One of the beautiful things about Spring is… well… the beauty! The long, grey winter has finally given way to yellow dandelions, blue skies, and green grass. God has not forgotten us amidst the cold, bleak times of hibernation, but has brought about warmth and new life to all things! This has been reminding me of how He brings about sanctification in our lives as well. He takes us, who were “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1) and “makes us alive together with Christ” (Eph 2:5). But that is not just true in the eternal sense, but in the immediate sense as well; the Gospel beautifies every moment of the believer’s life. The Gospel heals broken relationships, breaks addictions, builds families, protects the innocent, and promotes true justice in society. When the Romans practiced “exposing” infants, abandoning unwanted children outdoors to die, it was the early Christians who condemned this act, began adopting these children, and building orphanages. It is because of the Gospel that we have the discipline of science and even hospitals as we know them today. Christ came not just to wash away sin, but also to make us into who we were meant to be and to teach us to truly live. He came that we “may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
It is a thesis of mine that this beauty which is brought about by the gospel is a powerful apologetic for the veracity of Christianity. In our postmodern world, people are largely not concerned with truth claims anymore. Very few in the world are still asking questions like, “Did Jesus actually rise from the dead?” Now they are asking ethical questions about goodness and beauty: “Is Christianity actually good for the world?” I believe the answer is an easy to prove “YES,” and I believe that a powerful way to reach your neighbor with the gospel, especially the younger generation, will be to not only tell them of the goodness of Jesus, but to demonstrate it as well. Let the transforming power of the Gospel be displayed in your life. Blaise Pascal said, “Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it might be true. The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.” So we need to take care to not only state fact about the Gospel and hope people accept it, but also to show them the beauty of the Gospel. We should be careful not to tell the waitress about Jesus and then complain at her rudely when our order isn’t exactly right. Instead of getting impatient in the grocery store line, we should display Gospel love that “is patient” (1 Cor 13:4) and happy to wait, because Jesus is patient with us and is making us more like Himself.
Due to the shortness of these articles, I will leave you with a question from Gavin Ortlund to ponder on: “How do we show just how happy the Gospel is? How do we show what incredible news it is? Because it is!”
Pastor Joshua
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