Assignment: What is the Good News all About?

1252 Words

Donovan Neufeldt Basic Christian Beliefs Jono Hall October 12, 2012

Page 1 The good news begins with some bad news, and without understanding the bad news, it is unlikely that one will understand the good news of the Bible. When God created the heavens and the earth, he created everything good. All of creation was working together in perfection; no decay, death, pain, hardship. The highest point of creation was people, Adam and Eve, whom He loved and cared for, and created in His own image. God, however, desired that they have the choice to love and obey God, or to choose rebellion, because without the choice to rebel, voluntary love is impossible. God told them not to eat the fruit from one tree, and they distrusted God and ate the fruit. When that happened all of creation came under a curse. Death, decay, and inherit corruption entered creation, and all people were cut off from God. God is supremely holy and perfect, and now that humanity is sinful and unholy, communion and access to God became impossible (Genesis 1-2).1 In looking at this story, we can see that man is not basically good. When God created Adam he was good, but still chose evil. After that point (which we call the fall) all people are born with a fallen, sinful human nature (psalm 51:5), and are sons of disobedience, or children of wrath (Ephesians 2:2). Even if one looks through history, one will see the depths of mans wickedness and how far that goes unrestrained. The question one should ask is how can a just God not send everyone to hell? long before asking How can a loving God send good people to Hell? The truth is that there is no such thing as good people (Romans 3:9-12). God, in his mercy, had a plan to remedy this great sin-sickness that infected the earth. He promised that a descendant (seed) of the woman (eve) would destroy the enemy and restore the earth (Genesis 3:15). Biblical history from that point forward follows the story of lineage of that promise. This continues through the stories of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), Moses, David, etc. God made covenants of promise to all of these men concerning their descendant who would be the savior and king
1

Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (re: Lit) (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2010), 154.

Page 2 of the earth. Many types and shadows of Jesus life, death, and resurrection were present throughout the lives of those people of promise. Finally, at the turning point of history, God became the very fulfilment of His own promise. The implications and out workings of this truth are so amazing that they can cause even the most brilliant minds to marvel in fascination. God became human (John 1:1-18), and was born of a virgin (Matthew 1:23) into the very lineage He chose and promised. Sin and rebellion must receive just treatment before God. Because only God himself could provide the adequate substitutionary sacrifice for sins and bring redemption (2 Cor. 5:19; Heb. 10:11-12), yet only man ought to make it, and because God is unable to suffer and die, it is necessary that Jesus, the second Adam, the God-man should make it.2 The incarnation revealed the zealous, passionate, loving heart of God, it secured and guaranteed the path to regeneration and eternal participation in the divine life (2 Pet. 1:1-4), it secured Christian love and fellowship (1 John 1:7, 4:7-11), and it guaranteed the final outcome of history, providing Jesus an equally yoked bride and providing the Father sons and daughters with whom He may enjoy fellowship forever (2 Cor. 6:14-18). Through the incarnation, the second Adam also re-established the human dominion of the Earth (Gen 1:26-28), which had been lost by the first Adam, as well as the rejoining of Heaven and Earth in Jesus (Eph. 1:10).3 This is the Good news, and hopefully it is now evident why there is only one good news and only one way of salvation (John 14:6). It is not a matter of one religion being better than the rest and intolerant, but it is because there is only one qualified, worthy, and able to seek and save that which was lost. He died in our place4, so that the innocence of those who receive that sacrifice might be restored.

2 3

Stott, John. The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986), p. 119. Hood, Allen. Excellencies of Christ: An Exploration into the Endless Fascination of the God-Man. Kansas City, Missouri: Forerunner Books, 2006. p. 117-120. 4 Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (re: Lit) (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2010), 253.

Page 3 The work and kingdom that Jesus began at his first coming is not fully complete yet5, which is why you see that there are still many injustices and wrong things that ought to be put right. Jesus did promise to come back again, though, to finish the work He began and bring about the fullness of restoration of that which was lost during the fall. At that time, He will be king of the renewed, perfected earth forever, and all the people of the earth will voluntarily love, trust, and serve Him. After Jesus died, rose to live again, and ascended into heaven, He send His Spirit to live in His people, reveal and testify of Jesus, and give His people power to become witnesses of this good news to others. His people (or all believers through history) are called the church6, and specifically, when His people gather or assemble as citizens of His kingdom in order to love God and love one another. Because some people who attend meetings Sunday mornings live contrary to the teachings they hear, some would think that the Church is full of hypocrites. There are a couple crucial points to consider when responding to this question; not everyone who goes to church is really a Christian, but secondly, you must recognize that true hypocrisy is when someone teaches or preaches one thing and does not even seek to do what they preach. If you define a hypocrite as someone who says one thing and does another, anyone who fails at a diet they tried to do, or comes short in following through on anything they attempt or say is good is a hypocrite. Until Jesus returns, the salvation of those in the church is still in progress, and will not be completed till that time. One could say, If you find a perfect church, please dont join it, because youll

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: an Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1994), 725. 5 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: an Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1994), 864. Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (re: Lit) (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2010),411. 6 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: an Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1994), 853.

Page 4 ruin it. Church is a community on a journey together towards transformation into the Character of Christ which all are invited to take part of, and it is very precious to God. In summary, the good news is that although we all rebelled against God, distrusted His leadership, and went our own way in pride toward our own destruction, Jesus incarnation, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return provides a way that all people can be free from the penalty and power of sin, free to love, relate to, and know God again, and to be a part of His glorious kingdom forever.

Bibliography
Driscoll, Mark, and Gerry Breshears. Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe (re: Lit). Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2010. Stott, John. The Cross of Christ. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986, 1986. Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: an Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1994.