So the other weekend I was able to have a conversation with
an older gentleman who was telling me about his background in a particular
denomination. He told me that as a child he grew up in a “church” that was very
controlling. His church experience centered on fear, control, and manipulation.
After listening to him I heard no trace of the Gospel. There was no good news.
It was simply if you can do all these things and avoid all these things you
will be saved.
I drove home that night thinking about how many people are
sitting in “churches” and are not hearing the gospel preached to them. How many people are being fed a works gospel?
This is no gospel at all of course.
Then as I drove home I thought about how many times we
assume people know and understand the gospel here in our country because we
live in a “Christian Nation”. How many times have we passed people or know people and assume they know the gospel and they don't?
So let’s be clear here and just say what the Gospel is:
God created man
perfect until the fall and sin entered the world. Because of Adam’s sin, all
have sinned and are born into rebellion. Because man is naturally bent on
rebellion, he can’t uphold God’s commandments.
But in God’s mercy, he sent himself in the
form of man, Jesus Christ, lived the life we couldn’t live, and died the death
we should have died. He rose from the
dead victorious over death, hell and the grave and declares to us today, by the
Holy Spirit and through his Church, that all who put their trust in him will be
justified, made blameless, in the sight of God , not because of works but
because of faith.
In Christ we become new creations, continually being sanctified by His Spirit. In him we have a hope of future glory. We have a hope that at the day of judgement we will be seen as pure and perfect
and will enjoy eternal fellowship with him in the new Heavens and new Earth when
all things are restored.
NOW THIS IS GOOD NEWS!
The gospel is not about what God wants you to do but what
God wants to do in you.
