Grace Party: Escape to Reality Greatest Hits, Volume 3 (2 page)

Recently I gave myself the
challenge of presenting the gospel in less than 400 words. I came up with this
two-part announcement:

1.
     
Jesus died for you.
In the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever
seen, Jesus gave his life for us. We had chosen independence from God and
reaped the whirlwind. But God loved us so much that he sent his Son to ransom
us from the power of sin and death. The Son of God became a son of man and took
the punishment that brought us peace. He was rejected that we might be
accepted; wounded that we might be healed; cursed that we might be blessed. On
the cross he carried our sin and gave us his righteousness. Through him we have
been reconciled to God and our sins are no longer held against us. In the grip
of death Jesus cried, “It is finished.” His rescue mission complete, Jesus
committed his spirit into the hands of his Father and died.

2.
     
Jesus lives for you.
The ransom paid in full, Jesus rose triumphant from the
dead. He now sits at the Father’s right hand, a perfect high priest who ever
lives to speak for us. If you believe that Jesus has saved you, then believe
that he will keep you for he will never change his mind. He is the Author and
Perfecter of our faith and his blood has obtained your eternal redemption.
Jesus is not alone in this. Your heavenly Father loves you with an everlasting
love and saving you was his plan all along. In order that we might have a firm
and secure hope to cling to, God the Father has sworn a covenant of peace with
the Son of Man and neither one will ever break it. He has also given us his
mighty Spirit — the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead — as a deposit
guaranteeing all that he has promised. Through our representative Jesus, and as
an expression of his enduring love, our heavenly Father has joined himself to
us, promising never to leave nor forsake us. We stand secure, not on our feeble
promises to him, but on his unconditional and unbreakable promises to us.

This exercise got me thinking. If
I could summarize the gospel in 400 words, could I do it in ten? Could I do it
in two words? One word?

Throughout
the Bible you will find short declarations of the good news. Below are some
short gospels from Paul, Peter, James, John, and Jesus. I also have short
gospels from Spurgeon and Calvin. But what I would really like to hear is your
short version of the gospel. Everyone should have one for those small windows
of opportunity that come our way.

As we
can see below, a short gospel has three characteristics: (1) it’s
news
(it’s
an announcement, not an appeal), (2) it’s
good
news (and there’s no bad
news in the good news), and (3) it’s simple enough for a child to grasp.

The gospel in one word: Jesus!
You cannot improve upon perfection and there’s no other name
by which we’re saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus saves sinners and keeps Christians.
Whatever your need, the answer is Jesus. Are you struggling with sin? Jesus is
your victory. Are you suffering with illness? Jesus is your healing. Are you
bound up with poverty? Jesus is your blessing.

The gospel in two words: Christ
alone!
If we must add one word to the name
Jesus or his title Christ, let it be the qualifier alone. He alone saves and
keeps us. He doesn’t need our help.

The gospel in three words: None
but Jesus!
This was good enough for
Spurgeon
.

The gospel in four words:
“Mercy triumphs over judgment!”
(James
2:13). And where does mercy come from? “The Lord, (who) is full of compassion
and mercy” (James 5:11b).

The gospel in five words:
“Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
That’s
all Paul needed to know (1 Corinthians 2:2).

The gospel in six words: Saved
by Christ; kept by Christ.
Many Christians
know only the first part of that statement. They believe Jesus gave them a
fresh start, but not a new life. Instead of resting in the gift of his
righteousness, they are striving to make themselves righteous through their
good works, their self-denial, or their observance of traditions, rules and
regulations. The good news is better than they think!

The gospel in seven words:
“Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”
(John 1:17). Think of a firefighter smashing through a concrete wall to save
trapped orphans. That’s what Jesus did for you. When all hope was lost, he
came. Now that’s good news!

The gospel in eight words:
“Christ died, was buried, then rose. He reigns!”
(1 Corinthians 15:3–4, 25). Paul’s gospel is not just
about what he’s done, but what he’s doing (he’s reigning!) and yet to do (until
all his enemies have been put under his feet).

