Good Friday above all days is a good time to talk about sin. I'm not averse to talking about sin, although in today's society it might be more relevant to explain sin in terms of selfishness. I'm uneasy about preachers who deliver the good news message of Jesus without mentioning the enormity of sin, and the eternal consequences of sin if we choose not to accept Christ's offer of forgiveness and life: A gospel message without reference to sin doesn't do justice to our Lord and Saviour. Yet equally, I'm just as uneasy about preachers who start a gospel message emphasising sin. It's as if original sin was the starting point of creation-which is obviously wrong, as Genesis 1.31 tells us: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. John Eldredge calls this 'original glory' and reminds us that before sin there was the original glory of creation which included man and woman.
A good news message must focus first on God's creation and his desire to have fellowship with all of mankind...THEN the bad news that sin has damaged this can be introduced into the equation. The following outline may sound a bit twee or trite, but it is true nevertheless:
There is Good News- GOD FORMED US.
There is Bad News - SIN HAS DEFORMED US.
There is Good News-JESUS CAN TRANSFORM US.
1Pet. 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
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