The Good News
Central to everything Christian is what’s called
the gospel, meaning the good
news. And it is good news,
news that arrives like a fresh breeze on a spring morning. But
to understand the good news some bad news needs to be
examined. And there is bad
news. This bad news is the consequence of something that occurred unexpectedly
during the course of a normal day, the result of a choice made without
understanding the effect it would have.
Like a choice made by a child who doesn’t understand cause and
effect. First, though, we
should step back and start from the beginning, because in the beginning
there was no bad or good news, there was just life lived in newness,
honesty and joy.
In the beginning
God created his first children, Adam and Eve, they weren’t
symbolic but actual, and he created
an environment of growth, learning and fulfillment for them. Most of
all he created them with the capacity to love.
That’s what he wanted, that was his dream and goal - a people who
would love him.
Yet this dream brings with it an unavoidable dilemma: The freedom of choice.
He can’t coerce us into loving him because that would be contrary to
the definition of love, contrary to his very nature.
If he created us to automatically love him, that love would be
meaningless. There must be choice.
So, he made us free-moral-agents, only then could we respond to him with
an un-coerced love.
His dream was that people
would want him, appreciate him, like him and love him, by personal
choice.
We aren’t told how long Adam and Eve lived in this paradise before being confronted with the need to choose. But eventually they did. They chose to marginalize him and give their attention to another. This brought another unavoidable dilemma. If God's goal is un-coerced love, then what happens with those who don’t want him? What happens to the people who choose to be independent even though they were designed for dependence? What if they chose to love only them selves? Those and other questions arise. But in any case, Adam and Eve were estranged from him and sent away. They were sent out to fend for themselves since that’s what they wanted: Independence.
As they began their struggle something was born in them.
It was more than an attitude and more than a consequence. They
had changed inside.
Their Father had called it death.
He said they would die, but not just physically.
No, something inside them died, and something else took its
place, our
old nature.
Our old nature is independent and defiant.
It doesn’t want critiqued or anyone telling it what to do.
It’s willing to
die before it submits. It
wants to be the center of attention, impress itself, whine,
grumble and exploit. It doesn’t have friends, but
only wants to use others for
personal gain. In other words, it's
self-oriented. Sound
familiar?
Now that they were separated from God, their needs weren’t being met as they were designed, so their old nature had to develop the pattern of the world to survive: Using external resources trying to satisfy internal needs. It had to compete and exploit to feed, always insatiable. This dynamic has been passed down through the centuries to us. Every person is born with this old nature, every person is born separated from God. What does that mean? Well..., as you get to know him you see what he's like. He's compared to light in that he's warm, he illuminates and exposes things. He carries messages, activates life and much more. In addition to the symbolism of light, pleasure and joy are in his right hand. He instills purpose and shows us how valuable we are, he teaches, inspires, plays and helps us to our best. He strengthens, he gives unexpected gifts, comforts and has a penetrating sense of humor. He's gentle, compassionate and artistic. He's also referred to as Love, he is love.
We were created dependent upon him, we need him, we were designed that way. Since that's the case, what happens when we're separated from him? There's emptiness and an inarticulate longing, a kind of death. The absence of God in our life is a profound death. In fact, hell is simply the permanent absence of God for those who didn't want him. People do get what they want in the end, either independence from him or connection with him. Today everyone, whether they want him or not, enjoys his presence and his beauty. This life carries with it a warmth that he set into motion for everyone. But later on, those who don't want him won't even have that. There’s an old saying: For those who don't want him, this life is the closest thing to heaven they're going to get, but for those who love him, this life is the closest thing to hell they'll have to experience.
Being born separated from God brings with
it present and future implications. In the present we live in a
world who for the most part reject him. That's our right, a God given
right, to choose or reject him. But in this rejection we are left
alone in our independence, alone in our emptiness, alone to seek
fulfillment that's forever illusive. The present effects the
future when we pass from this life having followed our daily habits
ignoring him, only to spend eternity alone and empty, not just
dissatisfied in this life, but forever. That has been the
sentencing from the beginning: If we reject him then we will be
independent of him forever.
That’s the bad news.
From the beginning God said he would intervene and give each one
of us the chance to choose for ourselves,
that he wouldn't just lay Adam & Eve's choice upon us. He
said he would enter our lives and make
things clear. This intervening involved the Messiah, the time
when God would come to earth and bring about clarity and cleansing.
We are living in the second-chance age.
Today if a person remains hostile, indifferent or even religious toward
him, what can be said? There won't
be another chance. Our
Father weeps at the loss. He can't
be held unjust because of our personal unresponsiveness. It's
simply a matter of choice. He’s gone the second mile. We inherited
separation, but we also inherited personal choice.
It's for each of us to choose. If
we continue to refuse unto death, then the choice has been made.
When Adam and Eve walked out, the trial convened and sentencing
was declared: If people wanted separation from God, then that was the verdict, they
would have it, a permanent loneliness, independence. So, today we
sit in this death-row-like life awaiting for the sentence to be carried
out. He goes from
cell to cell, life to life, asking if any wish to change their mind.
Most desire to wait till the trial they think is still
coming because they’re confident that their good deeds will out-weigh
the bad in the end.
They don’t realize it’s all over,
the trial has already occurred, sentencing has been announced -
permanent separation from God for those who wish independence. There is no second trial.
Today is the
day to respond. Today is the day of
salvation. Today is all
we have.
But for those who wish to respond and seek him with all their heart, who abandon themselves to his love. They will find him because he's not very far from any of us. Then everything is whipped clean, a chance at a new beginning. That simple? No, it wasn’t that simple to acquire, he paid a heavy price. But it is simple to comprehend, a choice that is easy to understand: To personally love him with all your heart or not. Taking advantage of the opportunity isn't simple either, it runs cross-grain to our old nature. Today it isn't natural for us to respond to God since things changed for Adam and Eve. To respond to him seems upside-down. That's because we're used to our old nature, an inverted life. Returning right-side up seems abnormal. This returning is the idea of repentance, a turning around. Repentance is not for the faint of heart. It demands much but the result takes your breath away. Resisting your old nature takes an act of grace, meaning help from our Father. For that we must cling to him, not take a breath without him and love him. We’re not used to that: To love and be loved.
It's a new beginning, his dream, the gospel, the good news. But, the good news only makes sense when you understand the bad news. And the bad news is just the emptiness in rejecting him. What is it that you want? Do you want left alone and independent or joined to him? Life is short. We have very little time to come to terms with our old nature, honesty is a rare thing. Every day that passes it becomes harder to process the idea of the gospel and take a new direction. But he is waiting. Much has separated us from God but he gave everything he had to put himself within our reach. Today, he simply waits and hopes you'll overcome everything, to embrace him.