“We live in a fallen world. Without the black backdrop of our sinful nature and its consequences (God’s wrath), the gospel is a big yawn. Yet we are indeed in trouble, and the gospel is the solution. To those who believe the bad news, the gospel is the most wonderful news that anyone could hear.
God so loved the world that He sent His Son to save us from the bad news. The gospel is the good news that the Son of God humbled Himself, vacated His throne of glory, descended an infinite distance, and became a slave first to His Father and then to fallen men.
Finally, He submitted to death by slow torture on a Roman cross (Phil. 2:5-8). Why? Love impelled Him. He died in our place. He took the judgment that we deserve… On the third day, He rose from the dead. Forty days later, He ascended into heaven and sat down at His Father’s right hand.
The Father gave Him the Holy Spirit, which He poured out on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit comes to impress our hearts with the reality of these wonderful truths. This is the good news.
The gospel clothes us in Christ’s righteousness. It initiates us into the experience of the Father’s amazing love. It removes God’s wrath and alienation. It does all of this at God’s infinite personal expense and without causing Him to compromise the perfections of His glory.”
–William P. Farley, Gospel-Powered Parenting (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2009), 49-50.
