The Gospel 101

God is absolutely addicted to you. His thoughts about us can not be numbered (Psalm 40:5, 139:17-18, Jer 29:11). Simply put, He can not get you off of His mind. You are the apple of His eye. He has ALWAYS known you. Before the world was, He knew you (Jer 1:5).

When the religious men challenged Jesus asking if it was “lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?” in Luke 20, Jesus replies saying “Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” But in Genesis 1:27, it says “Man was made in God’s image, and after his likeness.” We belong to Him.

Again in the parable of the lost coin in Luke 15, when the coin was lost, it never lost its original inscription or value! As Francois du Toit (author of the Mirrorword Translation) says, “There can be no ministry, until we understand that the world has ALREADY been reconciled to Him.” In John 1, John drops a bomb when he says “ Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Until we realize that he already took away (past tense) the sin of the (whole) world, we have nothing to offer man except religion.

The Gospel, is a proclamation of mans innocence. The cross dealt with our sin (all of us) when we “died WITH Christ.” His resurrection then announces our innocence, thus cancelling every excuse and every form of distance that could serve to separate us from the intention of His death - Union with Christ. Until you understand that He desires simply to be with you and share intimate fellowship (Union) you will remain mired in rules and religion, searching for a way to achieve what was already freely handed to you. Pursuit is useless UNTIL you understand that it is HE who pursues YOU.

More to come… chew on that for a While.