the gospel and relationships

The gospel is more about relationships than it is about law. In other words at the heart of the gospel is the restoration of broken relationships between God and humans, and between humans with each other, as well as with God's creation. Sin breaks relationships, and the gospel restores them.

God in Christ did this by becoming one of us in the Incarnation. God became flesh or human to restore us humans into a relationship with himself. The heart of the law is love to God and love to our neighbor. When we break God's law by our sin, we're violating relationships. So it's more than just disobeying a command, but it's breaking or diminishing a relationship.

We as Christians should be known for our love for God, our love for each other, our love for all people including even our enemies, and our love for God's creation. We should be known for that, that is what should mark us.

I'm again rereading Scot McKnight's fine book, Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us, and it's a good and (always) timely reminder of just how big the gospel is, and its aim. Its aim is nothing less than love, which of course is the heart of God in the gospel as we know in probably the most beloved Bible verse of all.

As we work on understanding and more importantly living out the gospel, we need to live out this love which Jesus carried out to the full, and by which God has reconciled the world to himself in Jesus, so that all sinners might find their true home and be at home with God and others and look forward to the completion of this beginning of the new creation in Jesus.