The well-known author Kurt Vonnegut once said: “The truth is, we know so little about life, we don’t really know what the good news is and what the bad news is."
Now, for followers of Jesus Christ, this is not true on either the micro or the macro level.
On the micro level, God tells us in the Bible that "ALL things work together for GOOD to those who love God and are called (in Jesus Christ) according to His purpose." (Rom 8:28) All things in themselves may not be intrinsically "good" but the Bible says that God promises to make the end result into good for every follower of Jesus. So this is "good news" on the micro level.
On the macro level, what Kurt Vonnegut said is also not true for believers in Jesus. The Bible says that "he that believes not the Son of God shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:36) This news is about as eternally bad as it gets!
But hey--John 3:36 also says that "Whoever believes in the Son has....present tense...eternal life ....right now"! Now that is good news! That as a follower of Jesus, you and I have as much eternal life, right here on earth, as we are ever going to possess. Heaven is merely the place where people who already have eternal life through Jesus go after they leave this life. This is as eternally good as it gets! This is why the Bible calls this message "the Good News", which is what the word "Gospel" literally means.
The Bible declares: "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." 1 John 5:11-13
So literally, here is the good news and the bad news of life patently laid out for Kurt Vonnegut and all who will believe the Bible.
Now, the SO WHAT? of all this is the following: the "bad news" of life--namely, our condemnation as sinners before a Holy God, would exist regardless whether the Lord Jesus had come to earth as a baby and gone to the cross for us. But, because the Lord did come on Christmas Day and pay for our sins on the cross, He created the "good news" that we humans so desperately needed.
The real question of Christmas is whether we will embrace and believe it. May the Lord help us all to accept the greatest good news this Christmas: JESUS!
Merry Christmas!
Now, for followers of Jesus Christ, this is not true on either the micro or the macro level.
On the micro level, God tells us in the Bible that "ALL things work together for GOOD to those who love God and are called (in Jesus Christ) according to His purpose." (Rom 8:28) All things in themselves may not be intrinsically "good" but the Bible says that God promises to make the end result into good for every follower of Jesus. So this is "good news" on the micro level.
On the macro level, what Kurt Vonnegut said is also not true for believers in Jesus. The Bible says that "he that believes not the Son of God shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:36) This news is about as eternally bad as it gets!
But hey--John 3:36 also says that "Whoever believes in the Son has....present tense...eternal life ....right now"! Now that is good news! That as a follower of Jesus, you and I have as much eternal life, right here on earth, as we are ever going to possess. Heaven is merely the place where people who already have eternal life through Jesus go after they leave this life. This is as eternally good as it gets! This is why the Bible calls this message "the Good News", which is what the word "Gospel" literally means.
The Bible declares: "And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." 1 John 5:11-13
So literally, here is the good news and the bad news of life patently laid out for Kurt Vonnegut and all who will believe the Bible.
Now, the SO WHAT? of all this is the following: the "bad news" of life--namely, our condemnation as sinners before a Holy God, would exist regardless whether the Lord Jesus had come to earth as a baby and gone to the cross for us. But, because the Lord did come on Christmas Day and pay for our sins on the cross, He created the "good news" that we humans so desperately needed.
The real question of Christmas is whether we will embrace and believe it. May the Lord help us all to accept the greatest good news this Christmas: JESUS!
Merry Christmas!
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