The Gospel Is Everything: 25 Years of Pointing Women to Christ

This episode contains portions from the following programs:

"A Picture of the Gospel"

"How Your Home Can Point to the Gospel"

"You Can't Be a True Woman (On Your Own)"

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Dannah Gresh: Did you know we’re in our 25th year of ministry here at Revive Our Hearts? It’s true! 

Cue the cheers! (people cheer)

And the confetti! (confetti pops)

How about a kazoo or two?! (kazoo squeaks) 

I wish I had time to give you twenty-five reasons I love this ministry so much, because I really could. But for right now, I think I can sum them all up in one sentence. 

I love Revive Our Hearts because its core message is Jesus Christ. Everything we do is aimed at helping women thrive in Christ. This was our message on day one, and it’s still our message today. In fact, it’s what I want us to focus on for the next half hour we have together. 

I’m your host, Dannah Gresh. You’re listening to Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

Today’s program is all about the saving power of Jesus—the gospel—because sometimes we need to get back to the basics, remember the main things, and spend some time just looking at . . . well, Jesus!

Here’s a little roadmap for you. First up, Mary Kassian is reminding us how understanding what Jesus has done for us shapes our womanhood—and how our womanhood displays the image of God and the love of Christ. 

Then, Rosaria Butterfield is gonna illustrate how the gospel transforms our stories by telling a story of her own.

Last but not least, our beloved Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is reminding us that we all need the gospel in all areas of our all of lives. He truly changes everything.

To kick us off, we’ve got the lovely Mary Kassian. Mary is a dear friend of Revive Our Hearts and a cofounder of the True Woman movement. She is also a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. She loves to write and speak about God’s good design for women. She’s gonna take you to Scripture to show you the powerful, purposeful correlation between the gospel and your womanhood. Let’s listen.

Mary Kassian: First Corinthians 11:3 says, “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” There’s a mystery there, obviously. We don’t fully understand the Trinity and how God is one and yet how there are different functions within the Godhead in terms of how God interacts with God. There’s a lot of mystery there. Yet there’s a parallel drawn between the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

In Ephesians 5, the relationship between a husband and wife, there’s a parallel drawn between the relationship between Christ and the Church. It says,

Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself his Savior. Wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He may sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own body.

Paul goes on, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” So the mystery of marriage, the mystery of husband and wife, the mystery, by extension, of manhood and womanhood, is a profound mystery, but it has something to do with Christ and the Church. It has something to do with the way Christ loves the Church, dies for the Church, gives Himself for the Church, and is united to the Church; in the same way, the Church respects Christ and is one with Christ. That is to be reflected in who we are as male and female, and to be reflected in the marriage relationship.

History opened up with the creation of man and woman and a marriage, because it will end with a man and a woman and a marriage. Marriage as we know it, the relationship between man and woman as we know it, will end. We will all—when we see Jesus, we are actually going to a marriage. Who’s getting married? We’re getting married, the Church is getting married to Christ. Christ is the Bridegroom, the Church is the Bride. Men and women, so to speak, are going to be the female part of that relationship in the way that we interact and in our union.

It started with a marriage, ends with a marriage. Marriage is temporary, and that’s why 1 Corinthians says, “Don’t worry if you don’t get married; don’t worry if you remain single. That’s also a blessing, because you can still tell the story of Christ and the Church, the story to which every earthly marriage is to point.”

Our marriages, my relationship to my husband is to tell the story of Jesus Christ and the Church. It tells the story of the gospel. It points to something bigger. It’s just momentary. Our marriage is momentary; the marriage of Christ to the Church is eternal. That’s the story that we’re telling. That's the story we tell through our marriages. That’s the story we also tell through our fidelity when we are single. We tell the story of Christ and the Church.

Dannah: Wow, this view of gender, sexuality, and marriage puts it all into a grander, more glorious, more beautiful perspective, doesn’t it? 

We’re listening to Mary Kassian in an interview with our friends at American Family Radio. They asked her to comment on what it means to be a man and not a woman, or a woman and not a man. 

Mary: It’s a really good question, because I don’t think that culture has an answer to that question. They would say that the only difference is a physiological one, and that can be changed, that we can even change our physiology and our biology. But Scripture has a different answer to that question. It says that manhood and womanhood, male and female, were created in the image of God to bear witness to the story of God. So, in our maleness, in our femaleness, we glorify God and we uphold the story of the gospel.

