Good News

Paul Tripp writes,

You cannot escape sin because it dwells within you. All the things you learn get twisted by its power. You can't outsmart it or buy your way out of it. You can't move to escape it. This is why the coming of the King is the best of news. Change is possible! You can stand amid the harshest realities of sin and have hope that will never disappoint you (Rom. 5:1-5). That marriage can change. That teenager can change. That church can change. That friendship can change. That bitterness can be put to death. That compulsion can be broken. That fear can be defeated. That stony heart can be made soft, and sweet words can come from a once-acid tongue. Loving service can come from a person who once was totally self-absorbed. people can have power without being corrupt. Homes can be places of safety, love, and healing. Change is possible because the King has come! [Tripp - Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, pg. 6]

Notice that no where does Dr. Tripp assert that we can actually bring these profound changes about as a result of our own will power or intellectual capacity. The good news is that the King has come! He has arrived and because of this, we can have genuine hope. Jesus proclaims this glorious facts throughout the gospels, but Luke 4:18-19 records one of the most profound announcements in all of Scripture:

“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

Now that we have this good news, the question is, 'what will we do with it?' Will we appropriate it into our lives? Will it become that which drives our thinking, our speaking, and our behavior? Will we believe it? And finally, will we share it with others? Will we share it with others by living it out in front of them AND by speaking this truth in love? Change has arrive because the King has come!