What's the Good News? Reconciling Love
Nine evangelical leaders define the gospel.
posted 2/07/2000 12:00AM
Intro | Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Reconciling Love
Our reconciliation with God calls us to be agents of reconciliation with all of God's Creation.
The gospel is the good news that God has revealed himself as a God of grace who reaches out to humanity in self-giving love to reconcile us to himself.
God has revealed himself in Holy Scripture, progressively unfolding this revelation through the Old Testament until he revealed himself fully in Jesus. God revealed his will in the totality of Jesus' person—in what he said, what he was, and what he did. The Apostles interpreted this revelation as the New Testament. He is our redeemer, reconciling us to the Father and guiding us in the new life of covenant with God by his example and by his Spirit.
Our salvation is grounded in the redemptive work of the Cross and the resurrection of the victorious Christ. In the Cross, Jesus absorbed all of humanity's hostility, overcoming evil and manifesting his forgiveness. God in Christ paid the cost of forgiving our sin, "tasting death" for everyone. In Christ's resurrection victory we become participants in the power and quality of the new life.
We experience reconciliation with God by faith in this work of grace, so that we stand justified by faith, and in this new relation we live in covenant with him. As such, we are Jesus' disciples, and our pattern of life is to live out the ethic of belonging to him. This means walking in the Spirit, the intimate fellowship with God by which the character of the "new creation" is enabled.
Our reconciliation with God calls us to be agents of reconciliation with all of God's Creation. This involves:
- Participating in the new community of the redeemed, the church being our primary society of fellowship and accountability.
- Following the example of our Lord by living in love, peace, justice, and equity with others.
- Sharing the good news of the gospel with all persons in a way that makes faith in Christ a possibility for them.
As a community of the reconciled, we live as members of his kingdom, giving his rule visibility in the world. We look with expectancy and faithfulness for the personal return of our Lord, who as Sovereign at God's right hand will return to culminate his mission in and for the world.
Dr. Myron S. Augsburger of Harrisonburg, Virginia, is past president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities and of Eastern Mennonite University.
Next:
For Us—and Creation: Darrell Bock
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