Week of July 18, 2010

  • Pastor Duane Cross
  • Jul 19, 2010

THE EVERYDAY GOSPEL

In the Winter 2010 Leadership magazine, Tullian Tchividjian writes an excellent article on the Gospel.  Enjoy.

(Continued from last week)

In his book The Gospel for Real Life, Jerry Bridges picks up on this theme.  The answer to sin, he says, isn’t to try harder but to comprehend more fully and clearly Christ’s incredible work on the cross—then to live in more vital awareness of that grace day by day.  The main problem in the Christian life, in other words, is not that we don’t try hard enough to be good, it’s that we haven’t accepted the deep implications of the gospel and applied its powerful reality to all parts of our life.

There are two challenges for preachers, those of us called to announce this good news.  First is to help people understand theologically that the gospel doesn’t just ignite the Christian life but it’s also the fuel that keeps Christians going and growing every day.  The second challenge, which is much harder for me than the first, is to help people understand how this works functionally.

I address the second challenge by regularly asking myself this question:  Since Jesus secured my pardon and absorbed the Father’s wrath on my behalf so that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” how does that impact my longing for approval, my tendency to be controlling, and my fear of the unknown?

In other words, how does the finished work of Christ satisfy my deepest daily needs so that I can experience the liberating power of the gospel every day and in every way?

If you’re a preacher, then God had called you to help others make the connection between Christ’s finished work and their daily life.  To do this, we must unveil and unpack the truth of the gospel from every biblical text we preach in such a way that it exposes both the idols of our culture and the idols of our hearts.

Every sermon ought to disclose the ways in which we depend on lesser things to provide the security, acceptance, protection, affection, meaning, and satisfaction that only Christ can supply.

I pray that as you come to a better understanding of the length and breadth of the gospel, you will be recaptured every day by the “God of great expenditure” who gave everything that we might possess all.

 

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