What’s it going to be, “Good
News” or Bad News?
I
realize more than ever how much I need real truth, wisdom, discernment, and
Godly direction to function in this insane world. Maybe it’s just me but lately the news I’ve
watched on TV is over the top with loads of personal
tragedy,
corruption, depravity, hatred and disaster. Mankind seems to have reached a new
low. When I refer back to Biblical
history I am reminded that the world was no different back then, evil filled
the earth and bad stuff happened. Take evil for example, during Noah’s time,
God grieved the level of mans’ depravity (moral corruption, wickedness).
Genesis
6:5-6 NIV
The Lord saw how great the wickedness
of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the
thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The
Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
Back
then God used the Global Flood as the means to rid this world of many evil
people. God has also told us that He is going to deal with man’s wickedness again.
That is why it is so important for people to open their eyes to the truth of
God’s Word. God’s Word tells us Jesus will be returning and when He does, those
in Christ will be rescued but those living apart from Christ will experience His
wrath. The fact is, many are already under God’s wrath because until one is
saved through Jesus’ work on the Cross, people remain spiritually dead. The
truth is, those who die living apart from God have really made the ultimate choice
for spiritual death. God does not desire man’s destruction; man through un-repented
sin has brought this destruction upon himself. Man ultimately makes the
personal choice to live in conflict with God.
Remember God created man to be in right relationship with Him.
So
those who have been rescued by Jesus are aware of His great love, mercy and
amazing grace. Their new life in Christ has a new purpose which is to love and
serve God and to play a role in the rescue of others before it is too late.
That is why followers of Jesus share the Gospel, The Good News”. In fact,
obediently, followers of Jesus take seriously the Great Commission and share
their faith in Christ fulfilling the second greatest commandment which is to
love others. Real love shares real hope
to those lost sheep (people) wandering aimlessly without a shepherd (Jesus).
Matthew
28:18-20 NIV
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Because
God has gone such great lengths to rescue us we can rejoice in the fact that He
really desires our friendship. He assures us that our salvation cannot be taken
away. We know this because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in believers.
If one has the Holy Spirit their salvation is secure.
Ephesians
1;13-14 NLT
And
now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you
the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance
he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did
this so we would praise and glorify him.
The Good News:
Those saved are no longer
under God’s wrath
Romans
8:1 NIV
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
Saved but still human:
Even
as a follower of Christ I have not always obeyed my Lord when it comes to
sharing the Gospel. And many times I
have put up road blocks between God and myself because of my attempt to do life
my way by trying
to
satisfy my earthly desires. At one time I actually believed I could hide my sin
from God. Plus, out of my desire to be
in control, I tried for years to keep God out of certain areas of my life. I often would wrestle with God for control of
my life. However, I realized that God is a much better wrestler than I am. His
desire for me is to live an abundant life. So each time I tried to weasel my
way out of his plan in exchange for mine, He graciously would gain control through
the power of the Holy Spirit re- directing me back on the path that He desires
for my life.
The Good News:
When we wander off like
lost sheep, the Shepherd Jesus will come looking for us. His desire is to
reconcile people to Himself.
Luke
19;9-10 NLT
Jesus
responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown
himself to be a true son of Abraham. For
the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.
Matthew
18:12-14 NIV
What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your
What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your
Father in heaven
is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.
The Good News:
Once we are saved we will
not lose our salvation even though at times we may stray a bit from God’s plan
John 10:28 NIV
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
We
have an awesome God who really does love and care about His creation. That is
why He grieves when man indulges in sin and pushes Him away while they folly. But
God is full of forgiveness. Christians understand that even when they mess up, if
they repent from their sin, they are forgiven. They know that their loving Father
in heaven will restore them back in right relationship with Him again. They
know they can trust the Holy Spirit to take back control of their lives and steer
them in the right direction again.
The Good News:
·
God Loves me and cares about me.
·
I have hope and a future.
·
I am no longer under God’s wrath.
·
I have eternal life. Jesus willingly gave His life for me.
·
I have a new purpose in life.
·
I have the playbook for life.
·
I am forgiven for my sin.
·
I will be restored.
·
The Holy Spirit will guide my life.
The Good News:
Those living in the United States
have the freedom to worship God and have access to His Word.
In Contrast:
Many
in this world would be persecuted and killed for having a Bible and declaring
their Christian faith.
Questions:
We
should ask ourselves, what do we do with God’s instruction and how should we
live in light of it?
Here is what Jesus tells us
about following Him:
Mark
8:34-36 NIV
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Personal Application:
Along
with some great instruction, God’s Word also shines the light on how we are living
our lives balancing the tension between self-centeredness and God-centeredness.
The Holy Spirit plays an important role in guiding us into the truth and
changing us from the inside out. The line that states “What good is it to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul”
really resonates with me. This great bit of wisdom deals directly with my
pride, my material wealth, my motives, and even my level of self-satisfaction.
It helps me puts perspective on who I am living for, myself or my God.
Personally
I have an ongoing battle with personal motive. When I do good things for God’s
kingdom, somewhere In the back of my mind I’m hoping my good deeds earn me
greater favor with God or that by doing good deeds I am deserving of more than
what God has already given me. Every time I catch myself thinking this way, I
realize I am far from being Holy. In fact, it reminds me once again how
desperately I am in need of a Savior.
Sometimes
I forget that it is not what I do, but what Jesus will do through me that
really matters. What really matters is that Jesus gets the credit for anything
I do that is good, for He is the only thing that is good about me.
So
I need to remember that anyone I help or minister to know that I am motivated
by my love for Jesus. They need to know
that it is His love working through me that inspires me to help and love others.
This way they might be intrigued by the
life changing personal relationship I have with Jesus and desire to know more
about Him. The Good News is Jesus has the power to change sinners into saints.
His power can heal the broken. His power can save the lost.
Even
though I believe it is God who ultimately brings people to Himself, He allows His
followers to play a role in His plan of salvation. That is why Jesus instituted the Great
Commission for us to go out into the world to share the Gospel.
God
has also given us Spiritual gifts to edify the Church body. Which means I must
be a good steward of these gifts that God has given me. When I serve God I need
to constantly ask myself this question; Has God received the Glory He is due?
For if not for God, I would not be able to do what I do for His kingdom. If not
for God, I would still be living life without purpose or hope.
The
one thing that has helped me recognize my own level of inconsistency in my walk
with God is through the study of God’s Word. God’s Word opens my eyes to things
I would have not been able to recognize on my own. With the help of the Holy Spirit I am better
able to discern how to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God. Even
though I sometimes put myself first, and even though I still sin against God, I
am aware that God understands my spiritual condition and still forgives me and
give me insight into how I can live life with a renewed mind that lives in the
world but is not of the world. The Christian life is a life of process. Even
though I sometimes take a step backward I am constantly moving forward.
Let
God’s Word be your daily nourishment and not the foolish wisdom that permeates
our culture. For those who are in Christ have a hope and a future. So even though a lot of what we see on television
news is the “bad news”, God’s Word and
Christ’s love is the “Good News.”
Remember this passage:
Don’t waste time arguing over foolish ideas and silly myths and legends. Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit. Bodily exercise is all right, but spiritual exercise is much more important and is a tonic for all you do. So exercise yourself spiritually, and practice being a better Christian because that will help you not only now in this life, but in the next life too.
Remember this as well:
Romans
5:8 NIV
But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us.
Just Sayin…………………..Dave
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