Zondervan Blog

The "Great Proposal" of the Gospel [Excerpt]

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 10:42 AM PDT

Chuck Colson sketches the joy at the heart of the Gospel in this excerpt from The Faith: Given Once for All by Colson and Harold Fickett.

God is. And He's told us how His world works. He is the ultimate reality. Why then is there suffering? Because God gave humans free will. We chose not to obey, so evil came to the world.

God invaded earth in His Son... The Holy Spirit was sent to finish the invasion, establishing Christ's Kingdom through His body, the Church.

Satan's control didn't stand, however. God invaded earth in His Son. The battle raged, and the Son was arrested and executed, as the payment for evil. But the stone was rolled away, and God raised Him from the dead, and with His resurrection guaranteed our own new life. The Holy Spirit was sent to finish the invasion, establishing Christ's Kingdom through His body, the Church.

We can now exchange our lives for Christ's life. Reconciled with Him, we are reconciled with each other, living a holy life in community, defending life at every stage. One day Christ will come again and finally establish God's Kingdom. All those in Christ will enjoy God's fellowship eternally, as humankind was meant to from the beginning. [We can] find joy in knowing that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the sustainer of all things, through whom and by whom and for whom all things were made...

The Gospel is the great proposal: Come to the wedding feast, one and all — black, white, rich, poor, East, West, Muslim, Jew, Christian — all are welcome... God turns no man or woman away, not one. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Father brings us into His Kingdom. This is the promise He holds out to individuals and nations alike, a Kingdom not of eating and drinking or of marching armies and clashing swords, but a Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy forever in the Holy Spirit.

- Chuck Colson

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(Some styling above is a web-exclusive feature not included in the text of The Faith. This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

Chuck Colson's Call to Christians

Posted: 23 Apr 2012 03:57 PM PDT

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Our longtime partner and friend Charles Colson passed away on Saturday, April 21, 2012, at the age of 80.

Chuck lived what he preached: repentance and complete life transformation, made possible by the grace and power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though we can be happy he's with the Lord now, we miss him. We are praying for his friends and family.

We wanted to share the following message from Chuck with you. You can also watch Chuck's message.

-Adam Forrest, Zondervan Blog

What's desperately needed today is a call to action ... to Christians to get serious about their faith, that is "given once for all and entrusted to the saints," as Jude teaches. [The call to action about our faith] is to understand it, so that you can live it. And it is to understand it so that you can defend it.

Where does it begin? It begins with repentance. There has never been a powerful move of God anywhere where the people of God didn't first repent. We've got to repent of our sins of being enculturated, encapsulated, seduced by the culture in which we live. Break free like the church is doing in the Third World, and live the true gospel.

Ask forgiveness, seek God's favor, turn away and change... On your knees, pray. And then work with your pastor and the people in the churches and encourage them, pray for one another. Build those bonds of unity so that the world will see the love and the hope of the great proposal which [the Church] has to offer.

God bless you.

-Chuck Colson

Watch the video message from Charles Colson.
View Colson images & videos on Pinterest.

(This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared for information purposes only. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.)

This Earth Day excerpt is from <a title="Learn More about the Group Bible Study" href="http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Product/ProductDetail.htm?ProdID=com.zondervan.9780310324850&cm_mmc=ZT-_-Blog-Feb12-_-Blog-_-Serve+God+Save+Planet" target="_blank">Serving God, Saving the Planet</a>, the group Bible study by Dr. Matthew Sleeth. 
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An old-fashioned [incandescent] lightbulb uses about ten percent of its energy to make light. What happens to the other ninety percent? It just makes heat... hot air.
 
I often feel like our lives are like that, like these really inefficient bulbs. There's lots of energy going in ... but there's a really small percentage of the energy going into us that's accomplishing what we were called to do in the first place.
 
By contrast, an energy-efficient bulb uses about ninety percent of the energy going in to make light. It's light that extinguishes darkness, it's visible light, light we can do something by.
 
As a result we don't have to [mine coal] so much, and we don't have to tear mountains down. Less mercury ends up in fish, fewer kids get asthma. A company or an individual who gets involved in efficiency frees up resources for things like feeding the hungry and caring for the sick. It's a way of being a good steward. So, yes - changing your lightbulbs is a way of loving God and your neighbor.
 
It seems to me that Jesus is a "big picture" kind of guy... If we choose to follow Christ, we become new people -- with new priorities. Our behaviors change, not just the lightbulbs. When our hearts are changed, our actions follow...
 
Jesus Christ came into this world to save the world, not to condemn it, and that's the good news. Falling in love with light is a pivotal part of this love story.
 
Jesus, the light of the world, is calling you and me to become children of light. So, my prayer is that you let the light of Jesus sweep over you and remove all the darkness in your life. Then and only then can we become a light to the world... And it will be good.
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Want to hear more from Matthew on serving God and saving the planet?  <a title="Watch the video "Serving God, Saving the Planet" Session 1" href="http://zndr.vn/JdX9Is" target="_blank"></a>
<a title="Watch the video "Serving God, Saving the Planet" Session 1" href="http://zndr.vn/JdX9Is" target="_blank"> Watch the video</a> of Session 1 on YouTube.
- Adam Forrest, Zondervan
 
(This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer's personal opinions are shared for information purposes only. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, <a title="Subscribe to the blog" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/feedburner/zondervanblog?cm_mmc=ZT-_-Blog-Feb12-_-Blog-_-Subscribe+to+Zondervan+Blog" target="_blank">subscribe to Zondervan Blog</a>.)

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