Jan 6, 2021
By Nick Kersten
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…
When Genesis records creation, it notes that earth itself was pronounced good by God. When God makes the people, He pronounces those results “very good.” The earth was perfect, and filled with His glory. The people walked in the goodness of perfect relationship with God, and they were filled and fulfilled by that relationship. All the news was only good, all the time.
“You will not surely die.”
It remained that way until the serpent whispered the first of the bad news: he contradicted God’s pronouncements. The people, unaware of bad news, but desirous of something better than what God had given them, followed after the serpent, believing the first bad news, and received their punishment: death and separation from God. They had broken the relationship, and now were left to struggle with themselves and the good earth they had marred, to try and find scraps of good news from what remained. The early returns were not encouraging, with one of their children murdering another and subsequently being separated from them even further.
“The only impulse of their hearts was only evil all the time.”
The news only got worse from there: humanity spiraled down into selfishness and sin until they were so debased that they were only evil all the time—saturated in sin. In
response, God covered the earth with wrath and water, leaving only one faithful man and his family. But from this one man and his family, hope would spring.
“…your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name ‘He Laughs.’ I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him…”
Abraham and Sarah followed God’s call and were faithful, but waiting for their promised son, they tried on their own to fulfill God’s good promise. Ultimately though, God was proved faithful and Isaac was born. Abraham passed the testing of his faith, being willing to offer up even his own son in obedience to God’s will. God’s promise to Abraham was an eternal legacy: a name that would be a blessing to all people. Isaac, the promised son, bore two brothers whose rivalry led to division. One of those brothers, Jacob, was called by God to carry the blessing as God made him a mighty nation—Israel. God’s willingness to call and direct even broken people was good news for Abraham’s family.
“…you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and with all your might.”
The children of Israel eventually found themselves in bondage in Egypt. But God heard their cries and delivered them by mighty signs and wonders in the forms of plagues: bad news for Egypt but good news for Israel. He delivered them to a mountain, where He gave them rules so that He could dwell among them. For the first time since the Garden, people and God would live together again. God promised to make them His treasured possession, and that was very good news for God’s people.
“…they have rejected me from being king over them.”
While God’s people wanted His benefits, including the land promised to them, they were less excited about His rule and reign in their everyday lives, soon preferring an earthly king over their Heavenly Father. But even through their request for a king and the subsequent failures of those kings, God was bringing forth His plan. Even their disobedient flight from His rule would ultimately be the path for His salvation to come, and His kingdom to triumph.
‘…I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you…and you shall be my people, and I shall be your God…”
Working through the brokenness of Israel and Judah’s failures, God promised still more through His prophets: that He would change His people from the inside out so that He could dwell with them again perfectly, just as it was in the beginning. And the prophets hinted this perfection would be for more than just some people: it would be for all people—the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Salvation would come from Abraham, Issac and Israel for all people: it would be very good news.
“She will bear a son, and you shall call him ‘the LORD Saves,’ for he will save his people from their sins.”
One of the offspring from that broken line of kings was coming. He was present with God in the beginning, and from Him and through Him, and to Him were (and are) all things. He was coming to invade. He was coming to deliver. He was coming to liberate. He was coming to heal. His name was Jesus.
“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the King and Lord.”
And from the birth of Jesus in the city of kings, this good news has continued to saturate the earth: God has come in bodily form to seek and save the lost
because of His great love. Those who follow Him will find forgiveness for sin, rest from striving, peace from brokenness, and empowerment for holy living. They will find a King and Kingdom worth serving. And the work of that Kingdom is to carry as heralds the message of that Kingdom until it saturates the whole world. A new heaven and earth is coming where once again God will find His dwelling with people and all will once again be “very good.”
As God saturates His church, so His church saturates the world with the good news. May this season be filled to overflowing with the goodness of King Jesus and His Kingdom as we revel in it ourselves and share it with our broken world.
All biblical quotations in this piece are substantively from the ESV Bible.
A partial list of the Scriptures referenced here: Genesis 1:1, Genesis 1:31, Genesis 3:4, Genesis 4, Genesis 6:5, Genesis 7, Genesis 16, Genesis 17:19, Genesis 21-22, Genesis 22:18, Genesis 25, Genesis 32:22, Exodus 1-2, Exodus 8-12, Exodus 19:5, Deuteronomy 6:5, 1 Samuel 8:7, Ezekiel 36:26,28, Matthew 1:21, Luke 2:10, Luke 19:10, Ephesians 2:4-5, Colossians 2:9, Revelation 21:1-8.
