A New Land for the Gospel

For the last few weeks, we have all been contemplating our "new land". Our study in Crossings is helping us prepare for our new land, see our new land, and take possession of our new land. The possibilities of new land are endless! How exciting that our God has planned a unique possession for each one of us.

Could I suggest that your new land could be used by God as a new land for the gospel? As believers, we have been entrusted with the precious gift of the message of salvation. We know this gift, we experience it daily, and we have the privilege of sharing this gift with others. The good news of the gospel is woven throughout our lives. Just as God told His redemption story from Genesis to Revelation, His redemption plan for us is first to receive the work of His Son on the cross by faith and then to tell others that they also can have a personal, eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

I believe God clearly had His redemption plan in mind when He graciously promised Abram a new land all the way back in Genesis 12: "...go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you...and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." God promised His Messiah through Abraham's family. And the land that Messiah would be born in and His race and culture would be in Canaan--eventually called Israel! God gave the land to the Israelites for many reasons. But to me, I think the main reason He gave the land was for the sake of the gospel. We get a "pre-picture" of this in Joshua 2. What happened at the first entrance to the Promise Land by the two spies?? A conversion experience! Rahab, the prostitute, clearly indicates that she has put her faith in the God of Israel, the one true God. ..."for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below." (Joshua 2:11) The gospel is launched in the new land! Great and wonderful things would eventually happen in the land God was giving the Israelites. Messiah would be born. Christ would suffer and die on the cross for our sins. The Lord Jesus would be triumphant over death in His resurrection. And from this land of Israel, the first missionary journeys would begin.

Think about the new land that you are in or the land that God might be taking you to. How could God use your land for the sake of the gospel? A job change could expose you to new people to share the gospel with. An empty nest could energize you to serve in your church or to lead a small group Bible study. A new land that is a season of waiting or "holding down the fort" could allow time for you to pray for other nations to bow and worship the true God. A breakthrough in a relationship could free you from worry or bitterness and put you on a path to new ministry for Him. And "defeating fear by building up faith" might result in a call to the mission field in another culture and land. Any new land that God is bringing us to has to be about the gospel! Because the gospel is all about the Lord Jesus. And our lives and our new land are all about Him.