What a relief there is good news when the burden of the bad news begins to press in on us.
When we recognize our sinfulness before a holy God it is a heavy weight to bear…until we hear and take hold of the good news!
We know the good news that God loves us and desires relationship with us. So He sent His son to soak up all of our sin on the cross. That’s why it’s called Good Friday.
The Paradox of Good Friday
It was a horrendous day. So much excruciating pain and mental anguish were suffered by Jesus Christ. Did you know that the word excruciating is a word that developed later because it means “out of the cross”?
And yet, it was a gift. A good, good gift designed to save any who put their faith in Christ from the penalty of their sin. That is good news!
But we are not just saved from the wrath of God and left to our humanity, struggling to know our purpose, and continuing to feel the guilt and shame of our sin, despite being forgiven.
This would be a LENGTHY post if I covered all the advantages of life in Christ, so let’s just take in some basics.
The power of sin is broken so we can live for His glory
When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. Romans 6:10
He died to break the power of sin in our lives. Will we still sin – yes? Because we are still human and will choose at times to disregard the guidance of the Spirit. But sin has no power over us.
He did so that we could live like He did – for the glory of God. I wasn’t raised learning a catechism but have come to love the first question in the Westminster Catechisms.
Q – What is the chief end of man?
A – Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
(Check out Romans 11:36, 1 Corinthians 10:31, and Psalm 73:25-26 for the scriptural foundation for this doctrine).
Christ died so that we could fulfill the reason we were created. That's good news!
We are made new
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
We love new, don’t we? New cars, new appliances, new homes, new gadgets, new babies/grandbabies. The list is infinite. I would even say new technology, but I know not everyone is with me on that!
In 2021 I wrote and taught a Bible study I hope to publish someday about the new things that come and are coming with life in Christ. I named it “All Things New” based on Revelation 21:5 where God says, “Look, I am making everything new!”
In addition to a new life seen in 2 Corinthians, there are many other things God tells us in His word He makes new or is making new for those in Christ, such as:
- New covenant
- New name
- New heart
- New priest
- New song
- New body
- New heavens and new earth
- New Jerusalem where there will be a
- New temple
- New tree
- New peace
Not only would you not be able to clean your life up enough to be accepted by God without Christ, but you don’t need to, because He is going to give you a new one when you trust in Him. What great news!
We live without condemnation
Have you ever done something that you struggled to forgive yourself for – even after the other person forgave you and moved on? I can think of many of these times in my life.
God doesn’t want us to live under the shame of our sin. We know this from scripture.
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
We cannot be condemned for our sin before God. Romans 5:16 and Romans 8:34 go on to explain this further. We’ve not just been forgiven; we’ve been declared NOT GUILTY by God.
What would you think about a person who is charged with a crime, found not guilty, and then goes to prison anyway? That is what it is like when we carry around a sense of condemnation for our sin. And that makes glorifying God and enjoying Him forever impossible.
Is the fact there is no condemnation for those in Christ good news or what?!
We are considered righteous
Not only are we not considered guilty. We are considered right with God.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Because Christ – who never sinned – took our sin burden on the cross, our account with God is credited with Christ’s righteousness. John MacArthur says “God treated him as if he committed believers’ sins, and treats believers as if they did only the righteous deeds of the sinless Son of God.”
WOW! My friends, this is all better than good news. In fact, it's the best news ever!
If you're in Christ already, I hope this reminder of the good news about the good news has been an encouragement to you.
If you're not in Christ but would love to have this good news become part of your story, just click the "Contact Me" link in the menu to message me and I’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.
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