The New Way

Thanksgiving is upon us! Can't believe it. We had a party last week since so many of us have birthdays in November. Here's a pic of the girls (and the little man, Hudson!). Fun times!

We are continuing to devour Luke. It never ceases to amaze me how clearly Luke portrays Christ to us. It's interesting that Jesus makes it a point that the pupil will become like his teacher in Luke 6:40, and that's exactly what happens with the disciples through the rest of Luke's stories in his Gospel and in Acts.

But what we're seeing up front is that Jesus preached a gospel that goes beyond just simply the fact that He died for our sins. The substitutional atonement of Christ is critical, but it isn't the complete story. So we've been trying hard to define what the "Gospel" is.

You see, for too long many of us have been taught that the Gospel boils down to the fact that our sins have been forgiven and so therefore we will spend eternity with God in Heaven sometime in the future. In the meantime, our job is to do good things for God. To be good Christians. To knuckle down and do the right thing.

But the Gospel goes beyond just eternity with God in Heaven. The reality is that there is a whole new way of life we can live NOW. When Jesus burst onto the scene in places like Luke 4, He was bringing a WHOLE NEW SYSTEM OF LIFE AND LIVING with Him. Prior to Christ, access to God came through the Law, through your pedigree (ie. were you Jewish), and through external acts of obedience. But when Christ burst onto the scene, He began to preach a new way. A new economy. What DTS calls a dispensation. What is often called a new covenant. The fact is ultimately, the Gospel Jesus brought is that now, access to God is available to ALL WHO BELIEVE.

In other words, we now have access to the presence of God because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross for us. And because we now can be in the presence of God, the Christian life isn't about practicing good works and waiting for eternal life, but practicing the presence of God. The Christian life is not a compartment in our lives as if we have our vocation, our marriage, our social life, and our Christian side. The Christian life is about walking moment by moment with God so that ALL of our life is consumed with Him.

That's what Jesus brought. That's what Jesus preached. That's what Jesus modeled. And ultimately, that's the life of the disciple. A moment by moment journey through life in the presence of God.

So that's what we are working on out here. To be people who don't compartmentalize God into certain areas of our lives, but allow Him to saturate our entire lives. There is so much more to be learned about being a disciple by looking at Jesus' life, namely that along with this new way of living comes a power in the Holy Spirit that is available to every believer. It's a power we will see that can be all encompassing, and is absolutely critical. There's so much more to learn!!

But at least we are starting to build a more solid foundation on which to build our Church! What we are offering people isn't just eternal life in the future but a better way of life right here and now. And that's something LA is interested in.