As a woman, I have a responsibility to glorify God and to tell the story of the gospel as a woman. I do that differently than a man. Now, we’re telling the same story. We’re both telling the story of the gospel, we’re telling the story of Jesus and the Church, but it’s like we have two different camera angles going on the same story. I tell the story from a woman’s camera angle, and my husband or a man tells the same story from a camera angle that is a male camera angle. Same story, same God, same gospel; and yet we tell it in different ways.

So we bring glory to God. I bring glory to God, as a woman, by being who God wants me to be as a woman, and nurturing those character qualities in my life that God says are particularly important for women in terms of who God created me to be as a relational being, as a woman who has an amenability to relate to men as men. He is a man; I am a woman. That glorifies God. My womanhood, in and of itself, glorifies God. I glorify God by becoming more holy, by becoming more righteous, by becoming more kind, more loving—all of those things that God wants me to be—but I also glorify Him by stepping into who I am as a woman.

So, in Genesis 1 we see the equality of male and female; in Genesis 2 we see that there are differences between male and female. There are functional differences between male and female—ontological differences, is what I’ll say, differences in the essence of who we are. The differences are fascinating.

I think that in order to understand the differences between male and female, we need to put it through the New Testament grid of the mystery that male and female, manhood, womanhood, marriage, has to do with the story of Christ and the Church and the gospel story. So, if we take that grid, if we take that story of the New Testament when we look back through the story of creation, then we can understand why there are differences between male and female and what those differences mean.

Dannah: Mary Kassian on how our womanhood displays the gospel. There’s more to this message, and the whole thing is fascinating. We’ll link to the rest at ReviveOurHearts.com/weekend. Just select today’s episode. I don’t know about you, but learning from Mary has me so excited about being a woman. Do you feel that, too?! We get to tell the gospel story in a unique and special way, as women—and there’s no better story to tell.

Speaking of storytelling, that’s something we love doing here at Revive Our Hearts—especially when those stories reflect God’s larger narrative of redemption. Turns out our testimonies can put the gospel on display as well. Dr. Rosaria Butterfield exemplifies this so beautifully. She’s an author, speaker, pastor's wife, homeschool mom, and author of The Gospel Comes with a Housekey. She and Nancy met up at Ligonier Ministry’s National Conference to talk about how God can use our hospitality to reach others with His life-changing grace.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: You were, as you talk about in another book, an unlikely convert. God used hospitality to reach out to you, to bridge to Christ. This is something you had the joy of being a part of in relation to your own mother. You call it “deathbed hospitality.”

Rosaria Butterfield: Yes.

Nancy: I know there are points of crisis and points where you’ve had a family member or somebody that you’re close to that, for years and years, it just seems like they are the most unlikely possibility to become a convert.

Rosaria: Yes. Oh, my goodness, oh, absolutely!

Nancy: But God moved in an extraordinary way. Robert and I were hearing this story as it was unfolding. You’ve shared it in this book. Can you give us a nutshell version of what God did there?

Rosaria: Oh, that was amazing! My mom was hurt as a child, very much so. She was not treated well, and she grew up with a high suspicion of men. She also had absolutely no use for the church. 

She lived with us for sixteen months. During that time she mocked our faith, she challenged Kent when he would try to do family devotions. I mean, it was really awful! She would tell our children that this was wrong, that intelligent people don’t believe in these supernatural things. 

Nancy: She was highly resistant. 

Rosaria: Oh, it was really rough. And I was writing books, and these were very hard. There was a certain point after the second book, Openness Unhindered, came out. Well, there are two books that sort of are tied together: one is Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and the other is Openness Unhindered: Further Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. The were about sexual identity and union with Christ.

My mom read both of those books, and she came to me after reading both of those books. She said, “Rosaria, I’ve read both of your books, and I’m not weak like you. Maybe if I were weak like you, I would want to know this Jesus, want to have a life like you have. But I’m not weak like you. But I do want to tell you: I’m dying. I was just diagnosed with lung cancer, and I want to die my way. I don’t want you or your religion interfering with me and how I’m going to die.”

That was probably the biggest faith crisis of my life, because the hardest people to witness to are your family because they know your sin better than you do. There’s no faking it. They’ve been sinned against by you. 

Well, in God’s providence, I was able to spend the last ten days of my mother’s life with her in hospice. Kent took care of everything so that I literally just sat at her bedside the whole time.

At a certain point my mother just sat up and she looked at me, and she said, “Well, I guess I’m weak like you, now. Why don’t you tell me about this gospel? But I don’t believe. Why don’t I believe? If I’m weak like you, why don’t I believe?”

And I said, “Well, Mom, I don’t think it’s the gospel that you don’t know; I think it’s the Shepherd you don’t know. You seem to have the big strokes, but it’s the Person that you don’t know.” And my mother, in her very practical way said, “Fine. Okay. I’m dying. Tell me about this; tell me about Him.”

