The Gospel in 140 Words

Last Sunday, Pastor Troy Dobbs gave us homework: Write the gospel message out in 140 words or less. So here it goes.

God created the heavens and the earth to bring glory to Himself. All things were created good, yet mankind rebelled against God. All mankind is born with a sinful condition that separates us from God. The penalty for sin is eternal death. Because of God's love, Jesus Christ willingly died in our place to save us from eternal death. Jesus was both fully God and fully man; He was perfect and He rose from the dead. When we individually believe in the name of Jesus, we recognize our sinful condition. In that moment, we are saved from eternal death and made into a new creation. The Holy Spirit seals our place in heaven and helps us act more like Jesus. Everything we do should glorify and honor God.

Friday Night Theology

The Rock only Jesus Can Climb

It's amazing what a children's lesson can teach adults. Preparing a talk for the fifth graders at Vacation Bible School, I reflected on some of Colorado's 14ers that I have climbed and it helped me to understand the purpose of the God's Law.

Lack of oxygen, fatigue, and dehydration can contribute to altitude sickness. At 14, 259 feet (Long's Peak), I was higher than the altitude limits of a small Cessna Aircraft. At that elevation I was taller than nine Sears Towers stacked on top of one another. And the chest pains I felt were minimal compared to that of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in their 1953 climb of Mount Everest. At 29,029 feet, the summit of Long's Peak is only halfway there. In the last 90 years or so, 1 in every 8 climbers made Mount Everest their frozen grave.

But the Rock only Jesus could climb would dwarf Mount Everest. That Rock is the Law. This Law defined what sin was and established our need for salvation. This Law is impossible for us to climb. Jesus is the only one who lived a sinless life, died, and rose again. He took the blunt of God's wrath when we fell short of climbing that Mountain.

One day I'm going to stand before God. I have broken his Law. I failed to summit His mountain. But Jesus Christ is my representation. And according to His Word, I have eternal life to look forward to! (Galatians 3:24, Acts 4:12)