The Everlasting Gospel

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." [Mark 1:1 ESV]

I’ve never read the phrase "the end of the gospel of Jesus Christ" in the Bible. Have you? I think that’s because there isn’t one. Here’s what I mean: the gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news about Jesus Christ—the good news not just about His long-awaited appearance on the world scene, but the good news about who He is and what He is like. And since Christ is infinite, there will always be something new (to us) to learn about Him, and since He is God, what we learn of him will always be good. There will never be a time when God begins to reveal Christ to us, only to later say "...and that's about it; that's all I've got--the end." There will simply (amazingly) be no end!

When we first hear the gospel of Jesus, it is only the beginning. To become a Christian means to embark on a never-ending journey of joy and pleasure in observing and rejoicing in the excellence of the Son of God. Can you imagine that? Try! I dare you to imagine a feast of the mind, heart, and senses wherein each course of revelation is more delicious and more satisfying than the last! Can you imagine the heights of joy? The peaks of wonder? The elation of God’s people delighting in the beauties of Jesus--for ages upon ages without end?

The exciting part of this story is that we can get a glimpse of this experience now in the Word, "which testifies of [Christ]." [John 5:39, KJV] The gospel is the subject not just of eternity, but of the Bible. The whole point of the Bible is to reveal Christ to us. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12 that "…now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now [we] know in part; then [we] shall know fully, even as [we] have been fully known." We are blessed with the privilege of knowing (at least) in part, and seeing (at least) in a glass darkly. So what are we waiting for?

Have you feasted on the gospel of Jesus Christ today? It is truly good news—indeed, it is the best news! What else is worth your precious time?

Suggested Reading:
Jonathan Edwards, The Excellency of Christ

Maintenance Christianity vs. A Loud Voice

"For the love of Christ [compels] us, because we have concluded this: that...he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, ESV

This morning, while reading Matthew 27:45-56, I was struck by these words: "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit." Jesus "cried out…with a loud voice." It’s almost unthinkable. The pain that He endured, though a pure and innocent Lamb, is incalculable. We may never fully comprehend it. Exactly what happened at that moment in history and reality (to history and reality) we may never fully understand. But what struck me was that He held absolutely nothing back from the will of God: "Not my will, but Thy will be done," [Luke 22:42, KJV]; "I do always the things that please [the Father]." [John 8:29, KJV]

He is so precious, so glorious, so worthy-worthy of all we are and all we have. And yet we hold back so much from His absolute control, stockpiling it in the "secret" closet of our mind. We pile objects, people, feelings, safe identities that we’ve built for ourselves; all mistresses of our fallen nature—all idol moons orbiting around the sun of self instead of the Son of God. We stand in front of them in the closet, shielding these things from his control and in an attempt to avert His attention away from them-but He sees. What objects do you see over your shoulder? What people do you see whose opinions you simply must win? What is hiding there, in the corner of your eye?

Those things stay in the closet, and are not exposed and ripped out because, I think, we tend to be maintainers rather than pursuers. We have quiet times and pray and read the bible and have Christian-ish conversations that we might maintain our current 'saved' status—stay afloat—not fall away. But we are not meant to maintain. We are meant to pursue—to run, to sprint, to leave all, to abandon everyone and everything for the sake of Christ alone. (And I did not say "if necessary.") We are meant to pursue with abandon.

Paul understood this in one of my favorite passages of scripture: Philippians 3:7-14, ESV. (Please take a moment and read it.) He did not consider himself to have obtained all that there was to obtain: do you? Are you maintaining? Instead, he "strained forward to what lies ahead, and [pressed] on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." He counted everything in the closet as "loss" when compared to Christ. He said "Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ…" [KJV]. That's pursuit.

How often do we merely 'maintain'? Our Christian walk should look like a pursuit, a sprint, a "crying out with a loud voice", "that we may win Christ and be found in Him." He shouted when winning us, will we shout to win Him? Do something today to break the mold of 'maintenance Christianity,' and "run so as to obtain [the prize]!" [1 Corinthians 9:24, KJV] Don't maintain; pursue. He's worth more than it all.

Recommended Reading:
Chris Tomlin, "Take My Life" [song lyrics]
"Be Thou My Vision" [hymn]
"O the Wonderful Cross" [hymn]
Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender. [essay/book]
*A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God [book] *one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Rugged Faith & Steadfast Love

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.
- Martin Luther, A Mighty Fortress is our God

I hadn't felt that much physical pain in a while. My reaction was immediate: a swelling warmth in my gut, the racing heart, clenched teeth and a furrowed brow, a weakness in my hands, a rising anger toward the inanimate object that folded my left big toenail in half, and a fury to repay it or something nearby with my fist. But right at that moment, I thought "what if a person just did that? What if some person just did that to me willingly and said, calmly, 'Deny Christ, or I'll do it again.'?" Did I have the steadfast faith to say "Never! Do it again if you must-I will not lose my highest treasure." And what's more, did I have enough love to then look him in the face and say-from my heart-"I forgive you. I love you. God loves you. Be blessed." The answer was unsettling: "I don't know."

Romans 12:14 (ESV) reads "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them." This 'blessing' for our persecutors is not a mere word; it is a genuine, heart-deep desire for their betterment-or it is not real. My first reaction was to yell-about as close to a swear as my conscience allowed-and then I reached down to fold my toenail back into place. (I tend to like things to stay where they belong.) The pain eventually subsided, and I went about my day.

But I kept thinking about the state of my heart; could I have not only not cursed, but proactively blessed, a person who did that to me intentionally, and with the intention of repeating it all night long until either I recanted or died, or he grew weary? Impossible, I thought. It's not natural. It's not my built-in response.

Some may have the faith to endure without recanting. But our Master requires more of us: love is the command, and Paul said "Even if I give my body to be burned [as a martyr], if I have not love, it will profit me nothing." [1 Corinthians 13:3, ESV] And the love I think he's talking about is love for the guy who senteced him to death, for the one who tied him up to the stake, for the one who smiled as he lit the wood around his feet, and looked on with pleasure as he burned alive.

How do we get this faith, and this love? I am certainly unable to force it from myself: "How can a bad tree yield good fruit?" Jesus said, "You must be born again." [John 3:7, ESV] This kind of faith and love does not come from a focused willpower, or a determination of mind. It is not a 'choice.' It is divine. We must be born again; we must receive a new nature from the Spirit of God-His nature. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." [John 3:6, ESV], "It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing." [KJV/ESV hybrid] And once received, we must cultivate and care for that new life. We must nourish it in the Word and Worship, we must let it breathe in prayer-or it won't grow. And it may never achieve faith or love of this kind.

So what about you? Do you have this kind of faith and this kind of love? Don't answer now-we tend to be too optimistic while comfortable; instead answer the next time you jam your finger or rip a nail or feel some kind of pain. Ask that very moment "what if someone just did that to me intentionally to get me to recant? Would I? Could I love him?" "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith." [2 Cor. 13:5a]

Rugged faith and steadfast love: our Master requires them of us. Do you have them? Have you been born again? Have you cultivated that new life today? Everything depends on it-eternity depends on it-and nothing else truly matters.

Suggested Reading:
Matthew 5, ESV
John 3:1-10, ESV
Romans 12:9-21, ESV
Jonathan Edwards, Resolution #10