The gospel in nine words: “I
want to come in and be with you”
(see Revelation
3:20). Religion offers carrots and sticks, but Jesus offers sweet invitations.

The gospel in ten words: “I am
the way and the truth and the life”
(John
14:6). As the song says, without the way there is no going, without the truth
there is no knowing, and without the life, there is no living.

And that’s it! What do you think?
Can you convey the joy of the good news in just a few words? I would love to
hear your short gospel.

A word after

Perhaps it’s because I’m part of
the MTV generation but I do not like long sermons. (Does anybody?) I prefer
short and simple truths to lengthy expositions. I love the bullet points of
Christ’s Sermon on the Mount (“Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”), and I appreciate Paul’s tight
lists of spiritual fruit and gifts and armor.

Several
readers responded to the article with short gospels of their own. Phil from
Alabama offered, “Jesus loves you and God is not mad at you!” James from
Australia suggested, “Freedom from sin, sickness, curse, death.” Steve from
Montana wrote, “He takes our place in order to give us his place!” Awesome!

Some
also reminded me of the short gospels proclaimed by notable figures such as Corrie
Ten Boom who said, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper
still.” And this from Major Ian Thomas: “Jesus Christ gave his life
for
you, so that he could give his life
to
you, so that he could live his
life
through
you.”

There is
something about the gospel of grace that rewards brevity. Look at the sermons
in the New Testament and you will see they all have two things in common; few
words, much power.

Perhaps
my favorite is this one from Jesus which has fewer than fifty words:

The
Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to
the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of
sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the
Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18–19)

So clear! So simple! And after 2000
years it’s still good news, and it’s still a good reason to celebrate!

Last night I caught my
five-year-old son reading in bed when he should’ve been sleeping. I asked him
to give me his book and he did, albeit reluctantly. I reminded him that it was
late and he needed to go to sleep because he had school in the morning. Then I
put his book at the end of his bed and turned to leave.

Luke couldn’t
believe his luck. “Haha, I can get that book when you go!” he said with a mischievous
grin.

“I know
you can, but I hope you won’t. It’s time to sleep. Good night, son.”

I closed
the door and waited outside for a minute. Then I opened the door a crack to see
if he had caved into temptation. He hadn’t. His head was still on the pillow
and the book was untouched.

“Attaboy,”
I said to myself.

The
single most astonishing discovery in the gospel is that Almighty God, the Maker
of Heaven and Earth,
has faith in us
. He trusts us. He gives us the
freedom to choose, encourages us to “Choose life,” and then lets us decide.

This
explains the tree.

Faith and love in the Garden of
Eden

The forbidden tree was not an
obedience test, as in, fail the test and God will punish you. The forbidden
tree was an invitation to trust God. Tragically, we didn’t and we paid a price.

But God,
good Father that he is, didn’t wash his hands of us. He didn’t say, “What a
bunch of screw-ups. They’re no kids of mine.” Instead, he made things right,
because he
still
believes in us, he
still
thinks the best of us,
and he longs for us to trust him back.

Is this
not the greatest story of human history?

Think
about it. In the beginning God makes a planet — perfect in every way — and then
he gives his beautiful, shiny planet to us to look after:

The
highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.
(Psalms 115:16)

You might say it was a reckless
gamble, but it was an audacious act of love and trust, like when a father hands
his daughter the keys to his mint-condition Shelby Mustang and says, “Go have
fun!”

What is
man that you are mindful of him? … You made him ruler over the works of your
hands… (Psalms 8:4,6a, NIV1984)

God gave us the keys to planet
earth and said, “Go have fun!” True, we crashed the car, but don’t miss the
bigger point, which is this: Knowing what we would do, and knowing how much it
would cost him to repair the damage, God went ahead and did it anyway. Why?
Because he loves us and believes in us and hopes that one day we will stop
running and come home.

God believes in you!

You won’t hear this message from
manmade religion. Instead you will be asked, “Do you believe in God?” And if
you hesitate to answer, religion will manipulate you with carrots and sticks.
“If you believe, you’ll be blessed. If you don’t, you’ll burn!”

