May 2, 2017

In the course of any given day, a person can be bombarded with bad news. To listen to the radio or TV or get the latest from your hand-held device could mire you in a slew of despondency. This is why I love the gospel in a bad news world.

Gospel simply means “good news.” The apostle Paul defines the gospel very simply in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

In a nutshell, the good news is the antidote to the bad news of a sinful world. Is it not ironic the good news comes to us with a report of a death and a grave? As mortals, we are all too familiar with the fragility and temporary nature of life on earth. But we are so saturated with the reports of death and the depth of man’s humanity to man we almost become deaf to it. That is until this reality strikes close to home and we ourselves are looking into a coffin, or spreading ashes, or standing beside a graveside. The good news starts with the reality of the badness of death and the grave. Surely, if we stopped here there is no good news. But, praise be to God, Jesus did not only die and was buried but on the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures.

This good news is according to the Scriptures. I recently had a person tell me he did not need the Scriptures. Well, if this be the case you are only left with Fox News, or CNN, or the Sentinel or some other man-driven news source. Have you ever noticed in the reporting of the news how man tries to gloss the 90% negativity of life in a fallen world with a report of a rescued puppy, some cute kid who raises money for the homeless, or volunteers freeing a whale caught in a net etc. I suppose this is supposed to be the spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. We are taught in the public education system man is basically good. If this is true, why is there more bad news than good news?

The answer to the above question is a small three letter word called “sin”. Sin is the nature of man’s heart apart from God. It is made apparent in everyday life by everyone of us, for according to the report of Scripture (Romans 3: 23) “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” The bad news of sin is it kills us. (Romans 6:23a) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In Romans 6:23, this short little verse pits the death of sin (bad news) up against the gift (good news of the gospel). Friend, if we want to find some good news, where would we ultimately be without the Scriptures? I love to tell people Jesus loves them and died for them and can save them from their sin. I have good news to share, and if you are a Christian, so do you.

May God Help us to Look up and Thank Him for the Gospel,

Pastor John Schofield

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”