This IS Good News

 

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that bit did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:1-3 ESV).

 

I am aware that these first few devotionals might seem a bit “negative.” I desire nothing more than the encouragement and hope of God to be conveyed. However, I should remind us all that it is truth that sets us free. There is “bad news.” We all stand condemned before God. Our condemnation goes way back to the guilt we share with Adam and Eve (cf. Genesis 3), as well as to our own rebellion against God. We can do absolutely nothing to make ourselves right with God. We are all worthy of eternal separation from God (cf. Romans 6:23). However there is good news for each of us. The Reformers saw that Christ alone was qualified to be our Savior. That was quite a different picture for those who were predominantly works-driven in their day. These people were dependent on somehow balancing the scaled of justice with their payment of indulgences and offering of prayers.

 

Perhaps we should review why Jesus is the only possible Savior of humankind. God’s moral law requires perfect obedience and demands punishment for anything less. From his birth to his death, only Jesus was perfectly obedient to God’s law. Only in him can new life be found. Scripture testifies that Jesus, the only perfect one, bore the results of our rebellion. While we were still dead in our sin, God provided the perfect Savior, who alone can make us right with God.

 

Of course this is not to say that we are somehow exempt from our behavior. The Apostle Paul was clear that the principle of “reaping what you sow” (cf. Galatians 6:7) still applies. The good news is that we are not required to do these works for our salvation. Instead, we are privileged and empowered to do them. Don’t listen to others who may tell you that you’ve “got to do;” we “get to do.” Let this truth wash over you each day and prompt acts of loving service to God and your neighbor. This is the truth of good news.