Unveiling the Heart of the Good News in the Gospel
Sermon 2/04/24
The concept of the “good news” can appear simple enough at first glance, but when plagued with the question of what it means, many of us either have an incorrect answer or are simply speechless. As Christians, it is easy to get wrapped up in the notion that we’re talking about the good news of God’s forgiveness, how God turned us into better people, or gaining a new identity. In retrospect, those all play a part in what the good news is, but that is not what the gospel is referring to—sin is.
To Understand the Good News, We Must First Understand the Bad News
The topic of sin is a subject many of us would like to skip over and instead, focus on how we can redeem ourselves from it. But here is the thing—we will never be able to embrace the gospel’s good news if we are not honest about the bad news. A common misconception we have of the heavy-handed word is that because we sin, we are sinners. Let's flip this: we are sinners, therefore, we sin. Once we are willing to come to terms with that shift, we will indeed be able to grasp the true nature of our sin and, in turn, the grace of the Gospel.
When Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sin, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit”, he is reminding us of the suffering of Jesus. Because of his sacrifice, we can celebrate Christ’s victory over sin. Peter is telling us that all of our sins—past, present, and future—have all been paid for by Jesus. In his innocence and righteousness, He suffered so that we, in our unrighteousness, can be forgiven and brought closer to God.
Embracing a New Identity
The bottom line is we don't have to add to the cross, nor can we. Doing things like reading the bible, praying, dressing nice when you come to church, or any other things we think will make God love us is unnecessary because the cost has already been paid and the love is present regardless. So instead, we spend time with God through prayer and reading scripture simply to spend time with the one who is already pleased with us.
Remember, this is about identity. We used to be identified as sinful, but because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, we are now recognized as righteous—everything we as Christians do flows from this new identity. We lay ourselves down for the sake of others' generosity. There’s no need to search for a new identity because we already have one in the Savior and that is the good news of the gospel.
