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The Gospel is: God in His eternal counsels, freely choosing to save sinful men from His wrath, by sending His Son Jesus to die and to be condemned in their place, at the same time imparting Christ own righteousness that he lived to them as if they had lived it them selves, thus giving them eternal life, so that they might Glorify God for his Mercy by enjoying him forever. That is Good News.
Now the last half of this statement is the second half of the Gospel that is not preached very often or very well, in this day or time. But you must have both in order to have the whole gospel. Example: “relationship with God” is what I would say is the short hand way of saying this. What makes this relationship with God so great for the saint? What does it mean to have a relationship with Jesus? If you took the worlds definition of a relationship it would have God look like He needs us, and that’s exactly how a large part of the church portrays God. What a dishonoring thing to say about our precious Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we need to carefully have this second half of the Gospel, this final level of Salvation explained correctly! Hedonism (love and joy) in Christ forever is what makes the Gospel, (good news). God is the Gospel. Christ died to bring us to God. This is joy immeasurable! But do we really believe this? Do you even care about this?
Ephesians 2: 4-7”God who is rich in mercy…when we were dead in (sins) made us alive together with Christ…THAT in the ages to come He might Show the exceeding riches of His Grace…”
God saved us THAT we might Behold His Glory (John 17:4), THAT He might show us His Glory. This is why He saved us. We were the ones needing the relationship with God; we are the ones to benefit from it. We benefited in the since we are freed from our love-a-affair with ourselves and freed to Love and behold and infinite God unhindered by sin
I hope we see why forgiveness, justification and sanctification are so important? It brings us near to God (Ephesians 2:13). Lets look at one of the most important verses in the bible in explaining why we were saved, 1Peter 3:18, “that He might bring us to God.” If our sins are forgiven but yet we are not brought near to God then there is no Gospel. The true mean of Gospel is “good news”, and there is no good news without being brought near Lord of life for eternity. For being brought near to God is the finale Good news of the Gospel. And Christ is the one responsible for getting us there. This is the Glorious Gospel to which we were saved. We are brought from eternal death and our suicidal love affair with the fleeting unsatisfying pleasures of this world, and brought to eternal life in which we live to enjoy the satisfying pleasure of beholding the Glory of Jesus Christ. This is good news. We were brought from being under the wrath and judgment of God to being under the pleasure and wonder of Gods Glory, this is the gospel, this is Good news.
Therefore to give Jesus the due honor and credit that He deserves for the Gospel, we must properly include the benefit of joy that forgiveness brings. This second half of the Gospel is the final level of Salvation for the saints. For in Hebrews 11:16 it says, “they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.” Christ is Honored when we look to that eternal city where our souls will finally find that eternal rest and satisfaction in beholding our Savoir and King. This is what we call the final level of Salvation. For this is the end for which God the Father planned out redemptive history. That His Glory be displayed through our knowing and enjoying Him. For a created creature, they cannot ask for a better existence. To know you are doing the right thing and enjoying it is the essence of real freedom. Knowing you are made to communicate Gods glory by enjoying Him the greatest pleasure in the entire Universe, this is what we are made for.
What all this goes to show is how infinite is God’s value. Finding complete joy in Christ as our life’s greatest pursuit is all about showing Christ is infinitely supreme. It is about displaying the worth of God. Actors, movies, popular bands are shown to you and I that they are valuable by people telling and sharing with us how much they enjoy them. Christ is show to be magnificent when the saints enjoy Him above all things in life, even our own lives. Even if it means forsaking friends, family, cars, entertainment, to go and die on a foreign land sharing this joy that found us. It means when we think about TV we ask the question how does this help me to know and enjoy Christ. How does this action show Christ, my treasure, to be supremely magnificent? How does this show that Christ is the greatest value and treasure in the entire world?
For it is in Christ our greatest happiness is found. Which means we need to center our eyes on Him and take everlasting joy and pleasure in His Glory just as He does! “God is most Glorified in us when we are most Satisfied in him” –John piper
Every time you are a pleasure seeker in Jesus by looking to Gods Future Grace’s and enjoy life by knowing Christ, you have to ask the question “why do I have all these good things in the first place?” Which should bring our focus back to Jesus on the Cross dyeing for your sins. For the true saint this kind of constant thinking will bring much healing to the soul, while greatly Honoring Christ our Savior.
Like John Piper has said before, “The Christian walk is summed up by a backward look at the Cross and a forward look at Future Grace.” It is all about being satisfied in God for all He is for us in Jesus Christ. In past, present and future.
So I encourage you to embrace Christian hedonism (finding ones highest pleasure in the Almighty God, Jesus Christ), and live your life in joy of faith.
Yours in Christ: Oshea Davis
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