What is the Gospel?

I'm in the midst of trying to complete the eldership process with our church (Vintage21 Church in Raleigh/Durham).  One of my final tasks - amid meetings w/other elders, lots of character evaluation and discussions about calling - is to complete a questionnaire on theology.  The questionnaire has two parts, general theology and pastoral theology.  I thought I would post one of my answers to a general theology question here on the blog.  The question posed is "What is the gospel?" (i.e. theologically speaking, not how you would explain the gospel message to a non-Christian):

The word Gospel means "good news" and that good news centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ.  It helps to understand and explain the significance of this good news by starting at the start.  God created man for his glory and made us in his image with the capacity to have relationship with him.  We were designed beautifully with worship of God, obedience to his words and dependence on his provision as pillars of our existence.  Adam failed to live this way and as a result we are all by nature sinful men.  We all chose to worship ourselves and other created things, rebel and question God's commands, and depend on ourselves in pride.  The consequences of a life lived this way can only be death, spiritually and physically.  The good news is that God, in Christ, is not counting man's sins against them but is instead offering forgiveness and new life to the glory of His name.  He is restoring the world back to how he originally intended it to be.  This only happens because of Jesus, there is no other way.  God has used all of human history to arrange for this to happen.  Jesus was sent and willingly came to earth to live a perfect life, the life we were supposed to live but could not.  He perfectly worshiped God when we refused to.  He obeyed the Father's every word instead of rebelling like us.  And he lived in total dependence on the provision of God trusting his life to the will of God instead of following his own way like we do.  This perfect life is exchanged for our sinful one and therefore Jesus takes the wrath of God that was due us and, bearing our sins, he dies, crucified brutally on the cross, so that we can be saved.  We then receive all the blessings that Christ earned by his perfect life and not the consequences of our sinful life when we put our faith in Jesus.  We are reconciled to the Father.  We are adopted as sons and daughters.  We are given gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit to live for the glory of God.  Our punishment is taken by Jesus.  The just anger and wrath of God is turned away from us.  The burden of sin is lifted from us.  We are looked upon by God as if we have not sinned because we are in Christ.  We are given a new identity, a new family, a new mission and a new hope.  THIS IS GOOD NEWS!  Our lives no longer have to be lives of self-absorbed pride and foolishness but can be used by God to bring the Gospel to the world, repair the brokenness of the lives around us and begin to institute the peace with God that is available to all through Jesus Christ.

FWD: from a guy who hates cheezy christian fwds.

Usually I skip over the FWD: messages in my inbox.  They are mostly related to conservative "christian" politics which I despise (sorry that's a whole other issue) or they are simply attempts to emotionally manipulate lazy, wimpy and pathetic "christians" back into a religious following of Jesus, which He is not interested in at all (sorry another huge issue there, maybe I'll need to do a couple of follow up posts to this one to address these two statements).

Today I sucked it up and read a forwarded message that was actually pretty good and worth the read for others in my opinion.  Below please find the article of interest.  (link provided for site I found by searching author's name)  I hope this stirs some thoughts.

THE QUESTION THAT CHANGED MY LIFE  -by David Ryser

A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with Jesus and to become voices for revival in the Church. I came across a quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this:


Christianity started in Israel as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise.

Some of the students were only 18 or 19 years old--barely out of diapers--and I wanted them to understand and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding, "An enterprise. That's a business." After a few moments Martha, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless, I acknowledged Martha's raised hand, "Yes, Martha." She asked such a simple question, "A business? But isn't it supposed to be a body?" I could not envision where this line of questioning was going, and the only response I could think of was, "Yes." She continued, "But when a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?"


The room went dead silent. For several seconds no one moved or spoke. We were stunned, afraid to make a sound because the presence of God had flooded into the room, and we knew we were on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was, "Wow, I wish I'd thought of that." I didn't dare express that thought aloud. God had taken over the class.


Martha's question changed my life. For six months, I thought about her question at least once every day. "When a body becomes a business, isn't that a prostitute?" There is only one answer to her question. The answer is "Yes." The American Church, tragically, is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we love Him? We don't even know Him; and I mean really know Him.


... I stand by my statement that most American Christians do not know God--much less love Him. The root of this condition originates in how we came to God. Most of us came to Him because of what we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He would bless us in life and take us to heaven after death. We married Him for His money, and we don't care if He lives or dies as long as we can get His stuff. We have made the Kingdom of God into a business, merchandising His anointing. This should not be. We are commanded to love God, and are called to be the Bride of Christ--that's pretty intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can we love someone we don't even know? And even if we do know someone, is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are we lovers or prostitutes?


I was pondering Martha's question again one day, and considered the question, "What's the difference between a lover and a prostitute?"  I realized that both do many of the same things, but a lover does what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends to love, but only as long as you pay. Then I asked the question, "What would happen if God stopped paying me?"


