Do I believe in a gospel that allows me to believe the worst about myself?
That’s one of the most important questions I believe you can ask yourself.
It seems to me that the gospel many people believe falls short of completely dealing with the darkness they sense is inside. Just as we sometimes think “If they knew I had done this when I was younger, they would reject me.” “If they knew what I was really like they would no longer be my friend.”
And with friends this may very well be true. People learn more about us and they distance themselves from us.
But not God, not if we embrace what Christ has done at the cross, not if we believe what he tells us is the good news. God is more aware of the darkness inside each of us than we are ourselves. He knows all about our anger issues, our jealousies, our sexual fantasies, our insincerity in service, our bitterness. He knows more about you and me than we know about ourselves.
But the gospel – the good news – that Jesus Christ Son of God brought, the way of eternal life he offers, the way to God as described in his Holy Book, covers it all. The deepest darkest sin of each of us, covered by the shed blood of the perfect One.
God knew what it would take to redeem you and me. This is why Jesus Son of God was sent on his Earth mission. Nothing else could satisfy the requirements to completely deal with the darkness inside each of us. Nothing else could wipe the slate clean and allow God to look at us as pleasantly as he looks at his Son.
The enemy will pound you, friend, with all your inadequacies and failures. The dark forces will dredge the worst of you from the hidden places of your heart and accuse you for the pitiful wretch you are. Twisting and turning the facts to rob you of any true hope, head blows that they hope will paralyze you in discouragement.
You need a helmet to protect you.
And God provides one from his “spiritual armor room,” the helmet of salvation.
Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6.17).
The enemy cannot bring anything from the darkness of your life that God doesn’t already know about and which is not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ if you have believed in him for the forgiveness of sins and received his gift of eternal life.
You and I need to know the gospel we believe, the beautiful, powerful gift of life that God gives us freely through Christ.
To continue forward in our pursuit of God and his holiness, we need a gospel that allows us to face the darkness and still see the salvation of God.
