The Good News Of Christ

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.

ALL AROUND THE WORLD TODAY, people are equating the gospel of Jesus Christ with physical healing and material prosperity. “Come to Jesus,” they say, “and you will receive physical reward.” But that is not the essence of the gospel. Yes, Jesus is able to heal physical maladies; and yes, Jesus has authority over painful diseases, but this is not the central message of Christ. We don’t go throughout America, saying, “Trust in Christ, and cancer will be gone.” We don’t go throughout Africa, declaring, “Trust in Christ, and HIV/AIDS will be no more.” We don’t go anywhere crying, “Trust in Christ, and health and wealth will come your way.”

That is not the Good News of Christ, for the Good News of Christ is so much greater than that. The Good News of Christ is not primarily that Jesus will heal you of all your sicknesses right now, but ultimately that Jesus will forgive you of all your sins forever. The Good News of Christ is not that if you muster enough faith in Jesus, you can have physical and material reward on this earth. The Good News of Christ is that when you have childlike faith in Jesus, you will be reconciled to God for eternity.

We mustn’t be like the paralyzed man and his friends in Matthew 9, approaching Jesus as a miracle worker who was merely able to meet immediate physical needs. To their surprise, though they expected Jesus to heal the man physically, Jesus’ first response was “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”^a

In these words, he made it clear that the ultimate priority of his coming was not simply to relieve suffering, but to sever the cause of suffering—sin—at the root.

Pray that God would give you a heart to pursue him, the Giver, and not merely his gifts. Ask him to help you live for eternal treasure rather than short-lived pleasures.