(Reflections by Dane Burgess from Bob Thunes book, The Gospel-Centered Life)

What exactly is "the gospel"? It is a question that when posed to Christians can seem to bring more of the "deer in a headlights look" then a confident explanation spoken out of true understanding of identity. A lot of the time, when you ask a Christian "what is the gospel?" you tend to get answers that are broken down to two, three or even four core principles. But the problem within those principles is that they come off as dis-genuine and they lack true conviction. And when I mean principles, I am talking about very basic core beliefs that might be true about the Gospel but when boiled down to the bare minimum of its meaning will have no weightiness to its true reality.

But when you understand "the gospel" as an intricate story of God creating, man falling, Christ redeeming and a new people created then you start to see how your own life fits within this Redemptive Historical reality. 

Creation: The Story Doesn't Start With Us, But God 

As all stories begin, it starts with a beginning. But within this story, our human tendencies is to begin with us. Yes this story has something to do with us but it isn't primarily about us but God. 

God is eternal, infinite, perfect and unchanging who created all things before there was anything (Genesis 1:1-31). We can see through Scripture that our God is one God but He exists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). God was perfectly happy and  completely joyful amongst himself. Which means he did not create the world because he was lacking in anything. He already had perfect glory, community, joy and worship within the Trinity. Rather He created creation out of the outpouring of His perfection, His goodness and His love. Humans were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). And he created us to join in and experience that perfect joy he had amongst himself within the Trinity. We are the created and not the creator. We are dependent and under His authority whether we like it or not. We are on His terms and not on our own. We were made to worship, love and serve him. Not serve ourselves. 

God's words when he was done with all of creation were "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." There was perfect order, perfect structure and all of creation was under submission to its Creator. 

Fall: We Batched It, Not God 

Humans were made in the "imago dei", which means we were made in the image of God. We were created by God to worship Him. All that we did was to be directed towards him. But instead of coming under full submission to God's authority, humans (We, all of us) turned away from God in sinful rebellion (Genesis 3:1-7; Isaiah 53:6). Our cosmic treason caused a great disease or an illness to saturate all of creation. God's perfect creation that he said "was very good" is now tainted. Cosmic brokenness happened because of our sin. Pain, suffering, death and sorrow to name a few happened because of us.

For now "all sin and fall short of the glory of God." Human beings, because of the great fall, are sinners by nature and by choice (Ephesian 2:1-3). Non of us truly think of ourselves as that bad or sinful. Someone is always worse then I am, we say. But in reality this view only shows our true lack of understanding of how our sinfulness is committed towards a Holy, Perfect God. 

"Sin is not primarily an action, it's a disposition" - Bob Thune

Sin is our soul's bend towards our perfect Creator. Sin has permitted everything within us. Our pride, our selfishness, our independence, and our lack love towards God and our neighbors. At times sin is very open and obvious but other times it is hidden within ourselves. Like I said earlier, sin has permeated every part of creation and there is no hope for change or is there...

Redemption: God's Acts To Save Us And What We Have Broken 

How often do we put our hope and trust in other sinful human beings to save us or save our world. We look to political systems to bring us out of bondage, we look towards self-help books to make us feel better. And yet no matter what we do, there is always that sense of brokenness and guilt that we can't seem to get rid of fully. That is why we need a hero. We need a Savior. That hero and Savior is Jesus Christ. We sinners need a Savior, a Redeemer, a Deliverer to free us from the captivity of our own sin and restore the order of the world back to its original purpose. A purpose that had a worshipful, dependent bend towards God as Creator. 

Jesus Christ being fully God (to incur sin fully) and being fully man (to pay the ultimate debt we  owe to God). God sent his Son to be a perfect substitute. One who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we ultimately deserved. 

"This is why God sent Jesus into the world to be our substitute (1 John 4:14). The Bible teaches that Jesus was fully God - the second person of the Trinity - and also fully human. He was born to a human mother, lived a real flesh-and-blood existence, and died a brutal death on a Roman cross outside Jerusalem. Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to God (Hebrews 4:15), making him the only person in history who did not deserve judgment. But on the cross, he took our place, dying for our sin. He received the condemnation and death we deserve so that, when we put our trust in him, we can receive the blessing of life he deserves (2 Cor. 5:21)" - The Gospel Centered Life pg. 9

Jesus did die in our place. But how do we know who he said he was unless he could show us who he was? We know this by him rising from the dead, displaying his victory over sin, satan and death. All that was lost, broken and corrupted in the fall will ultimately be put right. Redemption isn't simply salvation for individual souls; it means that all of creation is being put back to the way it was suppose to be.

