THE Good News
As I get closer to my parole hearing on October 6th, I can feel my anxiety level rising. I am not sleeping as soundly as I should be. I have always believed that meditating on the Word of God and contemplating things concerning living a godly life assists me in focusing on God and not on my situation. I got my hands on a book that I have been trying to get for a long time. It is called “Jesus Plus Nothing Equals Everything” by Tullian Tchividjian.
This book focuses on the book of Colossians and brings the Gospel of Jesus Christ into crystal clarity (thus the title). Getting hold of this book did not happen by chance. About a month ago, a few of us started getting together and reading the Bible and discussing what we read. The book that we chose to read was Colossians. So, I re-read the compact little book once again.
We all know that Romans 10:9-10 says that anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and that He rose from the dead is saved. So, what does that look like? I believe that the little book of Colossians “puts feet” to what we believe the Gospel message is. In a very concise manner, Colossians 2:13-15 states the Gospel in terms that we can understand. So, what does it say? I read it in the New Living Translation and it seemed to come alive to me. It says:
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut
away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled
the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this
way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by
His victory over them on the cross.”
We WERE dead. He MADE us alive. He forgave ALL of our sins. When? At the cross when all of our sins were still future. All of our spiritual enemies were disarmed. Their power over our lives were taken away.
This is truly GOOD NEWS!