55E TRANSCRIPT Why Jesus' Good News Gospel really happy Is our gospel not glad
www.crazygoodgod.org
Nancy Teague
nancy@crazygoodgod.org
Feb 22, 2023
Hi there. Welcome to Crazy Good God podcast. I'm Nancy Teague, and thanks for listening.
00:15 We've been digging into Isaiah 52 because of a dream I had in 2000. Check out episode 52, 53, 54 where we looked at - Isaiah's prophesying about our true identity, exposed obstacles that hinder knowing our true identities, stated God's awareness of our entrapment and His rescue plan. Today, we'll hear Isaiah's prophecy of the Good News and how it compares to the traditional religious gospel.
00:45 Did you hear glad tidings when you first heard the gospel or was it about sin and sinner? Did it make you remorseful, guilty? Were you told to ask for forgiveness and ask Jesus to save you? No doubt some felt His cleansing presence, but later did the guilt of ‘never good enough’ rise up?
01:07 Listen to Isaiah's prophecy about the Good News. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation. Who says, your God reigns! Your Watchmen shall lift up their voices, they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye. Break forth into joy and sing together you waste places. For the Lord has comforted His people. He has redeemed us! The Lord has made bear His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the Earth shall see the salvation of our God.”
Hmm, sure is different from our traditional gospel.
01:56 A Facebook friend recently shared, “The Good News is a Proclamation, not an Invitation.” Isaiah prophesied the glad tidings and our response of joy, oneness, singing. Truly, the religious gospel is like an invitation. Their message focuses on your sinfulness and then the invitation – “Come to get saved, ask for forgiveness, ask Jesus to save you and to come into your heart.’
02:26 What a contrast. Proclamation of joy, gladness, peace, it's for you, you're IN versus Invitation of you are OUT, but can get in if you do and say certain things.
02:42 Now, Isaiah said, ALL shall see. Who is ALL? Scriptures declare:
All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.
02:55 Paul writes, Isaiah very boldly says, “The Lord says, I was found by those who did not seek Me. I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.” Religiosity would respond – ‘That's impossible!’
Paul goes on – “To whom He was not announced, they shall see. And those who have not heard shall understand.” Religious tradition says, ‘Pray and ask to get saved.’
03:23 Listen to what Jesus proclaimed. He went into the Temple, they handed Him the Book of the Prophet Isaiah to read the daily chosen passage. But He opened the Book and went to a different passage. Jesus read, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then, He outrageously said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Note, Jesus ended with the ‘acceptable year of the Lord’ and omitted Isaiah's last point, ‘the day of vengeance of God.’ Why? Because Jesus and His Father are all about acceptance, welcome, restoration, reconciliation.
04:25 Would you agree traditional religious teaching says judgment is coming, you must get saved? Does Jesus agree? He says:
‘For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him be saved. If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. You judge according to the flesh, I judge no one. Yet, if I do judge, My judgment is true for I'm not alone. But I am with the Father who sent Me.’
05:02 Paul reveals the judgment! He said, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” Remember, Jesus declared – ‘The Father and I are one. I’m in the Father, the Father in Me.’ So, when Jesus hung on that cross the Father was with Him to reconcile the world to themselves!
And Paul states, “Jesus was delivered over for our transgressions, and He was raised because of our justification.” Justification in Greek - made righteous made right! Think about that. Jesus only rose out of the grave because He made all righteous.
05:46 Jesus came to do God's will. What's God's will? ‘Sanctify humanity through the offering of the body of Jesus once for all…by that one offering God has perfected us forever!’
06:03 Do you know in God you have always been holy? ‘No way’, you might say. Well, second Timothy – “He saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” Gosh, do we really know who we are?
06:26 What a proclamation of glad tidings. It's not based on behavior or sin. All the ends of the Earth will turn to him, found by those who didn't seek Him, manifest to those who didn't ask for Him. Those who didn't hear shall see those who haven't heard shall understand. All we do is believe, receive, enjoy! The Pure Gospel is very happy news! ‘Whoa, now can't be that easy.’ It is. Jesus made it easy for all humanity.
Until next Wednesday, Bliss to you and never forget God is absolutely crazy about you.
References: Isaiah 52:7-10 Ps 22:27 Rom 10:20 15:21 Lk 4:17-19 Isaiah 61:2 Jn 3:17 12:47 8:15,16 2Cor 5:19 Jn 10:30 14:11 Rom 4:25 Heb 10:9,10,14 2Tim 1:9