Have you ever read a book without knowing what it was about? If you're like me you've been in a bookstore and you see a book that looks interesting, maybe it’s a word in the title or the image on the cover that attracts you and so you pick it up and you begin skimming. Before too long Your browsing brings you to the point where you realize that you still have no idea what the book is about. Similarly, have you read parts of the Bible and had those kinds of thoughts? If so I've got some good news for you, the whole thing is about Jesus.
From the very first words Jesus is there, creation and then personally interacting in a close relationship with the primary occupants of His newly formed world. And then in a necessary response to the rebellion of the first man and woman he gives an amazing promise, one day a descendant of the woman would once and for all defeat the original tempter, the serpent from the garden. Jesus also shows up at various places throughout the unfolding of history and then of course again, when conceived of the Holy Spirit he is born; fully human and still fully God. The seed promised back in Genesis had at last arrived. But even in the details of the life and ministry of Jesus the Christ, the story of redemption was not yet complete. We do however have a glimpse of that fulfillment when once again the story revolves around that same Jesus, once again the primary character, as revealed to John.
Because of what we've discussed so far and since according to Luke, Jesus is found in all the scriptures we can confidently say that the entire Bible is the good news about Jesus Christ. It is one cohesive story of the redemption of mankind, He is its primary figure. From that I would suggest that there is no other story with such authority in the life of a believer that should affect every part of our lives. There is no part of our existence that should not be touched by the good news of the Bible.
Question ninety-one of the catechism asks “What is faith in Jesus Christ?”. The answer is “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.” We might well ask, why is He offered to us in this good news? Because we are all sinners like our original parents when they disobeyed God’s single command and violated the covenant. As a result, there is no area of our lives unaffected by our fallen state of being. Primarily, our relationship with God is broken. Secondarily and evidenced every single day of life, our relationship with other people is tainted as well.
So if all of the Bible is God's story of redemption for us in Jesus Christ then that good news is the path to redemption; everything will be made brand new all over again just like in the very beginning. Our hope is that the promise made to Adam and Eve back in the garden of Eden will be fulfilled. And in that fulfillment not one single area of human life will be left unaltered when it comes in contact with the good news of Jesus Christ. He is still about the business of creation, or perhaps re-creation. HE is making all things new, through the Gospel of Himself, which is him being offered to us and for us.
This reality is why Light City Bible Church is devoted to gospel centrality. We want the gospel to be at the very center of everything we do. We gather, recognizing that not one single area of our lives doesn't need redemption. Because of sin, every part of our being needs to be made new. But praise God, Jesus’ righteousness replaces our own unrighteousness and so bit by bit everything that is wrong in our world which is not external but internal is being made right again. We invite you to join us as together we embark on this journey of realizing our need and embracing the offer of the gospel, Jesus Christ himself. What an amazing God we have!
Soli deo Gloria.
Pastor Keith
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