September 19, 2020
It's Simply the Only Way
Andy McDonald
Why is the Good News – Good News? To most people, Christians think that there’s an uneven balance of good and evil in all of our lives. If the good outweighs the bad, then possibly I’ll get to heaven and not go to hell because that is the place reserved those who don’t repent or those who don’t want to know Jesus. If you’ve been around WholeLife Church for a while, you’ll know that simply is not what we teach. God’s grace has provided a way for us to not share, not collaborate, not partner – but simply accept his righteousness as our own. That’s really good news! So why are we not constantly in a state of happiness knowing that, though this world is really hard to live in right now, our life with Christ for eternity is secure in the end? Wouldn’t that be really, really good news? So, why isn’t it?
Could it be because the Gospel was not meant to be thought of as future good news, but good news now. In Mark 1, Jesus didn’t say, “The Kingdom of God is down the road a bit.” Consider Jesus’ statement to the Pharisees when they questioned him about eating with curiously interested tax collectors and sinners: And Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but [only] those who are sick. I did not come to call the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to repent], but sinners to repentance [to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness].”
Luke 5:31 Amplified Version
Any time change takes place, there is a natural, and sometimes personal, resistance to it—not only because of the pain of change, but also because of the fear. The idea that our self-preservation (or more often our self-interests) will not be met can bring a fair amount of discouragement. We all would like to have an infection inside our bodies cut out, but it’s never a happy thought to realize that we need it done now. The Gospel is truly good news to a lost world. However, we cannot ignore that it is also a personal affront to our living every day. Some will walk away from it, while others will realize that it’s the only way to live.
Could it be because the Gospel was not meant to be thought of as future good news, but good news now. In Mark 1, Jesus didn’t say, “The Kingdom of God is down the road a bit.” Consider Jesus’ statement to the Pharisees when they questioned him about eating with curiously interested tax collectors and sinners: And Jesus replied to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but [only] those who are sick. I did not come to call the [self-proclaimed] righteous [who see no need to repent], but sinners to repentance [to change their old way of thinking, to turn from sin and to seek God and His righteousness].”
Luke 5:31 Amplified Version
Any time change takes place, there is a natural, and sometimes personal, resistance to it—not only because of the pain of change, but also because of the fear. The idea that our self-preservation (or more often our self-interests) will not be met can bring a fair amount of discouragement. We all would like to have an infection inside our bodies cut out, but it’s never a happy thought to realize that we need it done now. The Gospel is truly good news to a lost world. However, we cannot ignore that it is also a personal affront to our living every day. Some will walk away from it, while others will realize that it’s the only way to live.
September 12, 2020
Simply Profound
Jeff Cinquemani
There is something profoundly wonderful about experiencing or tasting something the way it was originally intended. In the Bible, we read the story of Cain and Abel and about the first murder that took place. Here, we see the plight of mankind played out in the first two children of Adam and Eve. Do we give into our own way, or do we strive to do it God’s way? The hard part is that it ends up being seemingly disastrous with either decision. So, what’s the point? What’s the “Good” of the “Good News?”
However, there’s another side to the story, it’s at the end of Genesis, Chapter 4. Here we find a new child being born; his name is Seth – which actually means “to set in place of.” It is the real meaning or, we might say, the original meaning of the Gospel. We have a brand new way to look at our lives, both now and in the future.
Romans 3:22-24 (Message)
The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
However, there’s another side to the story, it’s at the end of Genesis, Chapter 4. Here we find a new child being born; his name is Seth – which actually means “to set in place of.” It is the real meaning or, we might say, the original meaning of the Gospel. We have a brand new way to look at our lives, both now and in the future.
Romans 3:22-24 (Message)
The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
September 5, 2020
Nothing Added
Jeff Cinquemani
If you were given news of the best restaurant in town and then given conditions that you had to go there in a certain type of car, or you had to go with a certain person because the chef only favors him/her, how would you respond? The news of this restaurant becomes a bit less enchanting. So, too, with the Gospel – when we add our own conditions to God’s simple truth, we not only dampen its appeal, but we also diminish its meaning in the life of a seeker.
In Romans 3:25, Paul shares the dangers of adding obstacles to the Gospel. It was a clear understanding of his rebuttal to those who were arguing about circumcision being a “must” for the early church converts to Christianity.
Acts 15:10-11 (Message)
“So why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too? Don’t we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation? So what are we arguing about?”
In Romans 3:25, Paul shares the dangers of adding obstacles to the Gospel. It was a clear understanding of his rebuttal to those who were arguing about circumcision being a “must” for the early church converts to Christianity.
Acts 15:10-11 (Message)
“So why are you now trying to out-god God, loading these new believers down with rules that crushed our ancestors and crushed us, too? Don’t we believe that we are saved because the Master Jesus amazingly and out of sheer generosity moved to save us just as he did those from beyond our nation? So what are we arguing about?”