This
week Michael writes that Christians find a common bond in the gospel of Christ
and in the love of God. Believers know by experience Jesus' message, "Blessed are they when men shall revile you
and persecute you for my sake, for great is your reward in heaven." True
believers of the true gospel bring the message of the love of God: "Love your enemies, bless them that persecute
you." Disciples of Jesus Christ live in the midst of the
physical as well as the spiritual battle. Following Christ and having freedom
in Christ is ultimately a matter of life and death.
The
message of the gospel is unknown by so many people. The word “gospel”
literally means “good news” and the gospel message of deliverance and salvation
will be received when those who hear it are broken and overwhelmed by the pain
and tribulation of this world. It is impossible to rescue someone who does
not know and believe that they are lost and in distress. Likewise, to
understand salvation, lost souls must understand that from which they need to
be saved ... the wrath of God against sin, which leads to eternal damnation. As
Christians saved by faith through the grace of God, when we come to the Lord,
we give up the freedom of our own self-centered will. To become a Christian
means that my will is subject to the Lord's sovereign will.
Jesus
quoted the purpose of the Messiah's coming is in Isaiah 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me;
because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable
year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God.” Jesus also quoted
this passage from Isaiah in Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, "Repent: for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The
gospel of repentance is the good news of salvation. Jesus came to set the prisoners free ... to
deliver them from the bondage of Satan’s kingdom of darkness into the glorious
light of the gospel of peace. The Christian church is not defined by the
culture; it’s defined by Jesus Christ. Earthly kingdoms move when the king
moves. The kingdom of Heaven is at hand because the Lord God never moves
and the King’s domain is the entire cosmos. The question is, “Who is your king?”
Are you bound to the kingdom of this world or are you bound to the king of heaven
and His eternal kingdom?
The
kingdom of darkness uses four areas of bondage to bind its subjects:
fear, pride, guilt and shame. We
wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness from on
high. As Martin Luther wrote, in the great hymn, "A Might
Fortress is Our God:" stating, For
still our Ancient Foe, doth seek to work us woe. His craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal. Did we in our own
strength confide, our battle would be losing, were not the right Man on our
side, the man of God's own choosing. Doth ask who that may be? Christ
Jesus it is he....And he must win the battle.
Only
the Lord can overcome the enemy. In the power of Christ, no weapon formed
against us shall prevail. These are lessons learned unto the
"uttermost parts of the earth" as we minister to those of us who are
grafted into the family of God. Spread the “good news” gospel of Jesus Christ.
May
God richly bless you!
Your
brother in Christ, Michael
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