "made right-with" or "fit-to-be" in God's sight. Now Paul will unfold the full import of this in Romans 3-4. Suffice to say, Paul is strongly hinting at what will be the crown jewel of his letter: justification by faith alone. This precious truth explains God's judicial decree of my innocence and "rightness" at my salvation. This "rightness" which He declares is not my own, but rather the "rightness" earned by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus on my behalf. When I by faith trust in all Christ did and is, His life, death and resurrection is credited (or imputed) to my account (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Now in the verses prior to Romans 1:16, we discovered the power of the Gospel's words and Person and the delivery method of preaching. We have seen the reason why the Gospel is so powerful. But now, when we consider its effects on the person who trusts in what it says by faith - we come to grasp the practical realities of such power. The inability I had and remain to have to this day to "straighten-up" or to "be right with God" on my own strength and volition is delivered to me by the Gospel. 

The amazing reality of where we find this ability to be right with God or righteousness is found within the Gospel itself. Romans 1:17 proclaims that "in it", the Gospel, is found all that a person needs to be right with God. Furthermore, Paul quotes an Old Testament passage (Habakkuk 2:4) to reinforce the notion that what he is writing is not a novel invention, but has been God's design of the Gospel all along. The Gospel is so powerful due to the fact that within the message itself is our life-changing solution - the God-given ability to truly "straighten-up" per the power and Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Closing thoughts
Over the last two days we have consider why the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. We noted four reasons for this:

1. Living words of the Bible
2. Lord Jesus Christ
3. Preaching
4. Life-changing power of the Gospel         itself

P1 Why the Gospel is so powerful - Romans 1:1-17

Romans 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Introduction:
Why is the Gospel so powerful? This theme of "the power of the Gospel" headlines Paul's letter to the church at Rome. Commentator Warren Weirsbe notes:

"No wonder Paul was not ashamed: He was taking to sinful Rome the one message that had the power to change people’s lives! He had seen the gospel work in other wicked cities, such as Corinth and Ephesus, and he was confident that it would work in Rome. It had transformed his own life, and he knew it could transform the lives of others."

Romans 1:1-17 introduces this marvelous epistle of Paul. Romans 1:16-17 is Paul asserting his stance on not being ashamed of the God due to it possessing the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believes or trusts in it. All that prefaces these key verses and all that follows serve to expound on the power of the Gospel. Today we want to know why the Gospel is powerful. We will offer a brief exposition of Romans 1:1-17 in attempting to understand why Paul and us can conclude that the Gospel is powerful. Notice the following reasons why the Gospel is so powerful as stated in Romans 1:1-17...

1. Life-changing words. Romans 1:1-2
We read in Romans 1:1-2 "Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures." The word translated "scriptures" is the Greek word "graphe" from whence we derive such English words as "graphics" and the mineral "graphite" found in the pencil leads we use to write on paper. The term "scripture" itself (from the Latin "scriptura") refers to that which is written, the words of God in the Old and New Testaments. In our English Bibles, our word "scripture" is simply a carry over or transliteration of the Latin "scriptura", which in the Latin translation of the Bible (the Vulgate) was a translation of the word "graphe". 

When English translations appeared on the scene, translators familiar with the Latin Vulgate saw the term "scripture" as appropriate in conveying the truth of the Bible being God's very words. These words of the Bible are God's very voice in written form. When read or preached, they impart life to the soul which can raise the spiritually dead heart to life in so far as the sinner responds to such words in saving trust (see John 5:24-25; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23). No other means is used by God to impart salvation other than the scriptures. The words of the Bible are powerful and effective (Hebrews 4:12). Such a repository of Divine revelation is powerful. Hence, the Gospel is powerful due to the life-giving words upon which it is based and revealed. There is a second reason though for why the Gospel is so powerful...

2. Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:3-7
Recently theologian R.C. Sproul's Bible teaching ministry (Ligonier Ministries) released a statement of faith on the Person and work of Jesus Christ that outlines His identity, natures and power as God and man. Below we find the introductory two paragraphs of the statement:


"We confess the mystery and wonder
of God made flesh and rejoice in our great salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.

With the Father and the Holy Spirit,
the Son created all things, sustains all things, and makes all things new.
Truly God, He became truly man, two natures in one person."
Jesus Christ is no doubt the mystery and wonder of God personified. The late preacher Adrian Rogers once remarked: "He is so much God as not to be man and so much man as to not be God." This One person is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Who is truly and fully God and truly and fully man. Only a Person such as Christ could be powerful enough to be the focal point of the Gospel. Jesus is not only the Gospel's object but supreme subject. He is actually brought to the sinner by the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. 

In other words, Jesus is not hermetically sealed of in history or the pages of the Bible. When the Gospel is presented, Christ comes forth. The totality of His glorified humanity and endless deity are united in Himself, making His entire Person as God and man available to all who trust in Him.

