The Good News
- God’s justice was paid off when He came to earth, became our sacrifice, and offered His blood in the Temple in heaven, once for all.
- God’s mercy is His unquenchable desire to fix our self-induced character flaws.
- God’s grace is the sum of His goodness, patience, kindness, truthfulness, and such like.
- God’s forgiveness is the pushing aside of our well-earned reputations and trusting us anyway.
Jesus travelled through many towns in the Israel of His day to prepare the people for the kingdom of God that would be established within their lifetimes. In addition, large crowds assembled from considerable distances to hear what He had to say. Yet, today, the faithful seem to rely on going to potential hearers. Being overwhelmed by those seeking their message does not seem to happen. Perhaps the faithful need to be better able to demonstrate the work of the indwelling Spirit in their impossibly changed characters so people will travel to obtain it.
Jesus was forthright about bad outcomes. Sometimes, the modern church needs to talk about future adverse events so that the faithful will be prepared rather than having their faith shaken when bad times come. Being confident of God’s physical protection makes reversals such as the apostles experienced all the worse. Rather, know that God will help you overcome yourself.
Jesus brought to the minds of His hearers many of the symbols of the Old Testament, from sacrifices to festivals to the pouring of water at the base of the altar to recall the “living water” idea of Jeremiah and Zechariah. He developed some new ones for the church: immersion and communion. Symbols illustrate, they are not goals in themselves. Symbols must be instrumental in teaching what they represent. Without the meaning, the symbols are both empty and hindrances. The faithful cannot assume that everyone knows what they mean.
Thomas Theology Hub 