Good News! Series

Daniel Taylor, in an article he calls Letters to My Children, writes:

When I was a child, I was, like most children, afraid of things that go bump in the night. But I told myself (for no good reason) that monsters which lie under beds cannot break through blankets and sheets! By the time I was a teenager I wasn't afraid of what might live under my bed, but I was afraid of what my friends might have to say about the way I combed my hair.

“What do I fear now? I am afraid, to put it simply, of living a life that doesn't matter. I am afraid of leaving the world exactly as I found it, no different for my having been here (Daniel Taylor, “Letters to My Children,” Christian Reader, Vol. 31; www. PreachingToday.com).

Is that what you fear? Then I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15, where the Bible tells us how God saves us from a life that doesn’t matter.

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain (ESV)—i.e., without any result.

However, the only way to believe the Gospel in vain is to deny the resurrection of Christ. For if Christ is not raised, verse 14 says, then your faith is vain. But since Christ has been raised, then your faith produces results. So, if you want God to save you from a life that doesn’t matter…

BELIEVE THE GOSPEL.

Put your faith in the good news about Jesus. Trust Christ with your life.

That’s the gospel “by which you are being saved,” verse 2 says. Notice, the “being saved” is in the present tense. It is not the gospel “by which you WERE saved.” It is not the gospel, “by which you WILL BE saved.” NO! It is the gospel, “by which you are BEING saved” right now in the continuing, present tense. In other words, since you believed the gospel, God is right now, continually saving you from wasting your life. God is right now, continually saving you from wasteful, sinful, and self-destructive attitudes and behaviors.

So what does it mean to “believe the gospel?” Well, Paul uses several synonyms for “believe” in these verses: 1st, to believe means to receive the gospel—i.e., to accept or receive it as true. 2nd, to believe means to stand in the gospel—i.e., to firmly remain or stay in the gospel, depending on it every day. And 3rd, to believe means to hold fast to the gospel—i.e., to retain or continue to rely on the gospel, with the implication of acting in accordance with such belief. True faith goes beyond just accepting the gospel as true. It involves a life change as you live your life in dependence upon Christ.

Pastor Jeremy McKeen, from West Palm Beach, Florida, talks about a Muslim college student who came to believe in Jesus Christ. One of his friends was shocked and asked him, “Why did you become a follower of Jesus?”

The former Muslim responded, “It’s simple really. Imagine that you’re walking down a road and you come to a fork in the road and there are two people there to follow as your guide along the way. One of them is dead, and one of them is alive. Which one would you follow?” (Jeremy McKeen, “Because He Lives,” Truth Point Church Blog, 3-11-16; www.PreachingToday.com).

That’s what it means to truly believe. Instead of following a dead guide, you choose to follow the living Christ, trusting Him for daily strength and the direction of your life.

God continues to save such believers from wasting their lives. So, if you want God to save YOU from a life that doesn’t matter, believe the gospel. Specifically…

BELIEVE THAT CHRIST DIED FOR YOUR SINS AND ROSE AGAIN.

Rely on the fact that Jesus died to pay the price for your sins and then came out of the grave alive three days later! Don’t just know this good news to be true, depend on it for yourself.

1 Corinthians 15:3-7 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles (ESV).

That’s the gospel, my friends. That’s the good news on which you must rely for God to save you from a wasted life.