Crossing Off Another Year January 13, 2014
Nineyears ago, I wrote this essay as a review of the biggest lesson I learned in2004. In light of our recent mini-series on the Gospel-Centered Life, I thoughtit might be fitting to pull it from my personal archives and publish it herefor your reflection.
For me,2004 was a year defined by relearning the gospel. Its bearing, not its meaning.Its importance in my daily life, not only at the Judgment Day. Its crucial rolein my day-to-day Christian life, not just its role as the entry point to myChristian life. The defining lesson of 2004 was this: I need the cross, thegospel of Jesus Christ every single moment of every single day.
What do Imean by “the gospel”? Simply this: Jesus Christ, holy (and wholly) God,absorbed the unrestrained fury of God’s wrath against us so that you and I,rebellious sinners, could enjoy the unreserved benefits of God’s pleasure inHim.
Through theeye-opening work of the Spirit in His word, the help of several authors, andthe fellowship of several close friends, I am learning to live the gospel everyday. I’m learning what Jerry Bridges meant when he wrote: “Your worst days arenever so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And you bestdays are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.”
Here aresome areas I’m learning to live the gospel:
- Relating to God. The gospel frees us from emotion-driven concern about whether we feel close to God by explaining that Jesus truly has brought us close to Him. When we really understand the gospel, we are released from the fruitless struggle to earn God’s favor with our goodness and the constant tendency to despair because of our failures.
- Relating to others. The gospel allows us to be who we really are—no secrets, no façade, no desire to impress. After all, Jesus already knows about all our crud and He’s taken care of it. The gospel also causes us to take our sin against others seriously—no rationalizing, no blame shifting, no minimizing; after all, the perfect Son of God had to die to atone for it. And the gospel opens the way for us to forgive their sins against us, since our sin against God will never match what someone else could do to us.
- Reading the Bible. The entire Bible is the story of God’s pursuit of His people—i.e., the gospel. Everywhere we read, we should look for pointers to or illustrations of or implications from the gospel.