“If there’s anything in life that we should be passionate about, it’s the Gospel. And I don’t mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to colour the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first importance to each of us. And only the Gospel ought to be.”~ C. J. Mahaney
What is this Gospel? Is it the story of Jesus in the first four books of the New Testament? Is the Gospel narrowed down to blood pouring out, seven final words, so many hours on the cross, three days in the tomb, and the Son of Man's resurrection from the dead? Is this what causes our hearts to rejoice and colours our thinking of the world?
Or is the Gospel marvellously extensive, revealing redemption in minute detail? Maybe the Gospel is more than the story of Jesus, more than all the words etched on the leaves of the Bible. Quite possibly the Gospel is the story of the world: creation, fall, the promise of Hope, Redemption, and the trajectory that redemption takes us: into boundless, complete fellowship with God Himself.
Perhaps the Gospel is more than salvation and more than hope. It is possible that the Gospel is much more than restoring things to a pre-fallen state. Could the Gospel be making things better than they were? It is certainly all of these things and not less... And it is beyond probable that the Gospel is more abundant and invasive than we have ever considered.
How has the Gospel, the story of Redemption and beyond, changed you recently?
~ Johanna
Some further thoughts on the Gospel from today:
ReplyDeleteIn recent years my idea of the Gospel has shifted from 'the good news'... Not that the promise of Redemption running throughout Genesis to Revelation isn't good news, or that the moment where God became a man isn't something to shout from the rooftops - it is!! But you can see by that thought alone that I think the Gospel is so much bigger than Jesus' death and resurrection. It goes both all the way back to the promise that Adam's and Eve's seed will crush the head of the serpent, and it goes forward as the story of Redemption, even to the redemption of the earth (Romans 8).
Our names are written on the pages of Redemption's story, so the Gospel must go beyond the resurrection, must go to the very end of the ages.
~ Jody