The Frustrating Gospel

 The Frustrating Gospel

Dedicated to all those who enjoy the kingdom of God in Christ alone

Have you ever tried to describe a beautiful scenery to someone; and yet found that your very best efforts fell far short of the glorious vista you have in your mind?

If you have, you know something about how maddening it can be, to seek to convey the wondrous and spectacular dimensions of Christ's gospel of grace to someone who desperately needs it; and yet have to face the fact that your most noble endeavors (even through words) are still not fully-sufficient.

When I use the expression, "the frustrating gospel," I do not mean that the gospel itself is frustrating; but only that our ability to communicate all its glories in Christ can be.

In Jesus and His gospel of grace, the children of God enjoy a kingdom of the heart, that is characterized by largeness, freedom, joy, peace, and all other good blessings and virtues.  It is our new nature to desire to share this experience with other people, sinners just like us--so that they can enjoy it, too.

But, how do we describe something so magnificent; and how can people who cannot "see" it be benefitted by our efforts to lay it before them?  I think, that the answer is that we are to do our very best; and we do it because it is the loving thing for us to do so.  The Holy Spirit can, will, and does use our paltry words to transport the good news to lost souls.

Someone might (rightly) retort, "Well, despite what you say, is not the authentic Christian life characterized by suffering, having to take up one's cross daily to follow Jesus; and are not believers promised hardships, persecution, trials, and tribulations?"  The answer is, "Yes; all this is indeed true; and we do not wish to 'sugar-coat' the life of God's kingdom; but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages."

The scripture is very clear, that God must miraculously open the eyes of any of us sinners, if we are to actually "see" the kingdom of God--but this truth does not preclude the saints' best efforts to try to describe it.

In my pastoral ministry, I always believed that one of my principal duties was to try to convince the saints (and others) that they can be miraculously happy in this world--so long as they sought this blessing in Jesus and His gospel of pure and free grace alone.

. . . I am sure my efforts were not completely successful; and I suspect that one reason for this, is an inherent sense (because of the Fall), that this is simply impossible.  But truly, in Jesus, it is not impossible.

I, for one, find two "cliffs" that ought to be avoided, in this regard.  The first one is, to comprehend the glorious freedom and grace of God's kingdom to be wrapped-up (primarily) in "material," (for lack of a better word) things.  The other "cliff," is to imagine that all the goods of Christ's kingdom are to be reserved for the future life (in heaven).  Both of these are, I think, big mistakes.

The "kingdom of God" is, Jesus said, "within" us, or "among" us, (cf. Lk. 17:21).  The essence of the kingdom is The King Himself.  Where Jesus is, there is His kingdom; and there is His glory, His blessing, and God's saints' happiness.

The gospel really is good news.  It is really worth preaching and proclaiming.  Is it "frustrating"?  Sure, in the sense that those of us who have so-richly benefitted from it (in Christ alone), find its inexhaustibility to be hard to communicate.  But it is worth the effort(!)

Rev. Mark J. Henninger

Treatise #13

11 April 2025

https://theologicaltreatisesinretirement.blogspot.com

https://henningerdevotions.blogspot.com/

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