I remember taking a Philosophy of Religion course many years ago in college. We were asked as an assignment to define "God". I was a young believer at the time, and I thought this would be easy. I opened the Bible, started to look for passages to help me arrive at a definition, and I quickly began to realize this was a tough assignment! At that time, I did not know that people before me in the faith had written excellent scriptural definitions concerning many topics, including the character and person of God. I had not be taught as a believer that these Confessions of Faith are vitally important.
What I learned from this assignment was to be careful about attempting to define anything. It is much easier to critique or comment on other's work than to clearly define your own. Unfortunately, easier is not always better! In fact, this past week I shared with someone that the mark of an inferior mind is that of critiquing others without offering positive comments or definitions to the argument.
Today, I am going to begin a discussion toward defining the gospel. I appreciate any comments that help me in the definition as this is tough work. I am so thankful that others have walked this path before me!
My hope is to work on a definition or understanding that allows us to build a "gospel-centered life." As is often the case, the real rub with a definition is how to apply it. I wish to define the gospel in such a way that is not merely a statement of faith, but rather a statement that explains why life is like it is and how to make it better! (How's that for a grandiose goal?)
As I see it, the gospel is really a story of life. It is an explanation for why we are here and what we experience. In the past hundred years, (post) modern philosophy has told us that grand "meta-narratives" are impossible and should be abandoned. To this claim, I ask, "why"? Because some philosopher told me to give it up? Because some wish to "make their own reality"?
I have found that gospel story is the basis for all great stories in literature. It resonates with people from every continent. It has the ring of truth within it. Why? Because it is foundational truth! It is an understanding of the world that makes sense of the often senseless experience we have. It is not just "personal" as postmodern philosophy would wish to make all truth, but it applies to every situation.
So what is the gospel story? It begins with God- a creative, loving, and holy being. God loves His creation and He made it all for relationships with Him. God creates everything from nothing. This is vitally important. In most religions, God uses the substance already present to fashion a world. In the Biblical gospel narrative, God speaks through the Word to bring everything into existence. This makes God above and beyond all the so called 'gods' of the ancient world.
God creates the entire universe good. In fact, when he is through with the foundations of creation, He declares everything very good (Gen. 1:31). Included in this creation is man and woman, who together reflect the image of God. We were created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. We were created for relationship with God, others, and creation. Furthermore, we were created to be stewards of creation- exploring, protecting, preserving, and using creation wisely.
This explains why sensitive people love the beauty of creation. It explains why we enjoy the fellowship of others. It explains why we value elements of culture, art, and music since human creation continues the creative work of God. As all of these dimensions of our experience reflect the created good, they are beautiful. As all of these dimension of our experience stray from their created good, they move in the direction of ugly and distorted.
So how do we move away from our created Good? The Gospel declares that creation is fallen because of the fall of humanity from a state of perfect relationship to a state of animosity toward God because of sin.
I know we do not like being called "sinners" but what word better explains our situation? We often know the good we ought to do, but we lack the will to carry it out. This is the state of fallen. As we move further and further away from the way were made to be, we find it easier and easier to walk in sin without blushing. Why? Because sin piled upon sin leads to hardness of heart. Such a condition refuses to acknowledge its need for God, need for others, or need for being in good relationship with creation.
Does this not describe accurately where most of us live? I will attempt to pick up here next time!
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