The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Read
/Long time no see!
I was in the middle of writing a new post yesterday when my computer glitched and, to my dismay, deleted everything that I had written. I took it as a sign from God that He had something better in mind for me to write about, so I took a moment to pray and ask what it was. After about ten minutes, I got frustrated and decided to go for a drive. I listened to some worship music and started praying, asking God “well if I wasn’t supposed to write about that, what should I write about?”
The first song that came on shuffle was the song “Even So Come” by Passion. The entire premise of the song is about the second coming of Christ, and how His people are preparing for His glorious return.
And then something occurred to me.
After all this time I’ve spent talking to you guys about Jesus, I’ve never out and out explained the Gospel, which is quite literally the most important part of the Bible -
and what better day to do it than Good Friday?
I took a class a couple years ago about how to explain the Gospel in an effective way (shoutout to Jeff Dodge, author of Gospel 101), but I want to incorporate some things that I have personally learned in my faith walk as well.
With that being said, let’s begin.
The second song that came on shuffle for me was “Good Good Father” by Jess & Gabriel, so I thought I would start off by talking about who God is.
I remember a pastor saying one time that whatever comes to your mind when asked “who is God?” is the most important thing about you.
So, who is God to you?
What comes to your mind?
Responses vary, but I feel like one of the most common images people have of God is of this wicked, domineering, and often times cruel being who punishes us when we mess up -
and that couldn’t be more wrong.
God isn’t anything like that - just like the song title says, He is a good father. Unfortunately, because of sin and human’s natural tendency to be hateful and judgmental, people’s impressions of God are negative. We can’t wrap our minds around the idea of a “kind God” because often times, the people who are meant to represent Him on earth are not kind.
The cool thing about God is that he is nothing like humans. Yes, we are made in His image, but we are all sinful and fall short of His glory. Where we are judgmental, He is the embodiment of justice. Where we are unforgiving, He is full of grace. Where we are hateful, He is loving.
The next song that came on was “Even If” by MercyMe. This reminded me of another cool thing about God - He not only sees your hurting, He understands it. He experienced it. He knows your pain fully, and there’s no hurt so big or heart so broken that He can’t fix it.
If you’re reading this and you don’t believe in God or you haven’t gone to church because someone told you that “you weren’t” good enough or that “you don’t meet the standard,” then hear me say this: God is welcoming to all. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, or what you’ve done, all are welcome. There’s not a standard of “goodness” you have to meet to enter His kingdom. You don’t earn your way into salvation. He created you, He loves you, and He wants you in His family.
The only thing He asks for in return is love.
Oh boy this is my favorite part.
2,000 years ago today, Jesus Christ was sentenced to death on a cross. The authorities whipped him with lead-tipped whips, stole his clothing and paraded Him through the city, forced Him to carry a 300 pound cross that He was eventually nailed to, and hung Him there to die.
Believe it or not, that wasn’t the most painful part.
No, the most painful part was when he took on the weight of all sin. God is too holy and perfect to be in the presence of sin, so when Jesus hung on that cross, God turned away from his one and only son so that He could fully take on the weight of my sin and yours. The most painful part wasn’t the physical pain. It was the separation. He knew when he came to earth what he was going to have to endure, but that didn’t stop Him from coming.
Are you understanding what I’m saying?
God sent His precious son to suffer for you.
Yes, you specifically. Not “you” as in the human race. You. You reading this. Jesus died for you. He saw all of your mistakes, all of your shortcomings, all of the things that you would do in your life, and He said “they’re worth it.”
When Jesus came, He was fully human and fully God (hard to wrap your mind around, I know. Some things we just aren’t really meant to understand). He had the power to stop the crucifixion at any time, but He didn’t. His love for you kept Him up there. He went to the grave for you.
But He didn’t stay dead.
Ahh. Goosebumps.
Yes, Jesus died on that Friday - but three days later, He rose from the grave, triumphing over death. When He rose, He held our salvation in His hands. Because of Him, we no longer have to bear the wrath of God for our mistakes. Jesus took care of it all.
Praise the Lord.
Back in Biblical times, there was a section of the temple called “the Holy of Holies,” which was God’s earthly dwelling place. It was such a holy place, that the priest could only enter once a year under incredibly special conditions. The Holy of Holies was separated from the rest of the temple, sectioned off by a veil.
Here’s the thing though.
When Jesus died, that veil was torn.
Like, literally torn. Ripped in two from top to bottom. This signified that, through Jesus, we now have free access to God.
Praise the LORD!
I understand that this is a lot to take in, so allow me to recap:
God is perfect and without sin.
Because man is naturally sinful (thanks a lot, Adam and Eve), we could not be in the presence of God.
God has one son - Jesus.
Jesus came to earth on a rescue mission.
He went to the cross and bore the weight of all of our sin.
He died.
The veil was torn.
On the third day, He was resurrected.
Because of all of these things, we now have 100% free access to God.
All we have to do is accept Jesus as our Lord and savior.
Because, well - He is.
This is the most important message you’ll ever hear.
Romans 3:23-24 says it like this:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from penalty for our sins.”
So, who is God to you?
What comes to your mind?
He’s waiting at the door. All you have to do is let Him in.
I invite you to take just a minute out of your day to pray. Just try it.
What’s the worst that could happen?
If you have any questions or need clarification on anything, please shoot me an email or a DM (thelightclctive@gmail.com // @thelightclctive).
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Instead of giving you a song to listen to, I want you to go read John 19-20. It’s the crucifixion story. Read it. Believe it. Live it.
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Okay fine. I will give you ONE song.
The Gospel - Ryan Stevenson