For
God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of
His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my
prayers, making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a
way in the will of God to come to you. (Romans 01:09-10, NKJV).
From
before the foundation of the world, from before there was time or
space or matter or energy, from before there were angels or demons,
there was God; the Uncaused Cause; He who inhabits eternity; the I AM
THAT I AM.
In
Him were Three: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; three Persons in One
God, an ineffable (too great or extreme to be expressed or
experienced) mystery; the Godhead.
Within
the Godhead is utter and inexpressible perfection and completeness;
perfect harmony, relationship, love, glory and power. This power is
beyond mere mortal comprehension, as are the other attributes of God,
but it includes the ability, purpose and will to create – to create
ex nihilo, “out of nothing”.
Understand
that God, in Himself is complete, lacking nothing. He is within the
Godhead the fulfillment of whatever needs He may have forever.
Yet,
for reasons known only fully to God, but surely encompassing all
knowledge, and the desire to share Himself, and all that He is, in
glory and majesty and love, He made man and woman in His own image.
It
is impossible to know all that that means this side of Heaven, but I
believe we can know this much about it.
First,
God is the ultimate expression of Personhood (the quality or
condition of being a complete and rational individual – in fact He
is three distinct, coequal Persons). So each one of us created in
His image, are persons.
Second,
God has free moral agency, meaning He has the capacity to choose
actions, thoughts, and words, to exercise His will, for good or evil.
So too then do we. But because God is the very definition of good,
his actions and choices are always, only good. But because we are
fallen, our choices are almost never only good.
Third,
God is love. There is perfect relationship between Father, Son
and Holy Spirit, bound together eternally in utter and complete love.
Thus, we have the capacity for love.
Fourth,
God is Spirit, so we are comprised of spirit.
And
from before time began, God purposed to become Man in Himself, to
send His Son to be born of woman and to become one of us in the
flesh. So we are partakers of flesh and blood, as well. We are
body, will and spirit because that is the ultimate expression of His
image.
Now
in His Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, who became one
of us to save us – in Him, we are more than images. We are His
poema, His masterpiece.
And
that last is the essence of the gospel of His Son, for by His
sacrifice we are saved and destined to be transformed from death to
life, from darkness to light, to be saved from Hell and made citizens
of Heaven. At this moment, as you are reading this and as you have
accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have
eternal life. It is your gift from Him that can never be taken away.
Can
you understand a little bit more why the gospel is “good news”;
in fact the best possible news that could ever be?
It
is the
Gospel of the Son. Jesus is the Person who has made the good news of
salvation possible for us fallen, and helpless sinners. Without Him,
without His incarnation as a Man, without His sinless life and
voluntary sacrifice for our sins on the Cross - there would be no good
news, no hope, for all of Adam's descendants. There would never be a
way of escape from the punishment of Hell, no matter what we did, no
matter how long we did it... ever.
That
Jesus loved the Father so much that He obediently went to the Cross
at His behest is amazing, but understandable. That He loved us, and
proved it, in that same act, is nothing short of a miracle.
We
are totally undeserving of that love, but He loved us anyway.
Remember
that when you meditate in your heart about the Gospel of the Son.
Aside from everything else that it is, what it proclaims throughout
creation is this:
“For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
(John 3:16, NKJV).
Love,
Dad
