If you missed the first part of this article, be sure to check it out here.
Good news becomes old news when you hear it often enough.
That is particularly true for many of us when it comes to the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For some of us, we’ve heard the gospel most of our lives. We’ve even loved the gospel and been transformed by the gospel.
But if we’re being honest, sometimes the good news of Jesus’ death, resurrection, salvation, and return — can become old news for us. For those of you who are new to church, or new to Jesus, I hope you haven’t lost your fire for him.
But I think for many of us, if we aren’t careful to pursue the presence of God and the Spirit’s reign in our lives, the good news can become old news. Romans 3:21-26 says,
But now, apart from the Law, the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding his blood — to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness, at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
If the good news has become old news to you, here are two more pieces of “Good News” to remember from the above passage of Scripture:
God Is the Judge, Lawyer, and Became an Innocent ‘Criminal’ for Us
“God is both the just and the justifier,” Paul says in Romans 3.
A lot of us don’t like to think of God as Judge. But we need God to be the perfect Judge because we need a swift and decisive end to evil and injustice, and we need someone with the power and authority to declare us free — to break the captivity of the power of sin at work in our lives. God as the perfect Judge has that Divine power and authority.
But here’s the thing — if God lives only as the Judge in our imaginations, that can give us a distorted image of God, where we might grow afraid of God.
This is where we might have learned to believe that Jesus had to die for God’s anger problem. As if Jesus was like, “It’s okay, calm down God.”
To be clear, Jesus did not die for God’s anger problem, but for our sin problem — to set us free from the bondage we were in, bondage to our sin. This is why Romans says God is Just and also our Justifier.
Because God is both our judge and justifier, that is, God is our judge and our lawyer, and more than that, in Christ, God took our place as criminals — we are now free to live life with God, and experience God’s favor and blessing in relationship with him now and for all eternity.
Now, our pain has meaning. Our suffering has meaning. And we can be best friends with Jesus, and we are filled with the Holy Spirit. That’s such good news.
We Are Unrighteous but Have Been Declared Righteous in Christ
We are condemned, declared guilty, and everyone “falls short,” Romans says. We are under the power of sin (“under the influence of a sin”), according to Romans 3:9.
That means we can be controlled by the power of sin if the Holy Spirit is not leading us. This is why we do the things we don’t want to do, and we don’t do the things we’d want to do.
We need to be sober-minded and repentant about this reality. Apart from Jesus, we are unrighteous, but the good news of the gospel is that the cross was enough. When we put our faith in Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection power, we are made new.
The old is gone and the new has come. God has favor, abundance, and a plan and purpose for our lives. This is the reality of who we are in Jesus. God is both the Just and the Justifier, and we, the unrighteous are declared righteous by faith in Jesus.
What Does This Mean for Us Today?
If the good news has become old news, don’t beat yourself up over it. But own that — invite Jesus into that. Ask him to expand your understanding and refresh your love for the good news of the gospel.
For further reading:
How Can Christians Knock Down Fear of the Future? Part 1
How Can Christians Knock Down Fear of the Future? Part 2
3 Truths That Christians Can Cling to in Confusing Seasons of Life
What Does ‘The Good Life’ Really Mean for Christians? Part 1
3 Ways to Remember God’s Presence When He Feels Absent to You
6 Ways to Help Children with Big Feelings
6 Ways to Honor Your Pain When Grief Catches You by Surprise
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