To me, the Bible begins in John 1.

John 1  1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning.

Then God goes to Genesis.

Genesis 1 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

And God tells the story of the utter hopelessness of man and the ABSOLUTE NEED for God in the form of Jesus.

And Jesus tells us in Luke about the Kingdom.

Luke 15 8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

And, in my mind, encourages us to “spend it” … the idea that we can’t keep our life anyway, and that we might as well spend our last penny, our last breath, our last minute … to exalt Him King.

And He continues to tell us that we should have the heart of the prodigal son, who comes home and offers to simply be one of his Father’s house slaves:

Luke 15 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

and to realize that we are better off being a slave to the Father than a King to the world.

And returns us to John 1 to encourage us that, He, and He alone, holds the keys to eternal life.

John 4  12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

That we might get the opportunity to sit at the King’s feet and be born into a family that would never let us down.

That we might be able to look forward to a city WITH foundations whose architect and builder is God … 

(Hebrews 11)

That we might actually look for the living among the living and NOT the living among the dead … 

(Luke 24)

That we might be overcomers … 

(Revelation 3)

That we might find favor in the eyes of the Lord … 

(Genesis 6)

That we might be a person after God’s own heart … 

(1 Samuel 13)

You can search the whole world over …

And find all of the money,

Or all of the power, 

Or all of the favor,

Or fame

Or safety

Or pleasure

But you won’t find anything that compares To This Gospel … To this Truth … To This Power—the resurrection power— of Jesus Christ.

He is the Lamb that was slain … and the Lion of the tribe of Judah

He is the First … and the Last.

He is the Counselor … and the Kinsman Redeemer.

He is the Creator … and the Breaker.

He is the Provider … and the Healer.

As I sit in worship on this very night, I apologize.

I apologize for watering down this gospel.

I apologize for underselling the most important treasure that you could ever have.

And I apologize for the sin that I carry, both in the things that I do as well as the things that I don’t do.

But I do not apologize for offering Jesus … 

Because He …

Is the greatest gift that you could ever have.

Be sure to open up your heart and 

check it out for yourself.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J