Restoration: Now This Is More Like It 

What is required of us to partake in this restoring process? How to we experience salvation and become mirrors of redemption towards our world? By faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Faith is complete trust or confidence in Someone. It is a heart that has a whole-hearted commitment to Jesus Christ. 

When we trust in Jesus Christ we are released from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin. We were originally created "able not to sin" but through the fall we were "not able not to sin" but for those who believe in Jesus we are now "able not to sin" and once Jesus brings redemption to completion of all things we will "not be able to sin." That is an amazing hope and reality that will come one day! One day, for those who are in Christ, will not be able to sin. Are you kidding me!!

We are free to die to ourselves and live a life that has a dependent bending of the knees towards our King Jesus. We are free to serve because Christ first served us. We are free to see all the things we own as gifts given to us by God and steward them well to bless others. We are finally free in whatever we do to do it all for the Glory of God. 

Jesus promised that he will return soon to judge sin and make all things new. Until then, he is gathering under His rule a people from every tribe, tongue and nation (Rev. 7:9). As he has given us eternal life, he has also called us to participate with Him in His mission (Matthew 28:18-20). 

This is the Gospel! A story of triumph and vindication. A story of hope and longing. It is the good news, the greatest news this world has ever heard and needs to hear.

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Why Do These Pentecostals Keep Growing?: Well, I'd have some theological nuances I’d like to bring in, but from a sociological perspective my response is, “I wouldn’t downplay what is in the engine.” You don’t care for some of their expression? That’s fine. But Pentecostals are trying to reach the lost and grow the Kingdom.

How Not To Be A Racist: A recent study reveals that the majority of African-Americans still believe that race is a huge issue in our society, while the majority of whites do not think that race is a significant factor.  I’m not here to affirm or dispute the report, but at the very least, what these findings reveal is the continued chasm that exists between these two ethnicities.

9 Step To Putting That Sin To Death: All throughout the New Testament we are told to put our sin to death. For example, in Colossians 3 Paul says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” How do you do that? How do you stop a sin, and how do you stop an especially stubborn and deep-rooted sin? Is there any hope? I want to track with John Owen here (via his great work Overcoming Sin and Temptation) and give a list of 9 things you need to do to overcome sin. Consider that sin that is prevalent in your life and then consider each of these 9 steps.

Give Us This Day Our Daily News: Even more, we must pray as events scroll across the screen. Develop this discipline. Let your news intake get you out of yourself and move you to pray, and then to act as you are able. Let the news be an instigator to get you involved in all that God is doing in this world that belongs—without hype, sensationalism or slant—to Him. 

The Missing Ingredient In Many Sermons: From a guy who has to fight every single day to have my heart moved by the gospel, hear my plea: don’t be content to just give your hearers a comprehensive tour guide through a passage, connect the dots to show the glory, grandeur and greatness of God in it so they can join you in marveling at the glorious view. It’s a little thing, but it makes a big difference for you and the church.

A Word About Men And Marriage: I’m tired of men who act like boys. Just because the woman is a weaker vessel doesn’t mean you get to abuse her with your cold immaturity (1 Peter 3:7). Where are the tender-hearted men who cry over their sin instead of their football game? Where are the men who lead like Jesus, selflessly sacrificing their time, energy, and love for the sake of their family? I know you’re out there. Stay the course. And listen, young men who wish to be married, don’t act like a child. You are a man.

Killing Our Addiction To Human Praise

by John Piper

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3 Ways To Be Mission This Halloween: My guess is that if Jesus lived in our neighborhood, everyone couldn’t wait to go to his house to see what he was going to hand out this year.  Everyone would be excited to go to Jesus’ Halloween party and couldn’t wait to invite him over to their party.   My only question I wonder is “Who would Jesus dress up as for Halloween?” Who knows…but you know it’d be a killer costume.

Why We Neglect Our Bibles: But that’s often not true. Many Christians find it difficult to get into a daily habit of Bible reading. So this week John Piper addressed four common causes of Bible neglect in the Christian life, like: “I don’t read my Bible because . . .

The 6 Ingredients of Jesus' Bitter Cup: Isaac Ambrose captured so well the meaning of the cup when he set out what he believed to be the 6 ingredients that made it so burdensome a sight to the soul of the sinless Son of God...

