Preaching Jesus
Monday, February 11th, 2008
Two or three years ago Mike Strunk, of Christ’s Church Federal Way, Washington, gave me a simple book penned by John Piper entitled, “The Passion of Jesus Christ.” A more precise title would be, “50 Ways Jesus is Good News.” Each ‘chapter’ is a brief 2-page reflection on a specific verse that identifies a significant aspect of what was accomplished on the cross and why Jesus had to die.
We know some of the more ‘normal’ ones:
To save us from our sins.
To make peace between us and God.
To rescue us from slavery to sin and death.
To redeem us.
To Forgive our sins.
To make for himself a people of his own possession zealous for good works.
Some less common ones would be:
To redeem us from the futile way of life passed down by our ancestors.
To no longer live egocentric lives but to live for him.
To show that the worst evil is meant by God for good.
To free us from bondage to the fear of death.
As I preach, I want every message to come back to at least one gospel truth—one reason to celebrate Jesus. I find in Pipers tiny book, an amazing resource for going a bit deeper in the many faceted great truths about Jesus. Thanks Mike.