This living Christ is supremely powerful. He is what makes the Gospel the Gospel. The good news of the Gospel is that God is with us, for us and in us. The good news of the Gospel is that we have a perfect human representative for us in the heavenly realms. In Jesus, in saving faith, we are more than accepted before God. In Jesus, we are united to God by the One who is God and man. His perfect humanity defines the believer's identity and ability to commune with God. 

So the Gospel is powerful due to it being based on powerful, living words (Romans 1:1-2) and the Lord Jesus Christ. In the next post we will consider other reasons from Romans 1:1-17 why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful. 

Reflecting on the names of Jesus: "Word", "Amen" & "Melchizedek"

John 1:1-5 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Introduction
In considering the Person of Jesus Christ, it is beneficial to consider His names and titles. The names or titles of Christ tell us something about Him. The name "Jesus" for example is defined in Matthew 1:21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." This name tells us that Jesus is none other than the Savior. The title "Christ", often associated with His name, speaks of the quality He possesses as "the anointed One" (the meaning of the Greek word "Christos", whence comes out English word "Christ"). As "The Christ", Jesus is the uniquely anointed One of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit in His humanity while simultaneously being truly Divine. 

It is estimated that there are some 200 names and titles associated with Jesus Christ. Meditating on even a small sampling of these names can yield great spiritual dividends. As I have been thinking through these various names of Jesus, the thought struck concerning the order of their revelation. That is, in what particular order in redemptive history or in the historical and progressive unfolding of God's revelation in the Bible are these names revealed? Noting the order in which we find the names of Jesus revealed tells us just as much about the Person who bears them as the meanings of the individual names themselves. Below, I will list a small sample of these names to illustrate what I mean:

1. He is the "Word" in John 1:1, which points us back to Genesis 1:1. 

God's creative activity is the focal point of John 1:1. We find that as "The Word", Christ is not some creature who was with the Father at the beginning o the creation, but rather a co-equal and co-sharing Person with the Father before the creation. This term "word" has a rich history in Graeco-Roman thought and Hebraic Jewish thought, meaning among other things that which gives order to otherwise chaos, order to disorder and meaning to that which is meaningless. John of course reveals that "The Word" or as called in the Greek, "logos", is a Person - a Divine Person, i.e the Son of God. A.W Tozer notes about this title of Jesus in his classic work "The Pursuit of God":

The facts are that God is not silent, has never been silent. It is the nature of God to speak. The second Person of the Trinity is called the Word. The Bible is the inevitable outcome of continuous speech. It is infallible declaration of His mind for us put into our familiar human words."

2. He is the "Yes" and "Amen" to God's promises, with the first promise illustrated in Genesis 9:12-13 

In Genesis 9:12-13 we read God's promise or covenant with Noah: God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth." Now what does this have to do with Jesus? We could certainly point to many details having to do with the ark itself and the flood as picturing Christ and His redemptive work. However, the fact God makes a promise, a covenant, a sign is indicative of Christ's work as the Mediator who guarantees God's promises. The Apostle Paul brings out a particular name or title of Jesus in 2 Corinthians 1:20-21 "For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge." The term "amen" means in the Hebrew "truth" or "so be it". Jesus Christ's activity in God's covenants is not just confined to the New Testament, but in the Old Testament revelation itself. Undoubtedly, Christ's role as God's "Amen" was not just limited to God's covenant with Noah. Nevertheless, to follow chronologically how Christ's names unfold His person through redemptive history, it is important to see how He is connected to all of God's promises and covenants.

3. He is the "King of Righteousness" or Mechizedek in Genesis 14

One last example of Christ's names as they appear in their order will be mentioned: Melchizedek. This mysterious figure is first mentioned as a literal king meeting the Patriarch Abraham in Genesis 14:18 "And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High." Now on first blush, Melchizedek appear to be nothing more than a gentile King who is sympathetic to Abraham and who serves the Living God. 

The mystery of Melchizedek is heightened by his relative absence for a millennia in the Biblical text. It is not until David's writing of Psalm 110:4 that we find a cosmic dimension associated with Melchizedek: "The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110 is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. The apostles saw in that Psalm a clear identification of the pre-incarnate Christ in conversation with the Father in eternity. 

The mystery then is heightened further without another mention of Melchizedek in revealed scripture for yet another millennium. It is not until we come to the book of Hebrews that we find Melchizedek positively identified as an Old Testament cameo appearance of Jesus in some eight spots (Hebrews 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:1,10,11,15,17). He is by that point revealed as the Divine, eternal High Priest Who is truly God and truly man, forever exalted in the heavens.  

Closing thoughts
Today we considered three of Jesus' names as they appear in their order in the Biblical text: the "Word"; the  "Amen" and "Melchizedek". We saw how each name reveals Him respectively as the one who brings order, structure and life (i.e the Word); guarantees all of God's covenants and promises (i.e the Amen) and Who is the King of righteousness or peace (i.e Melchizedek). Such reflections cause us to look deeper and higher at the Christ Who is deeper and higher still. 

