GOSPEL

Had so many requests for this, decided to just post it...

"The gospel is more than heaven and hell, more than what happens when you
die, but the hope and calling of what we live everyday."
The Gospel is MORE than just what happens when you die. And yet, we seem to
want to communicate and ask ONLY the question... If you were to die
tonight, do you know for sure that you would go to heaven? The reality is
that most of us won't die tonight...for most of us, we are all going to
wake up tomorrow. Sure, I am concerned about where people spend eternity.
But the essence of the gospel is not to keep people from hell. It is that
God might have for Himself a people for His name, His renown, His glory
and that we might LIVE everyday with Him, for Him, about Him.

The question of the gospel is NOT about what happens if we die tonight,
so much as it is what will happen when you wake up in the morning. The
essence of the gospel is NOT about trying to get people into heaven when
they die, but about realizing that the Kingdom of Heaven comes to live in
you NOW.
I mean, let's think about it. To die means to be in the presence of
Christ. That isn't a bad thing. And for those who have half a brain, to
offer them the choice between heaven and hell...they will take the get
out of hell free card every time. But is that really what the gospel is
about? Is it merely offering people a get out of hell free card? Isn't it
more? Isn't it more than what happens when we die? Isn't it more than
just dying and going to heaven? Isn't it more about what happens as we
live?
The gospel is more than just dying and going to heaven. It is what
happens everyday in us as we live here for Him. It is why Jesus preached
the KINGDOM of HEAVEN, the Gospel of the Kingdom. It is why Jesus tried
to help us see that the gospel is about understanding that you have
already died....and Christ has come to live in you. For the gospel means
that you have been crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The gospel is Christ in us, the hope of glory. The
gospel is not about being safe from hell, although that is a pretty cool
by-product of it, the gospel was given that we might be a people, a royal
priesthood, set apart for his loving and choosing, to honor and exalt
Him, to live lives worthy of the gospel HERE! NOW!
We try to convince people to give their lives to Jesus based on where
they will spend eternity. (again a cool by-product), but the gospel of
the Kingdom (which is what Jesus preached) is NOT ONLY about where we
will spend eternity, but how we will live HERE.
Maybe a better question is not just if you died tonight, where would you
spend eternity? But if you live tomorrow, how will you live? The gospel
of the Kingdom means that Jesus has shown up HERE-not only that we are
waiting to see Him there, in the by and by, sweet...over there. I want
the KINGDOM LIFE NOW! Sure heaven will be great. But I KNOW that the
eseence of the gospel is not about then...it is about now. It is about
the transforming power of JESUS causing us to live and die for Him.
Doxa
Christy Upton
I RUN in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart FREE. Psm
119:32
ALL FOR YOU