That began a fascinating time in my relationship with my mom. It only lasted for two days, because she died very quickly after that. But Kent and I started to read every Bible passage we knew of that told us about Jesus the Shepherd, and Jesus shepherding.

And my mother had this immediate and totally opposite response, where she couldn’t hear enough of it. She’d say, “Read me more; tell me more!” And then at a certain point she sat up in bed. You know, it’s funny, people who are dying, they can’t move their mouth, but all of a sudden they’re looking like they’re going to walk out of the room!

She sat up in bed, she said, “Well, but wait a second! What am I going to do about my sin? I don’t want to talk to a priest. What am I going to do with my sin?”

And I said, “Well, you have to talk to the Priest—the Priest, Jesus. You need to confess your sin and have confidence that He will forgive you.

She said, “But I don’t have to talk to you about it?”

“Nope! I’m not your priest!”

“Great! Good!”

It was very rough. My mom was a rough-around-the-edges woman. She had worked hard and had had a hard life, but two days before she died, I had the amazing privilege of seeing her commit her life to Jesus!

That was amazing! My mother died, and I had no regrets. That was the moment that I realized that God is merciful, and He hears your prayers.

I went to my homeschool co-op, which was a few days later, and one of my friends said, “Oh, Rosaria, what happened? Did your mom ever come to faith?”

I looked at her and I said, “Well, I don’t know. I mean, maybe it was the morphine talking. I mean, she said all the right things.”

And this friend (you know, homeschool moms just give you the smack-down!) just turned to me and she just sad, “You know what? You know what, sister? When you came to faith, there were a lot of people who didn’t believe it either. So guess what? Jesus saves sinners—just like you, just like me! Praise God for what He did in your mom’s life, and quit worrying about morphine!” Praise God for friends who can do that, because it’s terrifying!

Nancy: And, as you said in your book, it changed her future, but it changed your past as well.

Rosaria: It changed her future and our past. I don’t have any of those regrets. I don’t have any of those “what-ifs”—those childhood losses. Because in the forward motion of salvation, that resolves the backward glance of history.

Jesus rewrites history! The gospel changes individuals, but it also changes community. It changes the Body. That was one of the most powerful Christian lessons of my life!

Dannah: What a story! That’s Rosaria Butterfield testifying to the gospel’s transforming power. We need it to save us, and we also need it to change us. The gospel isn’t just for getting us going in the Christian life; it’s for every day. We can’t be true women on our own. 

Here’s Nancy to expand on that. She’s reading a statement from the True Woman Manifesto to begin. 

Nancy: We affirm that as redeemed sinners, we cannot live out the beauty of biblical womanhood apart from the sanctifying work of the gospel and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

First of all, “We affirm that as redeemed sinners.” This talks about who we are. That little phrase, “redeemed sinners,” has in it bad news and good news. It tells us two important things about ourselves.

First of all it tells us that we are sinners. That takes us back to Genesis chapter 3 which describes what theologians call the Fall of man. It was the Great Rebellion. What happened as a result of that great rebellion is that man and woman from the time of Adam and Eve to this day have been in a fallen condition.

The fall of man, the Great Rebellion, deadened our spirits. It separated us from the life that is in God. It resulted in us having this utter inability to please God—the impotence of human effort, human flesh, human ability. We cannot obey God in our fallen condition. We cannot please God. That’s what it means to be depraved. That’s what it means to be a sinner.

We must be regenerated by the Spirit of God, given a new heart, a new nature, the life of God placed within us. And so we say in this affirmation, “We are redeemed sinners.” That’s the good news. We are sinners who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. We are a new creation alive in Christ. That is, those of us who have repented of our sin and placed our faith in Jesus Christ to save us by what He did for us on the cross. Through no merit of our own, He has come and made us alive we who were spiritually dead.

As redeemed sinners, the image of God has been restored in us. It’s redemption that enables us to be fully human as we were created to be, connected to the life of God. We now have capacity to obey God, to please Him, to live as His true redeemed women. So we are redeemed sinners—sinners, but redeemed—those of us who are in Christ.

Now the question is, “If that’s the case, if we’ve been redeemed and we now have this capacity to obey God:

Why do we still sin?

Why do we find ourselves still giving in to temptation?

Why do we struggle to obey God?

Why do we struggle to be the women that He has designed us to be?

Well Romans 7 talks with us about this battle. It’s a battle with our flesh. It’s a battle with indwelling sin. The apostle Paul experienced this, this thing that inclines us, pulls us away from God and His law that is bent on going its own way. That’s our sinful flesh, the indwelling sin.