For the next several months, I allowed God to search me to uncover my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true lover of God? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He never did another thing for me? Would I still love Him? Please understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of God. The issue here is not whether God blesses His children; the issue is the condition of my heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His blessings in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that I have earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love God without any conditions? It took several months to work through these questions. Even now I wonder if my desire to love God is always matched by my attitude and behavior. I still catch myself being disappointed with God and angry that He has not met some perceived need in my life. I suspect this is something which is never fully resolved, but I want more than anything else to be a true lover of God.


So what is it going to be? Which are we, lover or prostitute?

learn something new about Jesus

This morning I finished a podcast of a sermon by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church.  It was the first installment in a long series he is doing on the book of Luke.  Not only do I recommend listening to these sermons but I want to especially recommend you take at least 7 minutes and watch the end of the video below.  Follow the link and advance to about 1:08:00 of the sermon (yes, that's 1 HOUR), watch until the end.  After that, it's up to you what else to do but I recommend prayer, repentance and humbling yourself before the Great God of the Universe, Jesus Christ.

Mars Hill Church | Luke's Gospel: Investigating the Man Who Is God | Eyewitness to Jesus

Posted using ShareThis

the worst human creation ever...

This post will drift just slightly from the usual for me but as of recently this issue has come up several times and I'm compelled to share the burden.

Human Trafficking

"Sex trafficking is a massive global enterprise based upon force, coercion and deception. Traffickers transport or detain their victims for the purpose of exploitation and profit through acts of sexual violence. This trade in rape for profit victimizes thousands of women and children every year."  via sixty1.org

This is heinous.  To take even 5 minutes and think about the realities of this criminal activity is to enter into a battery of emotions that can bring even the toughest of men to tears.  Last week, thanks to twitter, an organization called 'love146' was brought to my attention.  This, in addition to recently meeting Caleb Lange who works with 'sixty1' and finally seeing Taken, the 2008 movie starring Liam Neeson, has continued the barrage on my heart and so I'm prompted to share.

I don't pretend to know everything about the sex trade "industry" and haven't actually met anyone who was trafficked before but with the limited exposure I've had my guts have been ripped out and I don't think I'll ever be able to let this issue go from my mind.  I would encourage you to spend some time looking at the organizations I mentioned above as well as reading materials on human trafficking and efforts that are under way to end the sex trade and modern-day slavery.

Here are some resources and organizations:
State Dept. Trafficking in Persons report, 2009 
Not For Sale 
humantrafficking.org 
endhumantrafficking.org 
Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking 
FBI Initiatives 
Department of Justice

No one person, organization or country will be able to end this atrocity but together perhaps over time we can all change the course of thousands of people's lives.  I encourage you to look into this and search out a way you can get involved.  Pass your knowledge on to others and encourage them to do the same.  Let's end this!

 

the Cross

Over the last 2 weeks the focus of my heart has been drawn back to the cross of Christ. In 2 separate books at around the same time the subject came up and in both cases my heart was pierced. I was broken over the reality of what my sin required at Christ's expense. I was reminded of the penalty Jesus paid in my stead. I was awakened to the pain and shame of the cross and as a result saw worship deepen and God's glory magnified in my life.

The shame of the cross was probably the strongest stand out from this time of re-focus. This shame was specifically pointed out in one of the writer's references to ancient Roman times. I had heard of 'Alexamenos graffito' (pictured above) before but didn't fully recognize the symbolism of this image and what it may have to say for us today. The fact is that death by crucifixion was the most shameful death possible in the Roman Empire. This death was reserved for the worst of criminals and was so shameful that many Romans considered it not fit to even speak of. In the case of the Alexamenos graffito the cross and the man upon it - with the head of a donkey - and anyone, like Alexamenos, who worshiped Jesus were being mocked because the idea of worshiping a god who was crucified was ridiculous. What god would ever let someone kill them in this way? What kind of power could a god like this really have? Why would a "king" identify with this shameful act? The answer to these questions that hounded me for days were those that revealed I was the reason for this shame. It was his unsurpassed love for us that drove God to die. Jesus gave of himself, "no one takes [my life] from me, I lay it down of my own accord." (Jn 10:18) knowing full well the pain and the shame. But he despised that shame (Heb 12:2) and bore the cross to make righteous the unrighteous (2 Cor 5:21), to absorb the wrath of God that was against us (Rom 5:9). By this cross the very power of God is revealed and shown to us though it is foolishness to those who are perishing (1 Cor 1:17-25). And by humbly giving his life the name of Jesus has been lifted up above all other names and is the only name that brings everyone to their knees in worship (Phil 2:5-11) either now or in the age to come. He is forever King of all kings.

So much shame, such great love, unsurpassed power shown in unmatched humility; a simple gaze upon the cross has revealed such glory to me. The immense greatness of God and the utter darkness of me stand apposed at the cross. I am forever changed by the truth of the exchange made on that hill. Through these weeks my heartfelt worship has been changed once again, my view of Jesus made a little clearer, my thankfulness deepened and my love for God and others strengthened. Only Jesus made this sacrifice, only the Father was willing to send his own son, only the Spirit can reveal this to the hearts of man. Our God is great and deserving of all our worship.