The Importance of Knowing the Bad News
Let’s say you are a guest in my home. As we are sitting there at my kitchen table enjoying a cup of coffee and a nice conversation, I casually mention to you that my house has a full basement. I may even go on to explain how nicely furnished and comfortable it is and how much my family enjoys it. You may think, “ok, that’s nice, but why is she telling me this”? Perhaps you would respond politely to this bit of news, but your interest in my basement would probably stop there.
Then let’s say that out of nowhere a strong storm comes upon us. Not far in the distance we see the dark clouds forming and notice that the wind has started to pick up. Thunder peels and lightning flashes and yet we aren’t too concerned, until all at once the tornado warning siren pierces the air.
Suddenly, the knowledge of my having a basement would take on a whole new level of importance.
As the level of concern rises to the state of panic, you now strongly desire to be shown the way to my basement door! And not only that, you begin to fiercely warn everyone within the sound of your voice to quickly take cover in its shelter.
The good news of my having a basement wasn’t life-saving knowledge until you were made aware of the immediate crisis that loomed in front of you. The news was nice, but not vital, until you were made aware of the approaching devastation. Just knowing about the basement wasn’t enough to save you, you needed to be IN the basement, and there is no question that ignoring the warnings could have life and death consequences.
Unfortunately, we have come to treat the message of the gospel much in the same way as we do the casual news of my basement. We treat Jesus Christ as though He were just a nice feature simply there to add comfort and increase the value of our life. He is good to know about, but not truly lifesaving. And, sadly, for the most part, largely ignored.
So long as the church remains silent about the reality of the coming storm, that is where the importance of knowing Christ will stay.
The storm that is brewing not far off into the distance is the wrath of God.
The wrath of God is a reality that is coming upon the world for sin. It is the manifestation of His judgement upon it. Anyone not found in Christ will suffer that wrath and judgement.
Does that scare you? It should. It scares me.
It scares me enough to take the bibles warnings about it very seriously.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Romans 5:8-10
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36
Paul writes how happy he is for the believers in Thessalonica who, “turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, who He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath of God.” 1 Thessalonians 1:10
“For this we know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” Ephesians 5:5-6
The only true shelter and safety from the promised coming wrath of God is to be found in Jesus Christ. Just knowing about Him will not rescue you. Just knowing that there is a basement is not the same as being IN IT when the storm comes.
The Good Message becomes life-saving good, only when we are made aware of the severity of the bad news.
To fully appreciate the Good News of what we have gained in Christ, we must first have an awareness and understanding of who we are and what we lost in Adam. All you had to do to be eligible for the consequences of sin and the coming judgement was, believe it or not, to just be born. And to escape the coming wrath of God all you have to do is to be born again. (John 3:3)
When you boil the gospel down to its most basic formula it is just that:
You must be born again.