Becoming a "Gospelicious" Person

Are you a "gospelicious" person?

I asked this question in my sermon this past weekend at Door Creek Church. What did I mean? What is a "gospelicious" person?

You can't find the exact word in the Holy Scriptures, but I believe you can find the idea of "gospeliciousness"on nearly every page of the Scriptures.

A gospelicious person is a person "who is overjoyed by the gospel". That is what I mean by the term gospelicious. A gospelicious person is someone who finds deep joy in the gospel, who is feasting on the goodness of God and experiencing the riches of the gospel. That's a gospelicious person.

There are many Christians in church every single weekend, but I don't believe there are nearly as many gospelicious people in church every single weekend. There are plenty of Christians showing up at church, singing along to the hymns, staring at the preacher for 40 minutes, bowing their head for a prayer and then heading off to lunch without being changed, moved, or overjoyed by glories of Jesus & the gospel. That is tragic.

Jesus says that he has come that we would have joy. Joy! But how many of you are actually experiencing anything approaching joy in your life? Sure, there may be moments of happiness here and there, but what of this joy? This gospeliciousness?

How can we become more gospelicious people? Let me set before you a few steps to grow in gospeliciousness.

1. Lament
I know, I know. Lament? Yes. You don't end with lamenting, but you must begin there. You must be a person who is lamenting your sins. The prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations is a man lamenting his sins and the sins of the people of Jerusalem. He realizes how far he and his people have strayed from the will of Yahweh and he begins to lament. When was the last time your sins brought you to tears? This is the beginning of becoming a gospelicious person--lamenting the huge divide between God's holiness & your sinfulness.

2. Repent
Repentance is central to the gospel. Why? Because it is the declaration that you can't fix you, you need to someone else to fix you. Repentance is simply turning away from your sins and towards your Savior. A Christian is a repenting person.
You lament your sin and then you repent for your sin. You declare that you yearn to live a different way. Ah, but you must be someone who is lamenting & repenting your sins in the context of love & not fear.
The gospel says that it is after you have experienced God's deep love for you through Jesus Christ that you are moved to lamenting & repenting.
Don't repent to earn God's love, but because God already loves you. This is vital to gospeliciousness. Lamenting & repenting in light of your standing in Jesus Christ now!

3. Lamenting & Repenting that leads to Joy
Jesus comes on the scene in Mark 1:15 and says "Repent and believe the good news (the gospel". Oh Jesus, always throwing around that word Repent. Why does Jesus always have to step on toes by throwing around the word Repent! Why can't we just believe the good news? Repent? Come on--that's outdated. Repent? How does that bring me joy?
Here's how.

You can't receive mercy until you realize you need mercy.

Sure, in a technical sense you can receive mercy even if you aren't aware that you need it--if someone helps pay a bill of yours or forgives a debt you have, but you don't think you need it you will probably still be happy they did what they did, but you won't truly be grateful for it because you never thought you really needed it.

You can't grasp the glory of cross until you realize how great God's mercy towards you is, until you realize how great your debt was that He paid. If you believe your a fairly moral, good person and you just need Jesus to help you be a better person then you will never a be a "gospelicious" person. But, if you believe that you were dead, that your sins separated you from God, that you were under condemnation, and yet God made you alive, forgave all your sins, and condemned His son to free you then you will be overflowing with thanksgiving, with joy. Joy is found in discovering the cost of the sacrifice of Jesus. And that it brought Him joy to sacrifice His life for yours.

Lamenting is necessary.
Repenting is necessary.
But are those disciplines leading to joy? Are you lamenting & repenting in light of what God has done for you? Is your repenting a response to God's great mercy in Jesus? It has to be. God looks at you in Jesus, and sees Jesus covering all of your sins (past, present, and future). That's a good and gracious God.

The secret to becoming a gospelicious person is to understand how sinful you are and how God's mercy has covered all of your sin AND how there is new mercy available to you every single morning!

Will you stumble today? Yes.
Will you sin today? Yes.
Is God's mercy new for you today? Yes.

He knows your frame. He knows you struggle and fall and that is why Lamentations 3 proclaims "His mercies are new EVERY morning, great is His faithfulness."

The deeper that truth penetrates your heart--the more gospelicious you will become.