We know what the gospel is—but do we know why it is?
Matthew W. Bates has previously demonstrated that the “good news” of the gospel is that Jesus is King. But in his latest book, he explores God’s intentions: why has God issued this royal proclamation? And what role can it play in our everyday lives?
As Bates observes, we find the answer in a simple but challenging realization: “I am a horrible king of my own life.” With examples from Scripture, literature, and personal experience, Bates explains what pledging allegiance to Jesus as ruler of our lives looks like. Living authentically according to God’s reign conforms humanity to the image of Jesus and extends his glory and honor to all creation.
Read an excerpt from the book below (or listen to the author read it) and pre-order the book from Amazon , Barnes and Noble , Bookshop , or wherever you buy your books.
From Chapter 3: Glory’s Two Faces
We are so self-absorbed that we have trouble even beginning to think about salvation from a God-centered point of view. Here’s the issue: when we assume that the fundamental problem—the most foundational bad news—is our guilt before God for our sins, we are viewing the matter from a selfish perspective. We are putting ourselves—our own individual plight (“I deserve to be punished and die for my sins”) and its solution (“I can trust that Jesus is my substitute”)—at the center. Don’t get me wrong: each of us is personally guilty. We do need rescue so we can be reestablished in our relationship with a holy God.
Less Self-Centered Salvation
But what if we were to think of salvation in a less self-centered way? What if we were to put God’s problem at the center of salvation rather than ours? And secondarily creation’s problem?
Imagine God expressing his fundamental dilemma with regard to why his creation project needs rescue—the bad news—this way:
I designed creation to be ruled by humans. I made them in my image, giving them the ability to reflect my intrinsic honor, because I wanted them freely to choose to make that glory maximally present in every location as they spread over the earth. But humans have opted to dishonor me, creating a glory deficit for me, them, and all creation. Now creation is in a downward spiral, because it is failing to receive the honor it needs. How can I restore my glory amid humanity, so that creation can experience my glory through human rule as I originally intended?
In a nutshell, God’s salvation problem is this: how can I reestablish my glory (honor) amid humans for their sake, for creation’s sake, and for my own sake?
When we see that our it-is-all-about-human-guilt-and-forgiveness way of conceptualizing the bad news is self-centered, we are in a better position to discern the gospel’s most urgent why. Above all, we must recognize this: the bad news is not merely that we deserve death and punishment. It’s far worse.
God’s whole creation project is threatened by sin, because sin prevents humans from doing what God designed humans to do: to spread his fame to all creation through image-carrying and reproduction. God isn’t just trying to erase our guilt. He is trying to undo harm and restore honor.
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Listen to Matthew W. Bates Read from Chapter 3
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