Seeing God's Gift

I remember hearing years ago, a simple message shared by Andy Stanley, from the familiar verse John 3:16,

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life.

God gave you a gift! That’s the message. That’s the Gospel!

The Gospel is a gift to be received. Unfortunately, there are confusing messages. Sometimes passages, such as this one from Matthew 25, will be lifted up and presented as “the Gospel.”

34 “Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who will receive good things from my Father. Inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world began. 35 I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 36 I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’  

The Gospel turns into something we do. The message becomes twisted, “God loves you so much that if you do what He asks of you, then He will give you the gift of eternal life.”

Where is the gift? Where is His grace, mercy and forgiveness?

If we are not careful, it quickly gets replaced with a list of things God expects us to do. We want to believe we can earn God’s love, pay Him back. It is so hard for us to think we can get something for free.

Of course, the Gospel isn’t free. It cost Jesus everything.

Jesus chose to come and give His life for yours. He did this because He knows who you are, even more than you do. He knows the love you are able to give the world, the grace and forgiveness you are able to extend to others.

He knows you can love as He loves.

34 “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. 35 This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.” (John 13, CEB)

This is not another list to make. This is not a call to look at everything Jesus did and go out and do it. Rather, this is the work of the Gospel in our lives, transforming us and making us new.

So what are we going to say? Should we continue sinning so grace will multiply? 2 Absolutely not! All of us died to sin. How can we still live in it? 3 Or don’t you know that all who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore, we were buried together with him through baptism into his death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life. 5 If we were united together in a death like his, we will also be united together in a resurrection like his. 6 This is what we know: the person that we used to be was crucified with him in order to get rid of the corpse that had been controlled by sin. That way we wouldn’t be slaves to sin anymore, 7 because a person who has died has been freed from sin’s power. 8 But if we died with Christ, we have faith that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and he will never die again. Death no longer has power over him. 10 He died to sin once and for all with his death, but he lives for God with his life. 11 In the same way, you also should consider yourselves dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6, CEB)

The Christian life is not a list to keep, trying to earn God’s love. The Gospel, the work of Jesus Christ transforms your life, making you new! Through His work, His gift, you go out into the world to be who Jesus knows you are, His love!

Blessings,

Pastor Matt