What is “good?”
Really, what makes something “good?”
Is “good” merely a relative opinion or an objective moral characteristic? Is something good only because the onlooker deems it good or is it good in of itself?
If you say to me, “Brussel sprouts are good!” I may chop you in the throat. They are not. They spring from the depths of Sheol to cause calamity on taste buds all over the Earth. Again, if you say my grandmother is not a good grandmother, I would just hope you have dental insurance because you will need it to reconfigure your mouth.
What if I say to you, “Jesus died for you?” Is that “good” news or is that just as relative as the taste of brussel sprouts? When the Good News is proclaimed, are we giving our mere personal opinion of “good” or are we declaring an objective “good” truth?
Christians are making a claim of objectivity. This Gospel is good whether or not you or anyone else finds it as good.
I want to explore some gospel history and gospel truths that make the Good News good. This will be a series of posts all building on one another. So let’s start at the beginning when everything was good…
One tree. One tree among thousands of trees. Just one was commanded to be left alone. Adam and Eve were to be the workers of the perfect world with only a few commands. “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28) was a fairly easy one. Rule over the the land and animals (Gen. 1:28) is simple enough as well. However, there was one “do not.” “Do not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:17). Really? There are hundreds of “thou shalt do this” and “thou shalt not do this” commandments in the Bible, and they only got one at the beginning? The destiny of the entire human race hinged on this one command. The warning that came with the command was that it would bring death, a force that was unknown to the universe at the time. I think I could have handled it.
The first couple most likely talked about this tree. I am sure they speculated what it was about and why God did not want them eating of it. One day when this command was probably on their minds, a snake appeared. Now we could go off on a tangent about if animals could talk in the earliest times or what in the world they were doing listening to a talking snake anyways, but that is for another day. The point is, this snake is evil. That is not a subjective claim; he went (and still goes) completely against God’s will. He is a bringer of all that is wrong in the world. He is the Adversary, the Father of Lies, and the Great Serpent. How he got that way, we do not know, but God allowed such a creature into this perfect paradise.
He talked to Eve, tricked Eve, coerced Eve into thinking that the fruit is good. Genesis 3:6 says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good…” (emphasis mine) she bought the Snake’s lies. Her husband who sat silently like a coward as this was happening, partook in the fruit as well.
That moment caused a snowball effect that would echo through every generation who has or ever will live on this planet. Everything that was good had now been marred by rebellion and disobedience. Something must be done to reverse this.
God confronts Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. He lays curses on each as necessary consequences of the Fall. But there is one that sticks out. God tells the Serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall crush your head, and you shall bruise him on the heel” (Gen 3:15). In the first appearance of Satan in Scripture comes also the promise to destroy him.
This is often described as the protoevangelion. It simply means “the first good news.” Before sin entered the world, there was only good news… “Hey Eve! My crops are growing perfectly!” has no weight unless there was a chance of them not growing perfectly. The “protoevangelion” is the first realized good news. There was now something to compare the good with, evil.
“The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:18).
When Jesus started His ministry, exorcism was a frequent occurrence. He was even blamed of having a demon to drive out demons. Many of the Pharisees accused Him of being under Satan’s power because He was so frequently confronting the works of Satan and his demons.
One of the main works of Satan was bringing sin into the world. That is the ultimate work that Jesus came to abolish and reverse altogether. He swallowed sin up on the cross as He became sin for us. He conquered the consequence of sin, which is death. He began the new age of the reversal of the fall.
Satan bruised Jesus’ heel on that torturous day, but the Serpent’s head was crushed by the Lion of Judah.
Satan has no power over those who have faith in his Destroyer. They are more than conquerors in and over all things, including him. Those in Christ, were once followers (Eph 2:2) and sons (Jn 8:44) of Satan, but now they are new creations. They have been freed of the curse of his works. They have been liberated from him for all eternity. They will be among those who judge him on the Last Day. They will witness and partake in the final destruction of the Ancient Serpent.
And to them has been given the promise, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20).
That is good news.
No comments:
Post a Comment