The other day I took my youngest daughter to the local ice cream parlor to get a cookie and a coffee and listen to the jukebox. As she danced around the shop to the sound of the The Platters, I suddenly became overwhelmed with a sense of joy and gratitude to God for this indescribable gift he has entrusted to my care. As she buried her face in her dog-shaped cookie and Dixie cup of water, I looked her right in the eyes and with an investment of my entire soul said, “I love you so much” (figuring the “so much” added even more emphasis to how I felt about her at that moment). I waited for her reply. And I waited. And I waited…Surely, she was just conjuring up the words to reciprocate the overwhelming sense of joy and love I brought her.

She looked up at me, with icing circling her lips, and smiled. No words. Just a smile.

I began to think of the overwhelming joy God the Father has when he looks at his children. I could have listed off a litany of reasons to my sweet daughter, but chose to merely say “I love you…so much.”

Isn’t that astonishing. With infinite vocabulary at his command in every language imaginable, God the Father chose to merely smile at me. Have you ever s-l-o-w-e-d down long enough to consider that he is smiling at you right now. What is he using to communicate his love to you? Perhaps it’s the screaming kids that you just want to be quiet–they are screaming to let you know that he is smiling on you. Perhaps it’s the job that you have had for the last five years that you have struggled to go to because you don’t see the purpose in the monotony–yet it has provided money for you and your family; you have not gone hungry because of the monotonous, ever reliable smile. Perhaps it’s the uncertainty of tomorrow. You are not sure how to interpret the ambiguous smile of tomorrow; yet he continues to smile on you as you learn to trust in his words he has already spoken.

Don’t be underwhelmed by the lack of verbiage you hear from the Almighty today. Be overwhelmed by his simplicity. Sure, he could communicate with you for infinity…instead, he chooses to smile.

A new year is symbolic in many ways. It is commonly a time when we look back and reflect on the past year, while also looking ahead in anticipation at the year to come. We make resolutions and set goals; it is a time to refocus, renew, recalibrate. The new year is often bittersweet mixture of shame and thankfulness, regret and hope. Our reflections and anticipations during this time will often set the tone for the months ahead.

There’s something about “newness” that attracts us – whether in regard to a new year, a new job, a new car, a new gadget, a new relationship, etc. With a new thing, there’s always some level of fresh hope (and probably an undercurrent of “THIS will be the thing that really satisfies me!”) But it always goes the same way, doesn’t it? The “new” wears off – the new thing eventually just becomes the thing, and so we move on to the next new thing.

As I have been thinking through that process in my own life, I have been reminded of the centrality of the Gospel.  Most of us are likely familiar with these words from Luke 2:10-11: And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Those verses provide a two-line summary of the Gospel:
1.) The Gospel is good news for the joy of all people.
2.) The Lord – the Creator God of the universe – is the Christ who comes to Earth to save.

While there is much more you can say about the Gospel than this, there is not less. The Gospel is beautiful in its simplicity, majestic in its depth, and completely unique in its purpose. There is no greater truth than the Gospel. God was kind to remind me of the centrality of the Gospel in the form of a question that has tugged at the corners of my heart and mind for the last couple of weeks – Has the “newness” of the Gospel worn off for you?

I find it common within most churches to think of the Gospel as only for non-believers, or to consider the Gospel “kindergarten Christianity.” I often fight in my own heart and mind to keep from considering the Gospel as remedial, something to move past so I can get on to something more interesting. Early in my own process of coming to know Jesus as Savior, I saw the Gospel as something new and beautiful and exiting – but there are plenty of times now when I catch myself treating it as though it were something primarily for other people.

Paul writes in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” This is a verse we tend to think of in terms of evangelism, and rightly so. We must not be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus in terms of sharing it with those who do not know its great truths. However, this verse is just as applicable for Christ-followers. We must not be ashamed of the Gospel in our own daily lives.

What does it look like to be ashamed of the Gospel in such a manner? I can think of at least two ways:

• By treating it in thought and action as though it were no longer something we need. The Gospel is not something we come to terms with once, then move on to something greater, deeper, or more useful.
• By failing to consciously apply the Gospel to our lives every single day. We should daily preach to ourselves the Gospel with the goal of aligning our lives with Christ, to whom the Gospel takes us. The trajectory of our lives should be constant, joyful struggle to align our lives with His by working out the practical applications of the Gospel in every area of thought and action.