But this
is not love. Love “doesn’t force itself on others” (1 Corinthians 13:5a, MSG).
And this is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. “You did not choose me, but I chose
you” (John 15:16a).

A
back-to-front gospel says, “Believe in God or pay the price.” But the gospel of
grace declares, “God believes in you.” This is the stunning revelation that
sets us free from the lonely prison of distrust.

Last
night it would’ve been the easiest thing for me to take my boy’s book by force
and put it where he couldn’t reach it. I could coerce him into doing the right
thing because I’m stronger than him. And if he were a strapping teenager I compel
proper behavior by making threats like, “Under my roof, you’ll do what I say!”

But what
kind of father would I be if I did that? And what kind of son would he be? He wouldn’t
be a son but a slave, and since we were not made to be slaves he’d eventually
run away.

I don’t
want to relate to my son through power or the fear of punishment. I want to
relate to him through love. How do I do that? By giving him freedom to resist
me, and then loving him no matter what.

It’s the
same with our heavenly Father.

God is
stronger than you or I and it would be the easiest thing in the world for him
to make us do whatever he wants. It would be no trouble at all. But that’s not
how love works. Love doesn’t seek to control or coerce. Love yields, and the
greater the Yielder, the greater the love.

God longs for you!

This is the surprising
announcement of the gospel. Despite all our mistakes and foolishness, our heavenly
Father holds nothing against us but waits by the gate for us to come home so that
he can clothe us and throw a party that is so outrageously good fun that
religious kill-joys are scandalized by it.

Perhaps
you’ve heard the old joke about the nun and the atheist. The atheist says, “I
don’t believe in God,” and the nun replies, “But God believes in you.” This is
no joke. This is the gospel truth that penetrates the unbelieving heart. God
isn’t shaking his fist at you. He loves you and wants to be with you.

As a
parent, my greatest joy comes from experiencing the fearless and trusting love
of my children. When Luke gave me his book last night, he was saying, “Daddy, I
love reading, but I love you more and I trust your judgment.” It melted my
heart. But here’s the thing: Luke would never trust me if I didn’t trust him
first.

It’s the
same with our heavenly Father. We love because he first loved us, and we trust
because he first trusted us.

See the
sequence? God acts; we respond. That’s faith.

The
reason some have trouble trusting is because they don’t see God with
outstretched arms but with clenched fists. Religion has taught them to fear his
punishment. Such folk need to hear the good news of his grace. They need to
hear how much their Daddy loves them and wants nothing but the best for them.

Everything
that God has ever done testifies to his love for us. The Garden, the tree, the
cross — he did it all because he loves us and believes in us and is not willing
that any of us should perish. His enduring hope is that we will stop doubting
his intentions and trust him back.

And when
that happens — when we stand firm in the confidence of our Father’s love — life
will really begin!

A word after

“I understand that God loves us,”
said one reader. “But I don’t see that he trusts us. That seems too
self-focused to me.” Actually, trust is
other
-focused, but I understand
the concern. So let me try and explain it another way.

God is
love and love always trusts (1 Corinthians 13:7). Full-blown love is
characterized by mutual trust. You cannot open your heart to love without
trust.

God
wants us to trust him so that we might enjoy his love, but he does not ask us
to give what he has not provided. God, who gave us his very Son, has given us
his heart.

You may
say, “But I’m not trustworthy. I’m unreliable. I’m unfaithful.” Yet God loves
you still! He has set his eye upon you with limitless affection and he won’t
give up on you.

“But why
does he love me so?” This is a great question and I can think of no better answer
than the one D.L. Moody gave. “If you ask me why God should love us, I cannot
tell. I suppose it is because he is a true father.”

Is this
not the best news in the world? Is this not the gospel we should be shouting
from the rooftops?

God
isn’t mad at you but he loves you and now that you’ve come home all he wants to
do is kill the fatted calf and celebrate. Truly, he rejoices over you with
singing!