That’s why the apostle Paul says in Romans 7:18,

I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

Do you relate? Yes you do! Yes I do! We have to come to the critical realization that left to ourselves, on our own, we cannot live out the beauty of biblical womanhood. We can’t do it. Have you consciously acknowledged it?

I want to tell you ladies that this is one of the most important and liberating discoveries that you will ever make. Now it sounds defeating to say, “I cannot live this Christian woman life.” But it’s the starting place of a wonderful, joyful discovery of how you can live it.

“On my own I cannot be the woman God wants me to be.”

But here’s the good news. God has given us resources to enable us to fulfill His calling to be true women. And I want to focus over these next few minutes on what some of those resources are. Second Peter 1 tells us that

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence [by the way, that’s what it means to be a true woman, a woman that reflects the glory and excellence of God and through the knowledge of him who has called us to that], by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature (vv. 3–4).

Now that’s a long sentence and we’re not going to unpack all of it. It says that we have the divine power of God. We have His promises. We have the knowledge of Him. And we have through these things the resources to become partakers in the divine nature, to become women who reflect the image and the glory of God.

Now this affirmation that we’re looking at says that we cannot live out the beauty of biblical womanhood apart from the sanctifying work of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s talk about those two things. The sanctifying work of the gospel—when we say sanctifying we’re talking about a process of sanctification, a process of being conformed to the image of Christ. And we need to remember that.

When you find yourself in the middle of the day acting like this woman who has never known Jesus Christ, and you get defeated and discouraged, remember that you are in a process of being conformed to the image of Christ. There’s no magic wand. “Poof!” You are this godly true woman. It doesn’t happen overnight. There’s an ongoing work of the Spirit as He applies the gospel of Christ to our hearts and conforms us to the image of Christ.

Now we all know that it’s necessary to believe the gospel in order to get saved. But I find that most Christians don’t realize that we need to keep on believing the gospel, the gospel of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in order to live the Christian life once we’ve been saved. It’s not like I needed the gospel years ago when I got saved as a four-year-old and now I live some other way. We still live by the gospel of Christ as we’re being sanctified.

The fact is, you will fail. Every time you blow it, every time I blow it, that becomes an opportunity to preach the gospel to ourselves again—not to struggle and strive and try harder—“I’ll be a true woman, a good Christian woman if it kills me!” It may kill you! But to look to Christ, Christ crucified, buried, and raised for our justification and for our sanctification.

Every time we blow it, it’s a chance to recognize our utter hopelessness and helplessness apart from Christ, to repent, to cast ourselves afresh on Christ and His mercy and what He did for us at the cross. Every time we blow it, it’s an opportunity to demonstrate the gospel to those around us—to your children who heard you scream at the top of your lungs. It’s a chance to demonstrate the gospel.

Dannah: Amen. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, on our need for the gospel in every area of our lives. It’s a simple truth, and yet it changes everything. Sometimes we get so busy and distracted by our calendars, to-do lists, and phone screens that we forget the miracle of the Jesus in our hearts and in our lives. I’m so grateful we took some time today to remember and marvel. This weekend, I hope you’ll spend some quiet time with Him and continue to wonder at the message of the cross. And then, show up to church and soak in it some more. We simply can’t have too much gospel, my friend! 

We’ve been sharing it for twenty-five years here on Revive Our Hearts, and we’re nowhere near tired of shouting it from the rooftops. Somewhere there’s a woman aching to experience the freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness that we’ve found in Christ. Would you help us reach her? 

This month, we’re wrapping up a ministry year, and we’re navigating a financial deficit. In light of that, we’re trusting God to provide $1.4 million by May 31. It’s a big need and a lofty goal—but we believe this mission is worth it.

The women waiting on the other side of this ministry are more desperate for the gospel message than ever—and we don't want to pull back from a single initiative that might reach them. If God is prompting you to give, there is no better time. Every donation helps close the gap—and anything above our need goes directly toward expanding this ministry's reach.

When you give, we’ll send you Called to Thrive—a new booklet from Nancy that invites you to step deeper into the freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness Christ offers. To make a donation and request your copy, visit ReviveOurHearts.com/donate. With every dollar, you’re helping give another woman the chance to thrive in Christ. We can’t wait to see the transforming work God will do through His gospel in the ministry year to come. 

Next Sunday is Mothers Day! Come back and join us as we celebrate and honor the women we call “mom.” 

Thanks for listening today. I’m Dannah Gresh. We’ll see you next time on Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.