Unfortunately, most Christians do not understand the gospel, and because they don’t understand the gospel, they don’t live their lives in celebration of how big the good news actually is. In Luke 2, when the angel was announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, he said, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a GREAT joy which shall be for ALL the people.” As I’m sure you are already aware, the word “gospel” literally means “good news,” and the angel is saying that the good news is so good it should bring great joy (not just joy, but GREAT joy) to all the people who hear and believe it. There can be only one explanation for why so many Christians experience so little joy, and it has to be that they don’t really comprehend the full measure of the gospel. We are told in the New Testament that the normal experience for Christians should be “joy unspeakable, full of glory,” yet sadly, I have known too few believers who really experience anything close to that. If you want to clearly understand what the gospel is all about and, therefore, why it should result in such great joy, you should hang out in the book of Galatians, for in Galatians, the apostle Paul staunchly proclaims and defends the one true gospel of grace. Put simply, here it is; “Because of the Cross, we get to participate in the life that Jesus lives and the favor that He lives under.” You need to contemplate that description of the gospel of grace, and as you chew on it, the possibilities of the life more abundant that Jesus came to give us will expand beyond your imagination. What kind of life can Jesus live through our humanity? What kind of favor does He live under? This is how big the true gospel is. You can live your life expecting Jesus to live His glorious and victorious life through you in the everyday details that make up your story, and you can live expecting the same favor from God on your life that is on the life of Christ in every area. This is all yours, not because of anything you’ve done but because of what He did in His finished work at the Cross. You don’t have to earn it because He already did. You don’t have to somehow position yourself for it because He has already positioned you for it. Because you have been placed into Him, His life is alive and living in you. His life lived in you, and the favor He lives under resting on you is the good news of the grace of God. Let your imagination run wild!!
