There have been times - far too few - in my life where I've hungered, really craved, deeper knowledge of the gospel. Due to being raised in a Christian home and being converted at a young age, it is easy for me to take the gospel lightly. I am very aware of this and I ask God to give me a greater glimpse of the riches and mystery of the gospel so that I can worship and love Him more appropriately and fully. What better way to allow me to search the depths of this wonderful news than to teach it to children?
While preparing to teach the gospel to my tutoring kids, I've been praying through it and studying it. This has opened my eyes a little more and caused me to look wide-eyed at the details and truth of God's salvation plan. But, sitting in front of 12 kids explaining penal substitutionary atonement and what they must do to be saved has taken my appreciation for the gospel to a whole new level.
I am astonished at God's purposeful love. Man's depravity passed down and lived out. The perfectly designed plan for redemption. Jesus' joyful obedience. The willing substitution in life and death. The satisfying sacrifice. The right judgment and wrath. The reconciliation. The torn curtain. The victory over death. The defeat of Satan. Eternal life. Peace with God. I could go on and on about the details and facets of this amazing grace.
Teaching these things to kids who are not at all familiar with the Bible has been so helpful to me because I have to explain each word that I take for granted. What does glory mean? Holy? Wrath? Grace? Propitiation? Eternity? I have to explain each idea that I've assumed that I understand. What do we fall short of? What is eternal life? Why did Jesus have to die? Why did he have to be raised from the dead? Not only do I have to explain it in a way that children can understand, I get to relearn it in a way that I understand better and it moves me to worship.
It is powerful when I have to tell kids that they are sinners. They deserve death. They are separated from God and there is nothing they can do to change it. And it is more powerful when I have the joy of telling these kids that there is a Hope and a Way. Someone lived the life they should have lived. Someone died the death and took the punishment they should have suffered. Someone rose from death, freeing them from the power of sin and death. Someone lives and intercedes on behalf of those who believe in who He is and what He has done.
I am offering them the gift of life. I am beckoning them to the Kingdom of light. I am pleading with them to receive what Jesus has done for them. And I pray and hope that the Spirit would open their eyes, ears, and hearts to receive the truth and lay down their lives on the Cornerstone instead of tripping over it. That they would humbly bow to the King in this life instead of being forced to kneel in humiliation when the King is revealed to be all who He claimed to be. That they would have eternal life - knowing the only true God and Jesus whom He sent.
And for me, I am seeing the gospel more clearly. It shapes the way I see the world. It gives light where there is darkness. It brings life out of death. It makes sense. It gives power for living. It affects every aspect of life. I need it every moment of every day. The gospel is permeating my thoughts.
While preparing to teach the gospel to my tutoring kids, I've been praying through it and studying it. This has opened my eyes a little more and caused me to look wide-eyed at the details and truth of God's salvation plan. But, sitting in front of 12 kids explaining penal substitutionary atonement and what they must do to be saved has taken my appreciation for the gospel to a whole new level.
I am astonished at God's purposeful love. Man's depravity passed down and lived out. The perfectly designed plan for redemption. Jesus' joyful obedience. The willing substitution in life and death. The satisfying sacrifice. The right judgment and wrath. The reconciliation. The torn curtain. The victory over death. The defeat of Satan. Eternal life. Peace with God. I could go on and on about the details and facets of this amazing grace.
Teaching these things to kids who are not at all familiar with the Bible has been so helpful to me because I have to explain each word that I take for granted. What does glory mean? Holy? Wrath? Grace? Propitiation? Eternity? I have to explain each idea that I've assumed that I understand. What do we fall short of? What is eternal life? Why did Jesus have to die? Why did he have to be raised from the dead? Not only do I have to explain it in a way that children can understand, I get to relearn it in a way that I understand better and it moves me to worship.
It is powerful when I have to tell kids that they are sinners. They deserve death. They are separated from God and there is nothing they can do to change it. And it is more powerful when I have the joy of telling these kids that there is a Hope and a Way. Someone lived the life they should have lived. Someone died the death and took the punishment they should have suffered. Someone rose from death, freeing them from the power of sin and death. Someone lives and intercedes on behalf of those who believe in who He is and what He has done.
I am offering them the gift of life. I am beckoning them to the Kingdom of light. I am pleading with them to receive what Jesus has done for them. And I pray and hope that the Spirit would open their eyes, ears, and hearts to receive the truth and lay down their lives on the Cornerstone instead of tripping over it. That they would humbly bow to the King in this life instead of being forced to kneel in humiliation when the King is revealed to be all who He claimed to be. That they would have eternal life - knowing the only true God and Jesus whom He sent.
And for me, I am seeing the gospel more clearly. It shapes the way I see the world. It gives light where there is darkness. It brings life out of death. It makes sense. It gives power for living. It affects every aspect of life. I need it every moment of every day. The gospel is permeating my thoughts.
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