Do you want the bad news or the good news?
If someone asks you if you want the good news or the bad news, are you ever tempted to say, "I don't want the bad news!"
It really wasn’t that long ago that I began to realize that if we didn’t have the bad news, then good news wouldn’t really be impressive.
For instance, let's imagine someone told you that your 16-year old made it safely to their destination the first time she drove somewhere on her own. You'd be relieved. That's definitely good news. But let's say that they told you the bad news first - "She was in a 4-car pile-up on the highway." Does that change the impact of the good news? You bet!
The same goes with the story of Jesus. And I have known it for a very long time. My parents loved us enough to tell us the story verbally and live it out for us to watch. And they kept us in churches that told the old, old story.
But as I matured, I spent years when I loved the Lord and desired to serve Him but wasn’t really amazed by grace all that much. Maybe it was just because I had known the story so long and it lost its luster.
And so, as I have dug deeper into the gospel (good news) over the years, I have been impressed over and over and more deeply with the bad news. And understanding the gravity of the bad news, makes the good news even better.
It's right there in the Bible
Paul teach us that “…No one is righteous — not even one.” Romans 3:10 NLT And then he points to passages from Psalms where he goes into detail about what that means.
Then he summarizes and explains the bad news very simply, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23 NLT
Sin – falling short…missing the mark
God is holy – completely set apart and above all that we can imagine. He is righteous – sinless. But we are not.
I hope you'll join me for the week
As we go through the week we will see the progression of the good news. But to find the good, we’ll have to dig a little more into the bad.
Whether you’re a sinner saved by grace or a sinner who hasn’t accepted God’s great gift of grace, won’t you join me for this series? Click here to subscribe. I don't usually post daily, but this week is special.
In the meantime, checkout this music video by MercyMe that gives you a preview of what he’s done for those who accept that amazing grace.
