Good News

What exactly is the good news Christians have to tell? I've been given a
very simple way to remember it, based on the hand. (The following order
could be changed.)

(Point to the palm of the hand - as if to a nail print from the
crucifixion) The good news above all is about Jesus Christ, who though
Divine left the glory of heaven to become one of us, was crucified for
us, rose to new life, and is now reigning in heaven. Through faith in
him we become his people, benefitting from all that Jesus has achieved.
This is good news for us because:

(Point to the little finger) It is good news of Adoption: through Jesus
Christ God has adopted us as his own children. We are not just citizens
of his kingdom, we are royal family! Each of us is special!

(Point to the ring finger) It is good news of Relationship: through
Jesus Christ we have the most intimate relationship with the most
important, the most lovely and the most loving Being there is: God, who
is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a three-in-one community whose love for
us is as far beyond our understanding as their nature is beyond our
understanding.

(Point to the big finger) It is good news of Deliverance, through Jesus
Christ, from all the evil and negative forces that bind us and are too
strong for us: we are freed from the power and consequences of sin,
freed from condemnation, freed from any harmful history, freed from
bondage to the ways of the world, freed from all that might hinder our
relationship with God and our ability to serve him.

(Point to the index finger) It is good news of a glorious Future,
through Jesus Christ. He is bringing history to a just and fair
conclusion, and will make all things new in a perfect creation that will
last for ever. We his people are his agents in this process, and are
already part of that new creation, with a guaranteed place in his
everlasting kingdom - he gives us the Holy Spirit to make sure of that.

(Thumbs up) It is good news that needs to be received! We receive it not
just by accepting this good news is true, but by accepting Jesus into
our lives as Saviour and Lord. We are free to reject it (thumbs down)
and to reject adoption by God, a loving relationship with him,
deliverance from evil, and everlasting fulfilment. These good things
come with Jesus; and if Jesus is ours and we are his, all these things
are ours as well.

What could be better news than that? The Christian life from now on
consists in learning how to live with it!