Filed under: Me
The “Good News†that we’ve forgotten:
Here is the gospel of Jesus… as I understand it at this moment… and this is GOOD NEWS…
1. The world is a messed up place… (think zits, hip replacement surgery, Chernobyl, weeds in your lawn, etc…) we are imperfect people living in an imperfect place… However, that’s not how things started out to be… Man was created to be in perfect relationship with God & His creation…
2. Somewhere along the way, something went wrong… That something was Adam’s disobedience to God… The result was imperfect humanity and a break in the relationship of God and man…
3. To be united with God demands perfection - Holiness… This is why God gave his people the Law… and demanded they live by it… If they could not do so, death would be the result…
4. No person could live it out perfectly… Until Jesus came on the scene!!!
5. As the GOD-man – infinite in holiness, completely sinless, & perfectly righteous… Jesus lived perfection on behalf of all humanity… satisfying God’s demand for human perfection… for all people of all time…
6. As the GOD-man - Jesus absorbed all the sin of humanity … died on the cross while bearing it… satisfying the demand of God for death as a result of sin… for all people of all time…
7. As the GOD-man – Jesus overcame the ultimate result of sin – DEATH… He did this by rising from the grave 3 days after his crucifixion… This resurrection is the defining moment of Christianity… Believing this takes faith – since it’s not like people rise from the dead everyday… If the resurrection did not happen then all of Christianity is completely in vain – THE BIGGEST HOAX EVER!!!
8. During Jesus’ time on earth… and even after his ascention into heaven… people have been invited to be a part of His Kingdom… His kingdom on earth – The church… and His future kingdom – Heaven…
9. To be a part of the Kingdom (both present and future), we must acknowledge that our imperfection separates from a perfect God…
10. We must trust that the infinite nature of Jesus’ goodness and holiness was able to absorb the imperfection of all humanity of all time… He did this by dying on the cross…
11. We must repent from sin… and imitate the death of Jesus… How??? By dying to our human nature, fleshly desires, and sinful tendencies…
12. We must commit to living like Jesus…
AND, it’s GOOD NEWS to live like Jesus lived!!!
Don’t you agree??? Isn’t it the best possible way to live???
Jesus is way better than Barney…
Because living like Jesus means no longer being able to act like Barney… We cannot cover our eyes and ignore reality…. The gospel is loving our neighbors… The gospel is loving our enemies… The gospel is helping the sick and the poor… The gospel is sharing the message of the Kingdom…
THEOLOGY MUST BECOME ETHICS!!!
After all, James himself says – “Faith without works is deadâ€
7087 Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>