In What is the Gospel? (Amazon link), author Greg Gilbert divides the gospel message into four elements: God, Man, Christ, and Response (28-31). I find Gilbert to be a clear and engaging writer, which always helps me – a poor reader – get more out of a text. In this case, I’m reading with a pen, pencil, and highlighter at the ready. (Don’t ask why I need three marking tools; I don’t understand it either!)
Gilbert opens chapter three, Man the Sinner, with a clear and relatable story of him receiving a parking ticket. After explaining that many times man sort of views sin like a parking ticket. However, he helpfully distinguishes between man’s typical view of sin and God’s view of sin with the following statement:
But according to the Bible, sin is a lot more than just the violation of some impersonal, arbitrary, heavenly traffic regulation. It’s the breaking of a relationship, and even more, it is a rejection of God himself—a repudiation of God’s rule, God’s care, God’s authority, and God’s right to command those to whom he gave life. In short, it is the rebellion of the creature against his Creator. (48, emphasis added)
The whole statement is excellent – and I highlighted it all – but the final sentence stuck out today and caused my mind to translate it into visual images, which I think helped me to digest the depth of his summary description. Above, Gilbert says, “In short, it [man’s sin] is the rebellion of the creature against his Creator.” As I pondered this rather common description, I began to think how frustrated God must be with me at times as I rebel at His rule over me. The image that came to mind was of my frustration when I had trouble getting a wrench to do what it was designed to: tighten or loosen a bolt or nut. Sometimes, I get frustrated when I can’t get the wrench to do its simple task.
The difference between the wrench not doing what it is designed to do and me not doing what I was designed to do is found in the word rebellion. The wrench doesn’t rebel against the engineer who designed it, nor against the inexperienced operator who may struggle to use it effectively. It hasn’t the capacity to rebel. Yet, I get frustrated with the wrench. At times, I am very frustrated. Reading this makes me feel silly.
How frustrated must God be when I demonstrate my great capacity to rebel against Him? God designed me to glorify Him in the comings and goings of my life, and I often fail to do so. Unlike the wrench, it is my nature to rebel against God. Reading this makes me feel ashamed and convicted of my rebellion. Perhaps you can identify with me as you see your own rebellion against God.
But what can or should you or I do about our rebellion? In short, Gilbert explains that we need to 1) have a true understanding of God’s holiness, 2) have a true understanding of our sinful nature, 3) have a true understanding of Christ’s death on behalf of the guilty, and 4) respond to the above three elements by faith and repentance. These are the four points of What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert. Of course he expands on each of these points. I highly recommend this book for its clarity and content.
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