The Gospel

You may be thinking "Oh the Gospel. I already know it. It's only for new believers." Don't make that mistake! In Ecclesiastes 3 Solomon talks about how for everything there is a time and place and things that might be right during one time and not at a different period. However there is never a time not to look at what God has done and worship him for it. We are to always look to him. There is never a wrong season! When we look to the cross and see Christ’s finished work there and the empty tomb, we can see how great is his love and care for us. Not only are we saved from eternal condemnation but also we are welcomed as children of God. How can we not talk and share about it? This is our ultimate cause for rejoicing.

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his one way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
~Isaiah 53:4-6

These words spoken by the prophet Isaiah so aptly describe Christ. Each nail, thorn, and spear that pierced Christ's flesh was the punishment for our transgressions and iniquities. Not only that all thirty-nine blows of the Roman lash has brought us peace with the almighty God, whom we continually transgress. His empty tomb has given us the hope that as he is risen so shall we rise on the last day. Christs sufferings have paved the way through his death and resurrection to the throne of God, where we now stand as his beloved children. This is our foundation of rejoicing. That we are now reconciled to God through a man crucified over two thousand years ago. We come to God now, not as transgressors of the law before a righteous judge, but as forgiven debtors before the one who forgave us through the wounding and crushing of his son.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved."
~Ephesians 2:4,5

Skip down a couple verses:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast."
~Ephesians 2:8,9

The amazing thing is that we didn't even want it. We didn't ask for God. We were turning each to his own way. But God rich in mercy called us. We have nothing to do with it. I can only stand in amazement and worship him for it. Let us join Paul and say our only boast is the Lord (Gal. 6:14, 1 Cor. 1:31).

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
~Psalm 136:1