The Good News
2 Corinthians 5:19 AMP
It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).
The Gospel is good news! Today, we are at peace with God and we have favor with God! If you are a Christian, you have a right to go boldly to the throne of God and get all the help you need to succeed in this life (Hebrews 4:16). God is for us today, not against us!
This is contrary to what many people and churches believe. I have found that people are usually on one of two sides in their believing. Some believe that God is mad with us and is just waiting on us to mess up so he can punish us and send us to hell. That is not biblical. Others believe that because God loves us and because he’s given us his grace that nothing matters and everyone is on the way to heaven. This is not biblical either. Regardless of what any person or any church chooses to believe, I choose to believe the Bible.
What does the Bible tell me? Our scripture above tells us that God was personally present in Christ Jesus reconciling and restoring us to God himself. It also tells me that God is not counting up and holding against men their sins. Is that condoning sin? No! While it’s not condoning sin, it is revealing the way out of sin, Jesus Christ. It tells me lastly that not only have I been restored to favor with God, but I am to tell this good news of the gospel to others who don’t know Jesus. What I am to tell them? I am to tell them that God, out of his love for mankind, gave Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (John 3:16). Through my faith in the finished work of Jesus I am now a child of God with all the rights, authority, and privileges that that entails.
The good news of the gospel is not something you hear very often today. This is so sad. The truth is that God has done some great things for me through Christ Jesus. It is also the truth that I must respond by faith and surrender to God’s plan for my life if these truths will be my reality!
Will you receive and act on the good news today?
