God has a role for you to play in illustrating the atoning power of the gospel. No, you have nothing do to with the sacrifice that Christ made for your sin. But, yes, you have an important part to play in defeating the impact of sin here on earth. Proverbs 16:6 demonstrates how you can show the beauty of the atonement: Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil. With these words Solomon reminds us of how important it is to live our lives in light of Christ’s sacrifice. By showing God’s special loving-kindness you participate in the application of atonement. You have the privilege of showing what God’s atoning […]
Gospel
350 posts
The character of God is the one subject that is limitless. Because God is infinite he can be contemplated, adored, worshiped and loved without limit. But, still, the Holy Spirit wants you talk to your kids about God’s character, about who he is. For example, Moses describes God with many expressions of awe and fascination. In Deuteronomy 10 he speaks of God in comparison to the false gods of the surrounding cultures. This is a huge consideration. Throughout human history there have always been pretenders to the rule of God in the hearts of people. These false gods took the form of wood or stone. Or they masqueraded as religions with competing deities. Finally, human lusts for greed, power and […]
Do your kids think that God is only pleased with them if they obey? Do your kids think that the gospel means that they must be good so God will love them? Do your kids think that they must be good for you to like them, for you to love and delight in them? To answer these questions listen to the way your children talk about the gospel. You may be thinking that children seldom talk about the gospel. But actually, they do. Listen to your children talk. Listen to what makes them happy or sad. Listen to what they say about how you love them: “Mommy, I’m sorry I make you angry.” “Daddy, I won’t do it again.” “Why […]
In this video, author Brian G. Hedges talks about how the doctrine of union with Christ helps us as believers. With Jesus takes us on a tour through Jesus’ life to show us how we can find our place in the story of Christ. Christianity is not a only a faith founded on facts, but also a deeply personal experience of God’s transforming grace in Christ. While our hope is rooted in history—the events of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension—the Scriptures also teach that every believer is included in these events. From the manger to the cross, from the empty tomb to his glorious throne, Jesus acted for us. And the mystery and wonder of the gospel is that […]
Try to imagine being Mary Magdalene before she witnessed Jesus’ resurrection (Matt. 28:1). Luke tells us that she had once been in the grip of evil and Jesus delivered her, casting out seven demons (Luke 8:2). Who knows what the horrors of her life had been? Often identified as a prostitute forgiven by Jesus, though the New Testament never identifies her as such, she was certainly an outcast whose life Jesus had changed. Now she believed that Jesus was dead. She had seen his crucifixion and had now come to the tomb, Mark tells us, to anoint his body in burial (Mark 16:1). She clearly didn’t expect Jesus to rise from the dead. No one did. We can only imagine […]
Matthew tells us that an angel from heaven came down in plain view of the soldiers who were guarding the sealed tomb. The soldiers watched in shock as the angel rolled away the stone from the tomb and sat on it. If we were there we would have expected to see Jesus walk out into the morning light. There was just one problem. The tomb was already empty. Just as he could not be hindered from entering in a locked room, he could not be contained by the sealed tomb. The stone was not rolled away so that Jesus could escape. It was rolled away so that you would know that the tomb was empty. With his resurrection Christ was […]
Think about Saturday. This day was different. The trial, the crowds, the drama of Christ upon the cross was past. It was a dark Saturday. Disciples were alone, their anchor was gone, they were overwhelmed. The eleven and those close to them had spent three years with the most powerful person in all of human history. Now, his calming presence was gone. It appeared their hopes and dreams had vanished before their eyes on a cross. The Roman leaders were relieved that this whole mess was behind them. But there was at least one Centurion who knew that a great wrong had been done. And, then there was Pilate, still washing his hands, still haunted by his face-to-face encounter with […]
On a Thursday evening, 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ celebrated the last Passover. This meal marked the fulfillment of the promise made to Eve in the garden. In one meal Jesus ended the symbolism and types the Old Covenant and established the New Covenant. The next day, Good Friday, Christ, himself, would become the Passover Lamb. After 33 years of perfect obedience, less than a day remained of his time on earth. It would be a time of crushing temptation and agony. Everything that Christ had accomplished in his life came down to these final hours. Being the perfect God-man Jesus knew he would bear the weight of my sin, my ugliness. He knew he would endure his Father’s terrible, […]
The evidence of our Lord’s anguish that night spreads over the entire narrative—in his emotions, words, and actions. Consider just the opening verses of Mark’s version: And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” (14:32–34) Notice the language used to describe Jesus’ emotions. First, he is “greatly distressed and troubled” (v. 33). Jesus was in mental and emotional anguish. He felt deeply anxious. Add to this his deep sadness: “My soul is very sorrowful, […]
Parents don’t often think of the gospel and discipline in the same sentence. Typically, we tend to think that discipline is what you do now and the gospel is what you hope your children will embrace in the future. But Paul has a different understanding of the place of the gospel. For him, the gospel is the foundation, the hope of all of life for Christians (see Colossians 1:21-23). This means that your parental discipline must rooted and built upon the gospel. Just as you know that you can’t make yourself “good” enough for God to accept you, your children must know that they cannot make themselves “good” enough to earn your acceptance and approval. This is huge! You are […]