For the four Sundays of Advent we will reflect on four of the perfections of Jesus: His love, hope, joy and peace. Each Sunday we will take four steps to apply the gospel to our hearts:
- Look up at the perfection of Jesus
- Look down at our own sin
- Experience the grace of Jesus
- Extend His grace to others
This Sunday (12/4/22), for example, we will begin with the LOVE of Jesus. Our Lord is perfectly loving: 100% committed to sacrificially serve others regardless of their response to Him. In light of that kind of love, we are all woefully indifferent to the needs of others. But it is in that condition of selfishness and sin where Jesus meets us with His grace and adopts us into His forever family. When we experience the grace of adoption and live in the unconditional love and acceptance of God in Christ it enables us to extend that grace to others in loving, sacrificial, Christ-like service.
APPLY THE GOSPEL TO YOUR HEART.
That can seem like an abstract exercise until you see how the gospel applies to a specific area of your sin. It’s the difference between broad spectrum antibiotics and targeted treatment that places the exact medicine needed at the precise point of need.
All four steps in gospel application are essential. Just looking up at the glory of Jesus will move your heart to worship Him, which is a vital first step. But the natural response to seeing the perfect love of Jesus is to realize that is the kind of love God requires of us and therefore to jump to step four and try to change apart from the gospel. That is not applying the gospel to your heart but instead applying the LAW. You will try to live up to the character of Jesus apart from the Holy Spirit and apart from the transforming power of the gospel. That is called “living in the flesh” and it cannot change you but will only frustrate you (see Romans 7).
Stepping into the light of Jesus perfection will expose the darkness of your sin and lead you to confession and repentance at the foot of the cross. That is exactly the place where change can begin. In fact, it is the only place where lasting change can occur – because it applies the right treatment to the right place – it applies the gospel to your heart.
A key truth of the gospel is that God does not forgive sins in general, He only forgives specific sins when they are specifically confessed and forsaken.
“If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
That is a big “if,” to open that verse.
For the next thirteen weeks we will study the thirteen perfections of Jesus. These are not the only character qualities of our Lord, which are infinite. But they are a helpful attempt to summarize all of the glorious goodness of Jesus in contrast to our sin. And the Gospel Nourished Life material helps us see the depth and breadth of the gospel – that it is not just good news to forgive your sin and get you to heaven. The gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). It is the transforming, sanctifying blood of Jesus.
So this Advent season practice these steps to strengthen your faith in the finished work of Jesus. And as you read the Bible make it a habit to look up, look down, experience God’s grace and extend His grace to those around you!