Reflecting on Gospel-centrality in a right way will always lead us to the person and work of Jesus. Christ is the whole point of the Gospel – without Him, there is no Gospel. Jesus is the good news that came to earth;  God as a baby who grew into a man, lived a life we should have lived (but could not), died a death we should have died (but could not) to a penalty we should have paid (but could not). To those that believe that as good news, it is the power of God for salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. This is not a message that gets old.

Has the “newness” of the Gospel worn off for you? Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us that the mercies of God are new every day, and I can think of no clearer portrait of the mercies of God that the Gospel. May God grant us the grace to see our need for the Gospel every day and the strength to preach it to ourselves daily. May He keep us from the foolishness of thinking we can ever get past the Gospel. May our daily appropriation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ be a constant reminder that this is not a message that ever gets old.

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Jason VanDorsten is an occasional contributing author to Off the Wire. He thinks there have been far worse church fads than Gospel-_______ statements.

“Something greater than Solomon is here!” (Jesus; Matt 12.42; NET Bible)

This past Sunday a brother was leading Sunday School through the book of 1Kings 8–Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the Temple. Our time was spent in breaking the prayer up into seven petitions Solomon prayed (all circling around the blessings and curses in Deuteronomy). The seven pieces are as follows:

1. Sin against neighbor (1Ki 8.31-32)
2. Defeat by an army–due to sin (33-34)
3. Heaven’s rain ceases–due to sin (v35-36)
4. Famine & siege by enemy–due to sin (37-40)
5. Welcoming a foreigner (41-43)
6. Victory against enemy (44-45)
7. Captivity–due to sin (46-51)

While we were going through the blessings and curses in Deuteronomy as the foil for this prayer of dedication for the Temple, I couldn’t help but think of Jesus’ own prayer of dedication of his own body (the True Temple). Solomon was well aware that God would not be encased in the Temple he constructed (albeit magnificent). Heaven itself did not set boundaries for the Almighty. “Heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house I have built” (v. 27). All of the hearing that Solomon requests from God is that done with reference to the Temple–the symbol of God’s presence on earth. Forgiveness is granted when someone comes under the stipulations. That is, when someone stops asserting how things ought to be and submits himself to the manner which God has ordained.

We do not come to God with a list of how we think the world should be. We do not come to him thinking that we have the authority to dictate who is right and wrong–justifying our sin and condemning the mis-intentions of others. Rather, we listen FIRST. We listen to the way he has ordained the world to be ordered. We listen to him and how he has revealed himself. How proud we are when we determine what is right and wrong. What we see in this narrative is the responsibility of each person to confess his own sin.

Further, Jesus confessed that his body was the True Temple (Jn 2.19). Our repentance must then be in reference to him–not some mere Higher Power. When we confess our sin without reference to Christ, we denigrate God’s means by which forgiveness is offered. Jesus teaches us that we can go to the Temple of Ba’al and offer sacrifice. We can go to Dionysius’ vineyard and inebriate ourselves with self-righteous religion. But there is no forgiveness there. If you want to receive forgiveness. If you want to be heard, you MUST GO TO JESUS. Like it or not, that is the means he has ordained. Disagree? You need to give an account as to why this is false.

In John 17, Jesus echoes Solomon’s prayer. He has given them the Father’s teaching (vv. 7-8)–namely, that they must come to him for eternal life. We will find no other well that will satisfy us (Jn 4).

HOWEVER, one key difference between Solomon’s prayer of consecration and Jesus’ prayer. The end goal is that God’s people would be with Jesus and the Father. We do not stand afar off from the Temple, but are invited to come in and eat the fellowship offering. We do not drop our sacrificial goat at the door to the Temple only for the Levites to eat. No, we enter into the Holy Place and fellowship with Jesus. It is not a mere forgiveness, but a deep abiding and fellowship that is offered to us…if we will but humble ourselves and enter through the One Door.