What are the most forgotten and overlooked truths of life in Christ?
I believe most followers of Jesus, most of the time, are not experiencing the Good News of Jesus and the Kingdom of God—the Gospel. We can all lose track of the significance and multifaceted power of the Gospel, even on Sunday mornings. It’s often true of me. How about you?
I’ve heard the Good News of Jesus described as a beautiful gemstone. Depending on the angle that you are looking at it, you see different facets and splendor. Only as you consider the whole gem do you see the fullness of its amazing quality and character. In the next several blog posts we’ll dive deeper into a number of these facets. I hope you will be drawn into Christ and that the posts help you see the implications and power for life the Gospel holds—not just after death, but in all of life.
Consider these wonderful facets of the Good News of the Kingdom and Jesus Christ:
- The Cross: atonement—God’s wrath satisfied; justification—right before God; redemption—bought with a price
- Adoption: made children and heirs of God
- Reconciliation: brought back into relationship with God
- Peace: brought into oneness; hostility between Jews and nations demolished
- New Life: made new and able to live the new life
- Freedom: set free from slavery to sin and death
- Indwelt by God: Christ in us the hope of glory
- Baptism of the Spirit: the Holy Spirit as comforter and guide; sanctifying and empowering us
- Jesus: our living bread, our life, thirst quencher, light
- Salvation: rescued from slavery, the wages of sin, and the destructive forces of this world
- Justice and Hope: God’s Kingdom and will expressed and experienced in our world
Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44).
How does it make you feel as you reflect on all that is embedded in this Good News—the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom?