What's so GOOD about the Good News?!

Have you ever been in a church service and realized how a sinner is told to come as they are...that they don't have to change and God will accept them just the same? But then when it comes to the Christian...now that's a different story. They ought to be this work-aholic who's endlessly doing this and doing that, giving enough, fasting enough, keeping all the rules and needing to wallow in the ground and change their wicked ways or else. And don't even think that God will hear your prayers or help you until you do!

Sound like good news? It's not. And Jesus did not die so we can get saved and then live in bondage the rest of our lives! It's sad but that's a common happening today and we wonder why the joy and peace and love we experienced when we first received Jesus fades...is it not obvious? We turn relationship into a dictatorship. As you read the Bible you will discover how Jesus termed the Christian life and remarkably He used words such as "easy" and "light." It's only religion that wants to put a yoke around your neck and pull it tight.

One of my favorite books in the Bible that you would do well to read is Galations. It is absolutely amazing. And one of the things you will find out if you read the history behind it, is that Paul was addressing "Christians" not people who hadn't recieved Jesus yet. Some were trying to get the Galations back under do's and don'ts and living life under the law (which they were already free from). Paul was telling them not to give into that perverted gospel - a gospel that was really no gospel at all!

The term "gospel" is used very loosely in our christian circles today. In fact, I was in "church" for years and still had no clue what it really means. The gospel is not about how much you do for God, or how much you love your neighbor or even how much repenting you do. It's easy to get caught up in all the "doings" of what religion classifies of being a "good" Christian and miss the whole point - Jesus! The word gospel means good news. Heard that before? You're doing good, but there's more. It is also a hyper-bolic term in the Greek which means "it is such ridicously good news that is SO GOOD it is very very hard to believe!" And to phrase that into our everyday language, "it is such good news that it is almost too good to be true!" Have you ever heard news like that? The gospel we hear is suppose to be just that! And "news" is something that has ALREADY happened. It is about how much God loves YOU.  To the point that when you believe it, you will find that who He is is born inside of you.

There is a verse in the Bible that you may very well be familiar with. It is John 3:16 "for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life." Now what I find so neat about this verse is that word for 'love." It is Agape in the Greek which comes from an old Hebrew word which is Ahab. Something very fascinating about this is that it was used in connection with prostitutes and was like a sexual term which meant "to breathe after." It literally means that when a man would catch a glimpse of the beauty of a prostitute, his heart would leap within him and he'd loose his breath for a moment and breathe after. And in just the same way, when God looked out at the entire human race (in all their sin and everything) He still saw their beauty and His heart leaped within Him and He lost His breath for a moment! What love! Isn't that wonderful?

Now I know I am giving you a random sling of verses here, but listen carefully to each of these. Jesus Christ has taken away the sins of the world -John 1.29. Note* that it does not say the sins of the "church" but the sins of the "world!" Wow huh?  As far as the east is from the west, so far He has removed our transgressions from us -Psalms 103:12. The east and the west never meet up...that's a lot of distance my friend! Your transgressions are not connected to you anymore, they are removed from you that far. He will remember your sins no more -Hebrews 8:12. And no more means "no more". Jesus has completely dwelt with your sins. He "became sin" and when He died, your sin died with Him! You stand completely innocent before God because of His doing not your good works. If you were to never do another good deed in your life...God would still be pleased with you because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There is a reason why it's called the "finished" work. You can not add to it. God is not angry with you. He LOVES you!

In the next several blogs, I plan to keep digging into this amazing GRACE and unconditional LOVE of God. I am wrapping this one to a close, but I want to leave you with this awesome verse. 2 Corinthians 5:21 You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Righteousness is made up from 2 root words: scale and balance. It literally means to "balance the scales." Have you ever seen those old scales they used back in the day? They would put so much of salt (or whatever) on one side and something else on the other till both sides balanced out? Well in just the same way, if you were to put God on one side of the scale (with ALL of His holiness and perfection, etc) and you in Jesus on the other side - the scales would balance precisely! And just as holy and perfect as God is...that is how holy and perfect you are in Jesus. Think about that! Jesus IS your righteousness. And this is a FREE gift (or present) and you don't have to earn a present or pay it back, do you? 

Jesus has done all of this for you for free. You don't have to do anything to earn this. Just receive His love. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him -Colossians 2.6 Just as you received Him...continue in Him that very same way. We seem to think that once we get born-again we ought to move on into the "deeper" things of God. But I'm telling you there is nothing deeper then the love of God. God IS love! Can you imagine my wife telling me, "Michael, I love you" and me replying "well that's awful nice Britt, but can't you tell me anything deeper?" That would be dumb! God loves you and the depths of His love is so high and so wide you'll never fully understand it or escape it. This Christian life is not burdensome. It is freedom. Christ is your life. You can rest in Him. I hope you have been encouraged by this. This is good news!