No Human Invention

W. Carl Ketcherside

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     The gospel I preach to you is no human invention. No man gave it to me, no man taught it to me; it came as a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12).

     The credibility attached to this statement of the apostle Paul, insofar as the origin of the gospel is concerned, is dependent upon the degree of veracity we assign to him. We cannot prove that no man gave him the gospel. We only have his word for it. If we believe that he told the truth we will believe that the gospel came to him by direct revelation. If we regard Paul as a mystic or visionary, and a lot of modern critics do, we will probably doubt the divine source of his message.

     It is observable that Paul left no room for compromise. The gospel is either a human invention or a direct revelation from Jesus Christ. Men will react toward the gospel exactly as they regard one or the other of these as its source. If

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they accept it as a divine and direct revelation from Jesus Christ it will have authority over their lives which will change them according to its terms. If it is regarded as a mere human philosophy it will provide the subject for endless debate but not for endless life.

     While we cannot prove that Paul was correct in his statement, we can certainly prove that he believed what he said was true. He endured beatings and floggings, was stoned and shipwrecked, imprisoned and jailed, all for the sake of the gospel. He said, "I have known exhaustion, pain, long vigils, hunger and thirst, doing without meals, cold and lack of clothing." One does not undergo such agony willingly for a mere concoction of human rationalization. But my confidence that the gospel did not originate with men is not dependent upon the testimony of a man, not even that of the great apostle Paul. I respect his word and believe what he said about the source of his message. But I do not hinge my whole faith, as to the authorship of the gospel, upon his word. Instead, I hold that the real proof is inherent in the message. It is not human testimony as to the source, but the nature of the gospel which proves that it is no human invention.

     It runs counter to all that men would devise if they were arrogant enough to attempt a plan for universal redemption. Men begin with those of humble parentage and create heroes of them who may be elevated as gods. But the gospel begins with one who was God, emptying himself, and adopting the nature of a slave. It is distinctly said that "he made himself of no reputation." It seems that he deliberately chose a course which placed obstacles in the path of belief, and of course the reason is that he wanted to attract followers by no superficial appeal or secondary attraction. Think of but a few of the ways by which he made himself of no reputation.

1. The circumstance of his birth. By being born of a virgin, an unmarried Jewish peasant girl, he became a stumbling block in all ages to the coldly intellectual world.
2. The place of birth. He entered the world in the stable of an inn in an obscure village in a remote province of the Roman Empire. He was wrapped in swaddling-cloths and placed in a manger where homage was paid to him only by "certain poor shepherds."
3. The boyhood home. He grew up in Nazareth which was in Galilee, a province inhabited by warlike zealots whom George Adam Smith described as "volcanic." W. E. Vine writes, "To say the least, the Galileans were the object of contempt owing to their lack of culture, their rude dialect and their association with Gentiles." Nathaniel, who became a devoted follower, was hesitant at first to approach Jesus because he asked, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
4. The choice of disciples. For ambassadors to an alien world Jesus selected what might have been termed a motley crew. There were fishermen from Galilee, a socially outcast publican, a member of the Zealot political party, and one who was a thief from the beginning.
5. The daily companions. Jesus associated with those "on the wrong side of the tracks." He was stigmatized as a friend of publicans and sinners, and was branded as a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. He suggested as one mark of his identity that "the poor have the gospel preached unto them."
6. The manner of death. This was the crucial test. The Jews regarded as under a curse those who died upon a tree, while others regarded crucifixion as reserved for the lowest and vilest of criminals. The offense of the cross has not ceased even yet.

     I believe that the whole scheme of redemption is of divine origin and that it bears the imprint of the divine mind upon its very face. The gospel is not merely words announced to us, but a life shared with us. Jesus is the Good News of God to a dying world, because it is in him that life resides, and that life is the light of the world. This is my story, this is my song!