I tried to ignore the gospel this morning.
My alarm sounded rudely at 5 am, and I spent fifteen minutes trying to convince myself that the world might look a little brighter if I turned my back on it for another two hours. But the discouragement that weighed down my heart, my bones, my eyes could only be answered one way. In the kitchen the coffee brewed obediently, and I poured a cup before sitting down on the couch with my Bible and notebook. Peter has been speaking to me for weeks, and I can’t seem to leave his words alone.
I’ve picked at the phrases, inked them in my notebook repeatedly, rolled them around in my head over and over: phrases like “living stones” and “be holy, “temporary residence” and “kept in heaven for you.” They’re good words, true words. They’re words that speak of the person I was before the blood of Christ covered my sins and resurrected my dead heart. They’re words that remind me that I’m not that girl anymore, and that any hardship I face today can’t compare with my future with God in heaven. The words of the Lord given to us through Peter have shored up my confidence that the work of Jesus at the cross touches every corner of my sanctification.
Really, it’s just the gospel. Just the gospel. The message of Christ crucified, risen, and victorious is one I’ve heard since infancy, and I’ve believed it nearly that long. So sometimes when I read the Bible, the familiar words don’t even register. Oh, this again. Jesus died for me. Jesus was raised from the dead. Jesus will return for His Church. Right. All good. Hallelujah. What’s next?
Sometimes I’m looking for something more. But, the message of the gospel isn’t one we come to for salvation and then advance from for sanctification. No, this gospel we have believed is for all of life. Ours is an every day gospel. We will never graduate to something better because there is nothing better. There is nothing that can compare with the gospel of Christ we’ve already been given. Peter tells us how blessed we are to know the full truth of it.
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that would come to you searched and carefully investigated. They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the messianic sufferings and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Angels desire to look into these things.” 1 Peter 1:10-12
The Old Testament prophets longed to see it come to fruition; the angels long to understand it. And here we sit with our Bibles open (or maybe not) and a bored look on our face and we wonder what’s next. I thought I needed something else this morning. But thankfully, there’s just the gospel.
The message of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is the one we need every morning when the clock drags us from sleep. It’s the message we need to strap on to ourselves so we can faithfully scratch out our existence on an earth that groans for its Creator. It’s the message we need to remind us that our sin doesn’t have to win. It’s the message the people around us need to hear. It’s the message we need when discouragement hangs so heavy over us there seems to be no room for light. The gospel is the message we need when we don’t understand why we still need it.
The gospel is the message we need when we don't understand why we still need it. Share on XChristian, Jesus died in your place. He who knew no sin carried your sin, became your sin, paid for your sin at the cross. Paid for it in full. And when death lost its grip on Jesus, God raised Him from the dead to prove that the payment for your sins was accepted in full. The resurrected Christ guarantees that your death will only be temporary. He returned to heaven and sat down next to the Father because His work was done. This is the gospel message: His life for yours. He became sin so you could wear His righteousness and stand justly justified. He left heaven to suffer in your place so that you could be guaranteed an inheritance with Him in heaven forever.
“He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3b-5
Perhaps you’re ready to scroll on to the next thing. You’ve heard this a thousand times. But, this is the message you need today. In every area of the Christian life, the gospel applies.
Fighting sin? Jesus died to free you from it. You are not a slave. You can “be holy as the One who called you is holy” because you can cry out to the One who nailed your sin to His cross. (1 Pet. 1:15)
Are you enduring suffering? God is sovereign over your every trial, and He has given Christ as your example for perseverance. “For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in His steps” (1 Pet. 2:21). You can put every care upon Him because He cares for you.
Do you struggle to believe that God loves you? He called you out of darkness and into His light in order to make you His own. You belong to Him! (1 Pet. 2: 9-10) Your identity is anchored in His faithfulness to save sinners who never deserve it.
Do you worry about the future? Don’t confuse certainty about earthly success with the source of our true hope: “Set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus” (1 Pet. 1:13). Our lives are temporary here; our real life is coming. Christ’s resurrection means your resurrection is sure.
Are you weighed down by guilt for past sin? Don’t be. This resurrected Savior I’ve been going on about is living proof that restitution has been made for your every ugly thought or deed. You’ve been given a new birth and a living hope (1 Pet. 13). You can walk in freedom because the Son has set you free.
You could break down each scenario further, but what it always involves is stopping your runaway thoughts with the unchanging truth of the gospel: Jesus died for me, and God says it is enough. The gospel message is one we need to hear on repeat every morning because we bend toward unbelief every morning. Maybe the message feels overly familiar sometimes, but what a gift to know, inside and out, the truth that you used to be dead, now you’re alive, and one day you’ll live forever with God because He loved you enough to sacrifice His own Son for you. This gospel may feel faded and frayed around the edges when we watch the never-ending reel of what’s new, exciting, “life-giving” on the morning news or in the social media feed. But only the gospel of Christ can stand through history and offer the same unfading, uncorrupted, imperishable message of hope for the walking dead.
And it goes beyond that because it isn’t just for salvation. It’s for every single day of living and breathing and walking the crooked path to the glory that awaits us in Him. We’ve not been saved and left to fend for ourselves. No, we’ve been armed with the power unto salvation and the power for sanctification. Tomorrow morning when you get up, resist your resistance and tell yourself again what Christ has done for you.
“He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times for you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” 1 Peter 1:20-21
Praise God, we have an every day gospel.
But only the gospel of Christ can stand through history and offer the same unfading, uncorrupted, imperishable message of hope for the walking dead. Share on X
Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and lives in rural Southeast Missouri where she tries and fails to keep up with her two energetic sons. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence (P&R) and Everyday Faithfulness (Crossway), and Memorizing Scripture (Moody). Connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.