Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” (Matthew 4:17)
Looking at his disciples, he said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you,
when they exclude you and insult you
and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.– Luke 6:20-22
If the Gospel is not the message for the poor, starving, thirsting, sick, and unclothed, we need a new message, don’t we?
Any suggestions?
November 4th, 2009 | 4:35 pm | #1
I read the earlier post, and while I agree that the Gospel is the message for everybody, what I would stress is the fact that the power of the Gospel is that it destroys death, and it gives us eternal life.
Before I became a Christian as an adult, I would hear people tell me I would “just be much happier” if only I could believe. And that really did not do much for me.
Now that I am a Christian, I would affirm that my life has changed radically and that I have a hope in Christ that I never had before. But do I still have problems and struggles? Most assuredly yes. And that is something I think is hard for new believers to accept, and it is one reason people fall away from the faith. If they convert under the assumption that everything will go smoothly, and then life throws them for a loop, they begin to think what they were promised is illusory.
November 4th, 2009 | 5:13 pm | #2
I admire Jared’s ongoing efforts to keep this blog focused on the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was surprised (not in a good way) by the reaction to “The Gospel is the Antidote to Everything.”
Remember that an antidote is “… something that relieves, prevents, or counteracts” according to Merriam-Webster. It is not necessarily a cure. The gospel relieves the pain of broken families, financial distress, and hunger by offering the incredible peace and joy of the hope of salvation. The gospel counteracts our disease of pride and self-centeredness by reminding us of the incredible humility of the son of God who condescended to become man, suffer, and die for our sins.
As anonymous notes, this good news does not alleviate our current suffering. In fact, the Bible makes it clear that we will suffer.
November 4th, 2009 | 9:56 pm | #3
I read somewhere that U.S. Treasury agents being trained to detect counterfeit bills spend most of their time examining authentic bills. The idea being that when they encounter a fake, it becomes immediately obvious that it’s not the real thing.
Jared, keep preaching and writing about the authentic gospel, and perhaps when people encounter a false one, it will become very evident.
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