Becoming Good NewsSample

Why Do We Need the Good News? 

So, maybe you’re asking yourself why God had to send Jesus to come and patch up the people and the world He created. We touched on the answer briefly yesterday. Why do we need the Good News that we’re invited to be rescued and restored? Put simply, it’s because of sin. 

God spelled out what was good for Adam and Eve to do. He spelled out what would happen if they chose to do what wasn’t good. God chose to make humans with the ability to choose to love Him—or not. They could walk away if they wanted, and sadly, they did. But that’s what created this separation between God and His creation: sin. And, sadly, humans have all chosen to walk away from what they know is right ever since.

Sin is a disease that has infected humanity. One of the worst effects of this disease is that it causes us to see ourselves and others as less than God’s treasured and important human creations. Sin wants to blind us to the image of God in others and the image of God in ourselves. When we start to see people as less than human we start to treat them as less than human. 

The damages of sin are obvious when we look throughout the Bible, throughout history, and throughout our world today. Our world is full of stories of people choosing to treat others as less than. We can all think of examples when we’ve been treated as less than. And, if we’re honest, we can all think of examples where we’ve treated others as less than. Sin is real and sin is ugly. 

Sin hasn’t just infected humanity though. Sin has corrupted all of creation. 

“The consequences of sin affect the very order of the universe itself. Most people have a narrow understanding of the term sin. We tend to think it means that we have broken a few rules, made a few mistakes. So we apologize and get on with our lives, right? Wrong. Sin is much more than breaking the rules. God created an intricate, interwoven cosmos, each part depending on the others, all governed by laws of order and harmony. Sin affects every part of that order and harmony—twisting, fracturing, distorting, and corrupting it.” - Chuck Colson 

This is why we need the Gospel. Sin has infected humanity and corrupted creation. 

But, there is good news. Through Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, God made a way for us to be rescued from our sin and for creation to be restored. What we sometimes forget, is that the Good News isn’t just about personal salvation, the Good News is also about cosmic restoration. 

The Gospel is the announcement of God’s plan to make all things new. God’s plan includes you! (It’s really good news, right?)  

The Good News starts with us, but it can’t stop with us. Because Jesus has been Good News for us, we are called to be Good News for others. We are called to bury hell and bring Heaven. 

When Jesus called His disciples to follow Him, He wasn’t building a fan club. He was starting a movement—a movement meant to be Good News for the world because Jesus was Good News for them.

All of us are broken. But Jesus doesn’t offer to fix what’s broken; He invites us to be made new. 

Our world is dying. Jesus didn’t come to repair it; He came to resurrect it. 

The Good News is that the end of our story is not death and decay—the end of our story is resurrection life. This is why we need the Gospel.