What wifi and seeking after God have in common

Psalm 27:8 "When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.”

Introduction:
As I type this post today, I am accessing the internet by way of what is called "Wifi". "Wifi" involves accessible internet to any user who knows how to "sign-in" to the service. Once signed on, the user can explore the world wide web. For those who are not connected, "Wifi" signals continue through the air. When we think of the presence and glory of God, His power, glory and presence pervade the entire cosmos. His Personality and presence is unquestioned in the Bible. The parallels between "wifi" and seeking after God can be drawn to illustrate the need to seek after and deepen one's experience of God. Sadly, not everyone is "signed-on" in faith. Many, many people in our world today go about their lives without being "connected". Only in Jesus Christ can such connections be made.

When David writes about his continuing mode of ever responding to God's overtures of grace, He is exercising what ought to be the default mode of all of God's people. Great author of the past A.W Tozer writes in his classic
"The Pursuit of God":

"I venture to suggest that the one vital quality which they had in common was spiritual receptivity. Something in them was open to heaven, something which urged them Godward. Without attempting anything like profound analysis, I shall say simply that they had spiritual awareness and that they went on to cultivate it until it became the biggest thing in their lives. They differed from the average person in that when they felt the inward longing they did something about it. They acquired the lifelong habit of spiritual response."

The only way you and I can "get-connected" to God and is all-pervading power and presence is by receiving into our souls the "password" assigned in scripture for our salvation: "J" - "E" -"S" - "U" - "S". Acts 4:12 reminds us that no other name is given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. The Christian life is a life that claims to be "connected to God". The Christian, however, cannot remain passive. 

The life of faith flowing from conversion is what the scripture calls sanctification. The Christian and the Holy Spirit cooperate in the goal of making the Christian more like Jesus. On the horizon of Christian spirituality, the Lord Jesus Christ dominates. All other truths are illuminated by His Person. He shows us the Father and the Spirit Whom was sent in His name drives the Christian to know Him more. May we today explore what there is to know about God. His Word reveals His will and Christ reveals the totality of the Personality of Presence of God (see Colossians 2:9). Let us seek Him in the upcoming year. 

God's Gospel - Romans 1:1-2

Romans 1:1-2  "Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures."

Introduction
Today's post features the above text that makes the remarkable statement concerning the Gospel. We discover that the Gospel did not make its appearance when Jesus and the Apostles came on the scene. The Gospel or "good news" of salvation has been around since the beginning. We can note three descriptions of the Gospel in Romans 1:1-2

1. Gospel of God

Whenever we see that little word "of" in the text, it is relating the word before and after it. The relationship between "gospel" and "God" could be rendered two-fold: either the Gospel is "about God" and His saving activities or the Gospel is "from God", revealed and made known to us. In so far as the Gospel does address the sinner and their sinful condition, the Gospel's true core is about God and coming from Him. The Gospel tells the "old, old story of the Savior who came from glory". As commentator Warren Wiersbe notes:

"It is “the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1) because it originates with God; it was not invented by humans. It is “the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 1:16) because it centers in Christ, the Savior. Paul also calls it “the gospel of his Son” (Rom. 1:9), which indicates that Jesus Christ is God. In Romans 16:25-26, Paul called it “my gospel.” By this he meant the special emphasis he gave in his ministry to the doctrine of the church and the place of the Gentiles in the plan of God."

2. Which He promised beforehand through His prophets

Now we find out how God revealed or "made known what was previously or would-had-been-otherwise unknown" the Gospel - namely by his prophets. Amos 3:7 reminds us that God doesn't disclose His will except through the prophets. We could go all the way back to at least Enoch, the seventh from Adam. Adam himself could be deemed a prophet - since he was naming the animals as duly assigned by God. A prophet's role was to represent God's interests to man. Adam represented God's creative order to the creation. According to Genesis 1:26, he and the woman were to originally be God's co-regents, having been made in His image and likeness. Other various figures like Enoch, Noah, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah and others functions as God's torch-bearers - bearing the incorruptible light of the Gospel to men. 

3. In the holy Scriptures.

We have been observing three things Paul says about the Gospel in Romans 1:1-2. We first noted that he called it the "Gospel of God". Next, he reminds his readers of how the Gospel, having been revealed way before the New Testament, was revealed by way of his prophets. Indeed, the prophetic office was an oracular office, that is, the prophet "spoke" on behalf of God to men. However, God also used some of these prophets to write down His words by way of their own writing styles and culture. As 2 Peter 1:10-12 notes: "As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look."

The Gospel is that central scarlet thread that holds together the tapestry of scripture. The Gospel and Christ are inseparable. One cannot properly understand the Old Testament apart from Jesus Christ and the Gospel. In like manner, one cannot understand life nor can one's life hold together apart from the Gospel.