Any time spent at the Journey will reveal our commitment to the Gospel. We use terms like “gospel centered” and “gospel driven”. We don’t want you to feel like we are using code language, so we want to explain what we mean by the gospel.
We prefer to look at the gospel as a story, because historically, that is how it unfolded. It is true story, and we believe God’s record of it is contained in the Bible.
The precise form of the gospel story is a drama because it is about relationships, and we see this drama presented in four acts.
Act One: Creation
God spoke the world into existence for no other reason than that it pleased Him to reveal His glory (manifested goodness) in creation—specifically to the pinnacle of his creation: humanity. Adam and Eve were made a little lower than the angels and were designed for a complete, harmonious relationship with God, each other, and his creation. This relationship was characterized by complete acceptance and assurance. At God’s command, the earth produced everything that Adam and Eve could ever need.
Act Two: The Fall
Although Adam and Eve should have been completely happy and satisfied with God and his created paradise for them, they were tempted by a serpent. We later learn the serpent is Satan who, with many other angels, rebelled against. Adam and Eve were tempted to believe that God was holding out on them– that something better could be had. They were tempted to believe that they could be like God and no longer under his reign, but reigning themselves. God gave only one prohibition in their paradise home; they were not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. They succumbed to the serpent’s temptation, and as an effect of their rebellion, the world that humanity was to rule over was subjected to futility and decay. Humanity chose sin, and the effects of sin have been set deeply in our makeup. Due to this first sin, its catastrophic effects, and our own attempts at self-rule, humanity unabashedly resists God’s rule. We are now spiritually dead and unable to assist in our own improvement; humanity and the rest of creation is helpless and hopeless. We are barreling towards our own eternal punishment as law-breakers in the court of a holy, just, and righteous God.
Act Three: Redemption
God’s nature, gracious and compassionate, compelled him to fashion a plan even before the world was created in which humanity’s broken, sinful condition could be mended and cleansed. This plan, spoken of prophetically in the Old Testament, was perfectly revealed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God. Through his life, Jesus’ obedience to God’s law supplies believing sinners with a righteousness that can be credited to them through faith. Through his death on the cross, he cleanses believing sinners of the stain of their sin by receiving the just penalty of our sin upon himself—becoming the perfect sacrifice for sinners. Through his resurrection, we see God’s complete satisfaction with his sacrifice. Jesus effectively put sinners who believe right with God. Now through the Holy Spirit, he progressively empowers us to escape the power of sin until we are united with him through death or His triumphant return.
Act Four: Restoration
One day, Jesus will trample rebellion, death, decay, poverty, injustice, and suffering under his feet, and all things will be restored to his original intentions. Until that day, we live as agents of progressive restoration through his gospel reign in the tension of a fallen world—a world that groans for redemption. Therefore, we look to bring beauty and harmony into every aspect of our lives through the gospel ethic of love. We believe we have been saved by the gospel for the work of the gospel, and all true spiritual and relational transformation comes as the gospel is faithfully applied to every area of life. As the gospel is applied, God is glorified as the God of the gospel, and we are filled with joy as his beloved children engaged in this good work.
There is more to the story than this, and many issues have not been raised by this telling of the story. Yet, it is sufficient to help us understand God’s activity in redeeming a people for himself to whom he reveals his glory and through whom he reveals his glory to the world.
When we say that we are “gospel-centered”, we mean that we believe the answer to every issue we have is found in the gospel. Jesus showed us what it means to exactly represent God’s nature. We are focused on his life, his death, and his resurrection so that we might learn how to live as the new humanity provided for in Him.
When we say that we are “gospel-driven”, we mean that it is the glory of God revealed in the gospel that motivates our obedience. We do not want to be motivated by joyless guilt, shame, or even a sense of duty to compel us to obey. We always want to be motivated out of love for Christ and faith in the gospel. We spend as much time on the “why” of obedience as we do the “how” or the “what”. Jesus taught us that the heart is a big deal with God. Since everything flows from the heart, we always deal with heart issues as much as anything else.
At the Journey, we are committed to a journey of exploring in community the implications of this gospel so that we might be found dwelling in its light more and more.
We invite you to come along with us on this journey. We believe you will be glad you did.