Keeping The Main Thing, The Main Thing

Last month I was asked to teach the first part of 1 Corinthians 15 in our flock meetings (or better known as Sunday School). I would encourage you to read it on your own, but to sum it up Paul uses 1,001 different ways to say if the death and resurrection of Christ did not happen it is all in vain. God start to remind me the importance of the cross and how often as Christians we mention it and know it’s important, but we don’t take the time to dwell on it. Because just as much as that truth is the source of our salvation, it is also the key to our growth as a Christian. As I studied for my lessons I was convicted of my own sin and the realization I need the cross every day, I was encouraged through some personal trials I’ve been going through, that if Christ died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead, then these current tribulations are no match for him, no matter how big the look to me.
As I was meditating on these things, I found a book on our bookshelf that my wife had read and recommended that I read, but I was too busy at the time. It’s C.J. Mahaney’s book, “The Cross Centered Life.” A quick skimming of the book let me know that C.J. was talking about all that I had been wrestling with over the last month. I thought the best place to start a blog like this is on the basic, but very important aspect of our faith—the gospel. Or as Jerry Bridges says, “The gospel is not only the most important message in all of history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experiencing the joy of living by it.” I must agree with this statement. I have heard many messages on the gospel, but it’s always in relation to salvation, I can’t remember ever hearing a message on how the gospel affects our everyday life, even after we accept Christ.
Sometimes the most obvious truths are the ones we need to be reminded of the most. This is our hope and truth we needed to be reminded of daily: that Jesus, God’s perfect, righteous Son, died in our place for our sins. Jesus took all the punishment; Jesus received all the wrath as He hung on the cross, so people like you and me (sinners) could be completely forgiven.

Application: Pause a few seconds and dwell on the last paragraph and turn it into your personal prayer of praise and thanksgiving to God today.