Six Reasons To Live More Simply: How can we live more simply? There are thousands of ways. We can buy used cars rather than new, modest houses rather than expensive ones. We don’t have to replace older furniture just for appearances. We can mend and wear clothes we already have, shop at thrift stores, give up recreational shopping and costly clothes and jewelry, cut down on expensive convenience foods, and choose less costly exercise and recreation. Some of us can carpool, use public transportation, or a bike instead of a car or second car. But these are things few of us will do unless we have clear and compelling reasons. Here are six:

The Cure For Shame: Maybe you feel your shame is too much for Jesus. That he's too pure to handle the kind of shame you've been carrying around for so long. Sinclair Ferguson puts it well: "In your shame, how could someone like you come to Jesus? Because he has come to your shame, to bring you to his joy...

Five Ways To Loose The Battle With Sin: The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. One of the ways such deceit manifests itself is through convincing us that we have battled a sin and put that sin to death when really we have done nothing of the sort. John Owen is a steady guide in the battle against sin, and in chapter 5 of his great work Overcoming Sin and Temptation he deals with misconceptions about what it means to put sin to death. Here are 5 ways to lose the battle against sin...

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Look And Live: From one who bears the fang-shaped scar, I urge you this weekend to attend corporate worship not merely to sing or merely to listen, but to look — to gaze. Look and live.

You Can't Catch Sin Like A Cold: So, when we are around obvious sin, those people and places, we can’t catch their sin. We can choose their sin, but that is a matter of decision, of belief, of theology. If we hold fast to Jesus there is no risk of that sin invisibly taking hold of us like a flu bug might. How freeing! We no longer have to keep our distance or live in cultural quarantine. We can engage those people with grace and freedom without fear. Because we are near Jesus we can be near to anyone without fear that they will make us more like them than like Him.

Theological Impatience: Theological impatience is one of the most troubling features of our generation. Examples of impatience in everyday life abound – measuring your progress against that of the person in the adjacent supermarket queue, tutting at the slowness of a microwave dinner – but far more inisidious is the way this everyday impatience now manifests itself in the way we do theology. Assuming, as we are often told, “the means is the message” (that is, the physical way in which you communicate something forms an important part of what you communicate), we would expect that: if theology is done in blog comments and tweets and Facebook posts, then it would be surprising if that did not make us theologically impatient.

Biblical verses Systematic Theology?: This is what gives Systematic Theology its finality. Biblical Theology asks, What did the patriarchs say, or Moses, or the prophets or Paul or John? Systematic Theology asks, What does the Bible say?

What Is The 'Abomination of Desolation'?: A wise preacher dealing with this passage may find particular value in focusing on this point. When Jesus gives instruction concerning future events, his purpose is not to satiate our curiosity or answer all or our speculative questions. Instead, his purpose is to protect and guide and instruct his people. Jesus gave relatively little attention to the question "When?" and much toward the question "How shall we live faithfully?" Preaching on such texts today should be shaped by Jesus’ concern for the welfare and endurance of his church.

Christianity Is Not Going Away: The quiet religious revival in New York City is mostly below the radar screen. But it showcases how Christendom, although it ebbs and flows, after 1700 or so years, is not going away.

Friendless Millennials In A Digital Age: She is hitting the nail square on its head. Young people vaguely know about stuff, but they often do not truly know those around them. Much of that comes from our connectedness on the Internet, and specifically social media.

A Failure Of Worship: The addict is not merely following deeply-ingrained habits and physical desires, but seeking the escstasy of worship. The problem is not the desire to worship—we are created to be worshippers—but the idolatrous object of that worship. The addict looks elsewhere—anywhere—for what can be found only in God. The addict’s foremost failure is a failure of worship.

Should We Kiss Evangelism Goodbye?: What my dad and mom thought about me as I was growing up meant a lot. Their thoughts and opinions could crush or lift me in a moment. The truth is that we seek approval from others all the time. As you get to know someone, you might pick up that they need to hear the gospel of adoption, that God the Father offers an undying approval in his Son Jesus. This can radically change people’s view of God, and thrill them with the hope of a Father’s love. Don’t kiss your evangelism goodbye; just give it a facelift.

Kids And Missional Communities - Family Meals: Sometimes families feel like they shouldn’t hold their Family Meal on Sundays, since we’ve already done one church event that day. But there’s no such thing as too much church family on one day, and many of our Missional Communities have found great success with a Family Meal that starts at 5pm on Sundays.

