You are as good as dead. “What is your life?” James asked, “For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (Jam. 4:14 ESV).
Sin is to blame for this frailty: it came into the world and spread like a cancer, bringing death with it (cf. Rom. 5:12). You see, God is the Author of life, Father of lights, and source of every good and perfect gift (cf. Acts 3:15, Jam. 1:17). When we sin – using our thoughts, words, or actions differently than what God created us for, as everyone does – it separates us from all of that, which means, even if there is still breath in your lungs, you are dead already. Sin makes you “dead in your trespasses and sins” because you are “following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air…carrying out the desires of the body and the mind” instead of following the Giver of life (Eph. 2:1-3).
But God still loves you! And not for how you make Him feel or how good you’ve been: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Even though we reject Him, grieve Him, and harm each other, He loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die for our sins. Jesus – who was tempted in every way just like we are and yet never sinned –fulfilled God’s rescue plan millennia in the making by willingly facing what was foreign to our living and eternal God. He died. The Son of God died as a sacrifice for our sins.
As some believers tell it, that’s where the gospel ends: so, respond to the altar call and put your faith in Jesus. Except that’s not where the gospel ends: not according to the apostles of Jesus. “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you…that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared…” (1 Cor. 15:1-5). The gospel is not just about the death of Jesus: what makes it “good news” is the resurrection of Jesus. Because of that, we know that sin and death are defeated. That Jesus is the Christ – true King over all things in heaven and on earth. That He is with us and in His grace allows us to start experiencing the abundant life God always intended for us now, filling our every moment with purpose and meaning by His presence. Because of the resurrection, we know Jesus is coming back to overcome what still grieves us once and for all as we are raised, too.
So, don’t stop short: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Rom. 5:10). That is good news.
Experience a hope that will change your life - now and forever - through our series Hope of the Resurrection.