Finding the Best Treasure

We can all lose track of the significance and multifaceted power of what God has done for us. I believe most followers of Jesus periodically struggle with experiencing the fullness of the good news of Jesus—the treasure that is Gospel.

The good news of Jesus can be described as a beautiful gemstone. Depending on the angle you are looking at it, you see different facets and splendor. Only as you consider the whole gem do you see the fullness of its amazing quality and character. As we explore and experience the magnitude of God’s works of grace and what He has done for us, there are innumerable implications and immeasurable power for life—not just after death, but in all of life now. The more we understand this treasure, the more we long to share it with others.

Consider a few of the wonderful facets of the good news of Jesus Christ that are each part of the treasure of the gospel:

• The Cross: encompasses atonement, justification, and redemption
• Adoption: made us children and heirs of God
• Reconciliation: brought back into relationship with God
• Peace: hostility between people demolished
• New Life: made new and able to live the new life
• Freedom: set free from slavery to sin and death
• Holy Spirit: Living in us as comforter and guide
• Justice and Hope: God’s Kingdom reign and will expressed and experienced in our world through His redeemed ones

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44).

Is the “gem” this precious to us, such a treasure that we joyfully give whatever it takes to possess and experience it in our daily lives and share it with others? I hope this issue of Disciple! will help us live out more fully the facets of this precious gem called the gospel.

To read more from Doug, visit his blog at makingwaves.navigators.org