IS THE GOSPEL GOOD NEWS? PART 2

IS THE GOSPEL GOD NEWS?

                                        PART 2: Fire and Brimstone!

"Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is the Messiah, the Lord." Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)

Have you ever wondered why, if this is such good news, people aren’t clamoring to get inside the church doors? Why so many Christians far too often (myself included), neither look nor behave like we’ve heard such good news that we just can’t keep it to ourselves? Why we aren’t so excited about what we’ve heard and learned we just can’t wait to share this good news with everyone we meet? Why love, joy, peace, and compassion are so conspicuously absent from our lives?

I certainly have. Remember the bumper sticker or poster that says, "If it were a crime to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" I was seriously thinking about that the other day. To my utter shame I had to confess that I'm not sure. Most people who know me might acknowledge that I am a good, moral, nice person, as are many Christians. But, then again, so are a lot of unbelievers good, moral, and nice. So what is it in our lives that identifies us as Christians? Do people look at us and say, "He has been with Jesus,” or, "She has been with Jesus?" Do they look at us and say, "I see the peace and joy in your life. Tell, me what can I do to get that in my life?” Or do they look at us and say, “Why on earth would I want to be like you? You’re self-righteous, up-tight, judgmental, and hypocritical; you look miserable, you aren't kind, and you have more problems than I do! If this is what your Jesus brings to you, I'm better off without him."

And they would have a good point, because before we can effectively and accurately share the good news, we first have to understand it, receive it, and live it ourselves. Some of you may be like me – I grew up hearing a lot of “fire and brimstone” sermons. The message fairly thundered from the pulpit: “God hates sin, and you are a miserable sinner! Jesus loves you!  He came to save you! If you don’t believe that, and receive Him as your Lord, God will send you to burn forever and ever in the fires of hell!” I tell you I could smell the sulfur in the air, see the raging flames, and hear the screams of the damned.

I think many people are scared into saying the sinners’ prayer, and I do think God honors their prayer; but, when you come to the Lord in that manner, it’s hard to see God as a loving father. He is more apt to be seen as a “cosmic bully” that you have to work really hard to please than a compassionate father who loves you more than you can imagine. Many times those who hear the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God!” (the classic sermon by Jonathan Edwards) type of message just outright reject both the message and its God; for them, God, if there is one, is seen as not only angry, but cruel and vindictive, as well.

Yes, my friend, it is true that Scripture does indeed say that “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:23, NIV), and Paul reminds us that “…the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23), NIV) There are terrible consequences for sin, in this life and beyond, and we must evangelize and share the good news that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ; but, before we can do that in the power of the Holy Spirit, we ourselves need to understand that the gospel is not “fire insurance for the hereafter” or a "get out of hell free card."

Please don't misunderstand me. I am not saying we don't need to pass out tracts or knock on doors or preach and teach about the consequences of unrepented sin. But if that’s all we know and teach and preach, or even the primary thing, we are misrepresenting both God and the gospel. If we are serving God from a position of fear, we cannot truly know Him or love Him.

THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION

If it were a crime to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me?

How did I come to know the Lord? Did that influence how I view God? In what way?

 

Join us next week for

 

Part 3: Is God a Cosmic Bully?

 

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As always, I pray you are blessed by today’s sharing, and I invite your comments and prayer requests. (Please do check the guidelines first, though. They are important, and can be found in the "About" section.) I hope to meet you here again next Monday.

 

Love, Hugs, and Blessings!

 

Syandra

ABOUT THIS SITE

Hi, and welcome to Kingdom Abundance!

My name is Syandra Ingram, and I am so glad you have found this site.

I first want to clarify that this is not a blog about financial prosperity. God does provide for us, and sometimes He blesses us with financial and material prosperity; however, there is much, much more to Kingdom Abundance than material success. I believe we can be living an abundant life even if we don't have two nickels to rub together; and, conversely, we can have riches and fame and yet be spiritual paupers. I am not opposed to financial blessings. Believe me, I welcome them! But its absence or presence is not intended to be a measure of how much God loves us or how good we are being.

So, you may be wondering what we will be talking about... all I can tell you is, "whatever the Lord impresses me to share with you." This blog has been on my heart for some time, and it comes out of my desire to go deeper in my own Christian walk. Jesus said that He came to give us abundant life. (See John 10:10).  I don't know about you, but I want more of God; I want to live an abundant, overcoming, overflowing, victorious life. I want to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that the fruit of the Spirit just pours out of me onto people who are hurting, people who need to know how very much God loves them. Am I there yet? No, I'm on a journey, and I will be sharing with you what the Lord is teaching me along the way. 

This I know, my friend: God loves us more than our human little pea brains can comprehend. The Creator of the universe, the God who knew us before the foundation of the world, has made it possible through Jesus' finished work at the cross for us to live in the Kingdom of God and experience life abundantly.

