We are starting a new series called Inclusive Church: a Gospel-Centered Approach.  This week’s sermon is on the inclusivity of us, sinners.

God created us in his image. We were created to have fellowship with him.  But, we sinned and decided to walk away from him.  The story of Adam and Eve’s Fall is the story of us.  They disobeyed God because they wanted to their eyes to be opened, to gain wisdom, and the fruit looked good to the eye.  These were good things.  The primary way to define sin is not just the doing of bad things, but even the making of good things into ultimatethings—into idols.  Sin at its heart is idolatry, putting something else above God as the source of life.  What happened when we tried to build ourselves without God?  We made a mess of ourselves, our community, and the world.

How does God respond to the broken humanity?  The stories of the Old Testaments are stories of God chasing after the one he loves.  He also revealed his plan to send the Messiah who will rescue us and establish a new Kingdom.

And the Messiah Jesus came declaring the gospel of the Kingdom.  The gospel of Jesus is (1) that he came (incarnation) to establish the Kingdom, (2) that he died for us (atonement) to redeem sinners into the Kingdom, and (3) that he resurrected and is coming back (restoration) to complete the Kingdom.   The tripod, these three aspects, of the gospel is at the heart of New City.  The incarnation tells that he left his glory to come to us, sinners.  If he did that to include us, how can we not include other sinners?  The atonement tells us that the cost of redemption was Jesus’ life.  While we were still sinners, he loved us so much that he gave his life for us.  So, it is by grace (gift) that we are saved, not by our works.  If we are all under his grace, how can we exclude others based on work?  The restoration tells us that we are not done yet. God leads us into a process of transforming us and invites us into a process of becoming more like Christ in love, and leading a life on the mission of Jesus Christ, and someday, the Kingdom will come in its fullness.