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Jesus Cares About Your Words: Jesus is Lord over all. And as the Cosmic Emperor, he reigns over Neptune, pinwheel galaxies, birds, blades of grass, and our words. Jesus is Lord over our sentences. The Lordship of Christ has no boundaries. There is not an area of our lives that we can rope off and tell Jesus, “Not here, bub.” Jesus cares about our speech.

A Gospeled Church: You cannot grow in holiness and holier-than-thou-ness at the same time. So a church that makes its main thing the gospel, and when faced with sin in its ranks doesn’t simply crack the whip of the law but says “remember the gospel,” should gradually be seeing grace coming to bear.

You Must Put Sin To Death: Owen says that Christians—the choicest Christians—hate sin and pursue it to its death. Could there be a conclusion that is farther from the world around us? The world, the flesh, and the devil tell us to pursue our sin, to enjoy our sin, to go deeper and deeper into our sin, to identify ourselves by our sin, to become our sin. God’s Word tells us to identify our sin, to hate our sin, to destroy our sin. And by God’s grace we can do that very thing. He can give us a revulsion toward our sin, and then empower us to kill it. Praise God!

He Must Increase; Our Churches Must Decrease: There is one thing that the churches experiencing historic revival have in common: they seemed overrun with the sense of the glory of God. They preached the gospel and the response was, as some describe, that “glory came down.”

Good News For The Poor: The church has made mistakes in the past by farming out, almost exclusively, social justice-type ministries to parachurch organizations. The church has also been guilty of paternalism and malevolent generosity when it comes to things such as soup kitchens, food pantries, and so forth. We’ve too often confused free handouts with Christian ministry. Instead, we should be evangelizing, discipling, equipping, and sending out people as they minister within local churches.

A Tale Of Two Mars Hills: A drift in doctrine, a drift from the truth, has a devastating impact. There is a massive difference in holding tightly to the “faith delivered once and for all to the saints” and continually questioning, as Satan did in the garden, “Did God really say…?” Putting on trial what the Lord has clearly declared is the antithesis of watching your doctrine. One Mars Hill, and numerous observers, has been adversely impacted by a failure to closely watch life, and one by a failure to watch doctrine.

When You Wonder Who Is Thinking Of You: The trail of tears is thinking of myself and looking for others to give to me. The trail of joy and blessing is thinking of God and others. The fight that so often happens in my heart happens because this isn't a natural response, but it is possible by the Holy Spirit who resides in me.

4 Things God Says To Singles: About 35 percent of adult church members in Britain are single, so clearly the subject of singleness has considerable personal interest to many people in our churches. Each single person will have a different experience. There are age differences. Being single at 20 is very different from being single at 30, 40, or 70. There are circumstantial differences: some have never married, while others are divorcees, widows, or widowers. And there are experiential differences: some have chosen to be single and are basically content; others long to be married and feel frustrated. What does the Bible say to all these people?

Ten Simple Ways Your Church Can Serve Foster Families: Foster care is a Church problem, not a state child welfare problem. It is a Gospel issue first, not a government issue. The Church has both the duty and privilege to speak on behalf of and stand for the sake of those who cannot speak and stand for themselves because that is exactly what God has done for us through Jesus. That's the Gospel.

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Four Things To Do When Bringing Home A Child From A Hard Place: My biggest advice when you bring your kids home is to know that this is a journey. Two steps forward and three steps back is how I look at it. It’s a long and hard journey and if you thought that your wait for your child was grueling, you have no idea what the next few months/years have in store for you.

Confessing Our Sins Together: When we bring our sins to another Christian, they become concrete and their ugliness cannot be hid from view.

Darkness Is My Closest Friend: One of my biggest frustrations with western Christianity is our tendency to fake spiritual maturity. We use theological words and phrases that sound impressive – like kingdom, worship, and die to self – but they have little meaning in our daily lives.

A Different Kind Of Millennial Problem: But the most shocking part? 90% of our church is under 30 years old. We have the exact opposite problem of most churches. When someone who looks older walks through our door, we pray they are solid and that they’ll stick around to pour into the mass of youth we have.

What To Do When You Don't Like The Bible: So what should we do when we come up against those passages and parts of the Bible that just seem to be hard for us to embrace? Here are a few things I talked with my friend about.

On Daughters and Dating: How To Intimidate Suitors: So let’s talk frankly about what you need to do to guard her(Daughters) interests when it comes to dating. Instead of brandishing a shotgun or breaking out an application, you need to build a wall.

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