In the Book of Acts the early Christians did what the modern term calls "evangelize," that is, they told everybody they met about Jesus. That word is often misunderstood today--assumed to mean "get people to join your church, increase the numbers of its membership." No; the word actually means "tell Good News." And the people already in church often need to hear and understand what the Good News means, just as much as people outside (especially youth and teens). And people outside most of the time won't be interested in joining the church unless you can tell them what the Good News is and why the Lord Jesus ever established a "church."
Is it possible to tell "in a nutshell" what the Good News is? (That's all the space we have here!)
(1) As "our Father which art in heaven," God so loved this lost world that He "gave" His only Son to save the human race from the horror of eternal death.
(2) He came, and He did exactly that!
(3) People who woke up began to realize who He is--"the Savior of the world" (John 4:42), "the Savior of all men" (1 Tim. 4:10), the One who "abolished death [the second] and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News" (2 Tim. 1:10).
(4) For every human being He "brought life," that is, the life he/she now has--whether or not that person believes or disbelieves. This present life is the purchase of the sacrifice of that beloved Son of God.
(5) For every one who "believes in Him" He has also "brought ... immortality to light through the Good News."
(6) That Son of God is still ministering those "gifts" to all mankind as a present-tense Savior; by the Holy Spirit (His true Vicar!) He is taking every one of us by the hand, saying, "Come, let's enjoy eternal life" (see Isa. 41:10, 13). He "draws" you with "cords … of love" (Jer. 31:3; Hosea 11:4).
(7) Finally, that "drawing" is so persistent (up to the moment of your last breath) that it is "hard" to resist it (Acts 26:14).
You don't really WANT to "crucify Him afresh," do you? Then "yield" to that drawing!
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: September 10, 2000.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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