What I love most about a new year is the opportunity to start afresh. I am old enough to remember the joy of getting a new paper calendar for the year, with blank monthly pages just begging for new plans. I still love to start the year with a new journal filled with empty pages of possibility. No matter what the year before held and how faithful I was with my time and opportunities, a new year reminds me that I can start again.
Our world has gotten more than a bit wonky, and it is frighteningly easy for our beliefs and behaviors to be watered down or rerouted, even without our always being aware. So let’s start this year anew by reminding ourselves of what the Bible says so we can best image the God who has created and placed us in this world. As a church family here at Council Road, we have covenanted to stand on the gospel and 24 biblical essentials flowing from it (8 biblical doctrines, 8 biblical disciplines, and 8 biblical virtues). So where do we start? With a fresh reminder of what should be central to who we are and what we should be about: the gospel.
Gospel means good news. The word has been used in various ways by different groups of people, but here I will be referring to the good news of Jesus who came to sacrifice His life and rise again to be our Savior. By paying the penalty for all our wrong choices, Jesus made a way so that we could have eternity in relationship with a holy God.
Sometimes, I fear we have heard this gospel so often that our hearts have grown cold to the magnificence of His sacrificial gift and all that it means. The gospel is not just an event that happened long ago and that we portray in Christmas nativity scenes. The good news of the gospel is so much more.
The good news of the gospel is that Jesus is the seed God had said would conquer Satan (Genesis 3:15).
The good news of the gospel means there is hope for this life and the one to come.
The good news of the gospel should be the defining thing about us as Christ-followers. “For God so loved the world that He gave” (John 3:16). God loves us. Lavishly. Sacrificially.
The good news of the gospel means we are called into a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:9).
The good news of the gospel should be the lens with which we view God, ourselves, and the rest of His creation.
The good news of the gospel is the key that we should use to interpret the Word He gave us.
Our world is messy and it is easy to get our focus pulled from Whose we are, the magnificence of what He has done for us, and why we are here. Let’s not get sidetracked. Let’s begin 2024 with a fresh commitment to relish and share the good news of the gospel.
Meet the Author!
Bible teacher, author, inspirational speaker, and disciple-maker, Vickey Banks is passionate about helping women connect the dots between God’s Word and their everyday lives. She loves serving as Women’s Ministry Director at Council Road and as a Lifeway Women’s Ministry Trainer, pursuing a Master of Biblical Studies at Moody Theological Seminary, celebrating her people, and getting lost in a good story.