Written By Bob Schindler, Chief Operating Officer of CEDE SPORTS
Being Gospel Centered – Part 4
We all want to be blessed
To be blessed is to be divinely or supremely favored, to be favored in a way that results in happiness and joy. Jesus appealed to this longing in his “Sermon on the Mount.” Nine times he begins a verse with “Blessed are….”. Each verse outlines a very provocative way to be blessed. Paul also understood this desire to be blessed. As he begins his letter to the Ephesians, where in chapters 1-3 he gives an understanding of our calling in the gospel, he affirms one of the key truths of that gospel – the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.This incredible statement – that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ – gives us a great principle for gospel centricity.
Being gospel centered isn’t about gaining more blessings from God, but it is about living in the blessings we have already received in Christ.
Blessed In Our Remembering
As we remember the gospel and our great Hero, we remember that we live not to earn more blessing, more favor from God. We remember that we live to experience the blessings that at ours in the gospel and its Hero, Jesus Christ. Think about that for a moment. This means we can’t do anything to make God give us more blessing or we can’t do anything to make God give us less blessing. Every blessing is already ours in Christ. This truth, when embraced and lived out, brings freedom from the burden of works to impress or please God to get blessing and the fear that we might do something wrong to remove blessing.
A Blessed Perspective
Recognizing this truth also brings into focus the struggle we all have in keeping this perspective. This freedom from the burden and the fear is a hard-won battle. We live in a world that constantly bombards us with a different story, a story that says we must do something to earn or keep blessing, sometimes very overtly and sometimes very subtlety. The world and our flesh constantly challenge us to let go of our grip on the gospel centered principle. Therefore, we must remember. We remember the gospel. We remember the Hero of the gospel. We remember that we have received every spiritual blessing in our Hero.
Blessing in Believing
Our remembering brings us to the place of believing, believing that we can’t earn more or lose these blessings because of our efforts or lack thereof, believing that every blessing is already ours in Christ. We remember and believe to experience these blessings, to satisfy our longing to be blessed. If you want to know more about those blessings that God wants us to experience, look in Ephesians at the verses right after the promise of receiving - received every spiritual blessing in Christ. You will find a litany of those blessings in Ephesians 1:4-14. You can also look at Ephesians 2:1-22 for even more of those blessings. Remember. Believe. Experience – all the blessings we have already received in Christ because
Being gospel centered isn’t about gaining more blessings from God, but it is about living in the blessings we have already received in Christ.