I would love for you to join me in your own search to go deeper

GUIDELINES FOR COMMENTS AND PRAYER REQUESTS

I welcome and encourage you to share your comments, prayer requests, and stories of your own journey, with these guidelines:

       Respect others on the site, both those who have posted and those who are reading

       Stay on topic

       Be kind

       Remember, you are sharing on a public forum – do not include personal, identifying   information unless you are OK with it being known. God knows your name and situation.

As moderator of the site, I reserve the right to delete any posts that are offensive or do not add to the building up of the body of Christ. We are all seeking the truth. Let’s respect that.
I will post new articles on Wednesdays, but I will check Comments and Prayer Requests daily.

Love, Hugs, and Blessings!

Syandra  




 

IS THE GOSPEL GOOD NEWS? PART 1

IS THE GOSPEL GOOD NEWS?

The word gospel itself means good news; yet, today there doesn't seem to be much good news in the world. Christians don't seem to be burning with any good news they just have to share. So I have been asking myself, "When did the gospel stop being good news, or even no news?"

In this first installment, we are going to look closely at the beginning of the gospel. Most Christians are very, very familiar with the story, because it is told every Christmas. If this is you, you may be tempted to stop reading right here. But I am going to implore you to read it as if you are reading it for the very first time. Ask the Holy Spirit to breathe life into the story. Put yourself in the story. Be there.

Part 1: The Announcement

The Old Testament ends with the writings of the prophet Malachi, and for the next 400 years God does not speak. He sends no prophets. For 400 years the people hear nothing from God, until one night God breaks that silence; He has something to say to His people, something major, something important, something fantastic! So He sends the angel of the Lord to make this announcement that will change everything for His people, the Jewish people. We might expect that God told the angel to rush this important news to Caiaphas, the Jewish High Priest. But He didn’t. Well then, perhaps God thought it was news that should more properly be first announced to the Sanhedrin, the supreme council and court of ancient Israel. Presided over by the High Priest and composed of 70 men drawn from the chief priests, scribes and elders, the Sanhedrin was the crème de le crème, the final arbiter of all things Jewish. Certainly we can understand why God would speak to this group first. But He didn’t. Now we are a bit baffled. He didn’t tell the angel to go to the High Priest or to the Sanhedrin. So who’s left? Of course! The king! That must be it! God told the angel to go tell King Herod. Nope, wrong again.

No, this earth shattering news was to be delivered to shepherds who were looking after their sheep in the fields near Bethlehem. God passed over the High Priest, the Sanhedrin and the king, telling the angel to make the announcement that would change the world to a group of shepherds.

Can you imagine their shock when the angel of the Lord appeared to them that night? It’s just another night in the somewhat boring life of a shepherd. They are just ordinary men doing their very ordinary jobs, watching their sheep, perhaps talking among themselves. Then suddenly the sky lights up with God’s glory and the angel of the Lord is standing there right there in front of them!  Luke 2:9 tells us they responded as we most likely would – with sheer terror!

Seeing that they were terrified, the angel quickly reassured them, saying,

"Do not be afraid, I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’”        Luke 2:10-14 (NIV)

After the angel and the heavenly host left as suddenly as they had come, the shepherds looked at each other with astonishment. Having overcome their initial terror at this miraculous display (they were still alive, after all), they excitedly compared notes about what they had just seen and heard. Remember, God had been silent for 400 years, and now His angel came to talk to them? mere shepherds? Was it real? Did it really happen? The angel said this baby was “a Savior, the Messiah, the Lord!” Could it be true?  Luke tells us they left “hurriedly” to find this baby the angels had told them about. I like the way The Message expresses it: “They left, running…!” 

The angel of the Lord said that the arrival of this baby, Jesus, was good news, great news, even joyous news, and it was for "all the people!" A Savior is born! The Messiah is come! The Lord is here! And He's here for everyone! After the shepherds found Mary, Joseph, and the baby, they just had to share this good news with everyone they met. Scripture says,

“… they returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” (Luke 2:20, NIV)

These very ordinary men were chosen to be the first to hear the good news, and they were the first to begin to spread the good news. Each Christmas we remember their encounter with the angel and the angel’s proclamation of good news. We read about it in the book of Luke, we tell it to our children, sermons are preached, and songs are sung. Our hearts soar with “Joy to the World” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and many, many other wonderful hymns that speak of this miraculous intervention of God. For a few weeks we immerse ourselves in this good news, and we feel its excitement, joy, love, and power. Christmas is such a wonderful time of year because, if we are celebrating it properly, our focus is on Jesus, the most wonderful gift of all.

The Old Testament is complete. The New Testament is being birthed.

This is the beginning of the story of the gospel of Jesus Christ – the good news!

THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION

• Am I excited about the gospel today?
• Is my heart so full of the love of Jesus I just have to share it with someone?
• Have I glorified or praised God lately?

Join us next week for

Part 2: If Its’ Such Good News, Why Do So Many Think It’s Bad News?

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I pray you are blessed by today’s sharing, and I invite your comments and prayer requests. (Please do check the guidelines first, though. They are important, and can be found in the "About" section.) I hope to meet you here again next Monday.

Love, Hugs, and Blessings!

Syandra