Gospel Need & Gospel Greatness

Our hearts will always naturally gravitate toward these 2 things:
1.) what we need the most; or
2.) what we see as greatest

Every decision you make in this life is based on these 2 ideas: need and greatness. Why do you go to college? Why do you choose that job or career? Why do you marry that person? Why do you buy that product? Why do you spend time doing those things? Everything you do in this life is either based on a great need you have or what you personally perceive to be the greatest of possibilities.

Just this week I decided to go to my night class at WKU, not because it's the greatest thing to do, but rather because I needed to in order to make good grades and graduate. I also watched a UK basketball game in that same class, not because that's what I needed to do, but because, in my head, that was the greater of the two options. Every little and big choice in your life is rooted in these 2 ideas: need and greatness. Think about it. Need and greatness control and drive your life.

This is why the Gospel of Jesus Christ is such great news. The Gospel is both what we most need in our lives and the greatest news we could possibly have. It completely satisfies our hearts' desperate longing for both.

The Need (Gospel Desperation)

There is no passion & love for Jesus because we have no need for Him in the midst of our very 'important' and 'busy' lives. We all have our own agendas and our own kingdoms to rule. Lord, purge us of this idea that we are holier than we really are and that we are somehow in control of our life. Help us see how truly sinful we are and how desperately we need your glorious gospel everyday:

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." (Ephesians 2:1-3)

The Greatness (Gospel Grandeur)

There is no passion & love for Jesus because we don't see Jesus as he really is: great beyond measure. We have replaced the awe of Jesus Christ with the awe of ourselves. Lord, purge us of this idea that there is any greatness in ourselves or in this world apart from you. You alone are great, not only in what you do, but also in who you are:

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:4-10)