Here's Pastor Alan Wright with today's blessing—a biblical, faith-filled vision for your life. Open up your heart and receive today's blessing. May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh, favored, graced, all your days. When Joseph brought his boys to their grandfather, why did Jacob cross his arms? The old patriarch knew that the strong right hand of higher blessing should rest on the firstborn son, the deserving one.
But old Jacob, he crossed his arms, and he placed his right hand on Ephraim, the secondborn, the undeserving grandson. Joseph tried to correct the scandal, but Jacob refused to reorder his hands. He left his right hand on the younger brother's hand. Why? Because that's what God has done for you.
Christ, the firstborn of all creation, who only deserved His Father's right hand of blessing, hung on the cursed cross and felt the forsakenness because the Father crossed His arms in the heavens. And extended the right hand of blessing to all the Ephrims, to the second borns, to the undeserving ones, to you, and to me. He who knew no sin became your sin, and you and Christ became His righteousness.
So I bless you today to walk in the favor of the God who crossed His arms for you. That's today's blessing. Pastor, author, and Bible teacher Allen Wright. Think about how much God has done for us in Christ, and how much, therefore, His finished work means to someone who does not yet know it. But to think of the goodness of the gospel and how good the gospel is is to also think about.
Not just what he has done, but what Jesus continues to do. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt. Excited for you to hear the teaching today in this series, "The Love," a study of Romans chapters nine through eleven, is presented at Renolda Church in North Carolina.
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Here is Alan Wright. It's about that resurrection life, Romans six five. For if we've been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be reunited with him in a resurrection like his. This gospel is of of a promise and assurance that there is resurrection life already happening inside of us as believers, and that we will one day be raised from the dead just as Jesus was, and that we will reign with him forever. It's about freedom.
Romans eight. This glorious. If you can't remember anything else good about the gospel, just go to Romans eight. Romans eight one. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. And remember the gift of the Helper, the Holy Spirit. Romans eight twenty six. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray as But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us. Remember that we in Christ are adopted as heirs.
Romans eight fifteen. You did not receive the Spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. But you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba, Father. And the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, fellow heirs with Christ.
And remember the assurance that is placed upon assurance that is placed upon assurance. Romans eight thirty eight. I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else. In all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ. Think about how much God has done for us in Christ, and how much, therefore, His finished work means to someone who does not yet know it.
But to think of the goodness of the gospel and how good the gospel is is to also think about. Not just what he has done, but what Jesus continues to do. Romans eight thirty four. Christ Jesus, the one who died, more than that was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. He is, in the words of one preacher, before the Father, constantly pressing the refresh button of our justification.
He is praying for us. He is interceding. Imagine if you were in your house and you heard a voice in the next room praying for you, and you went in, and it was Jesus Himself. He is advocating for us. He is continually pleading our case and advocating for our blessedness.
The very nature of God is why the message is so good. It's what Jesus has done. It's what Jesus continues to do. But it is this good news is about who God is. Think about God.
When you think about those that you want to share with, think about just who God is. This is what people need to know. They need to know the nature of God, His heart towards them. People don't understand this about God. God's holy.
God is just, but the heart of God is mercy and kindness. When Moses asked to see God's glory, and God hid him in the cleft of a rock, because God's glory is brilliant. Blinding. But when God announced His presence and announced who He is, this is what He said in Exodus thirty-four, verse six: "The Lord passed before Him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord.' That's Yahweh, Yahweh, the covenantal name of God. The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression." And sin.
He's talking about his heart. He's talking about this is who I am, and this is what I want to do, and this is what I'm inclined to do. When he speaks about his justice, it's almost as an afterthought. But who will, by no means, clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, the children's children, to the third and fourth generation? It is to say that we have good news because of what.
Jesus has done what Jesus is doing, and what Jesus will do, and just the very heart of God is good news, as Dane Ortlund shares in his beautiful book, Gentle and Lowly. In the summer of 1740, Jonathan Edwards, the Perhaps greatest theologian in America's history, and the voice of the Great Awakening preached a sermon that was exclusively for the children in his congregation in Northampton. And imagine the great theologian is going to preach to just those little kids up through through 14 years old. And he had written up across the top of his page, all it says is August 1740 to the children. What would he say?
And interestingly, the great theologian and preacher took as his text Matthew ten thirty seven, in the King James version, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." An unusual text because usually, moralistically, we try to talk to our kids, honor your father and mother, be sure and show love to your parents and respect to them, and so forth. But when he was was speaking to the children, the first thing that he wanted to say. Was that there is no greater love that can be known than the love of Christ, and he wants them to be in touch with that. Here's what he preached: the words of Jonathan Edwards to the kids. There is no love so great and so wonderful as that which is in the heart of Christ.
He is one that delights in mercy. He is ready to pity those that are in suffering and sorrowful circumstances. One that delights in the happiness of his creatures. The love and grace that Christ has manifested does as much exceed all that which is in this world as the sun is brighter than a candle. Parents are often full of kindness towards their children, but that is no kindness like Jesus Christ.
What he's saying, the great evangelist, maybe the greatest spokesperson of the gospel in the history of our country, saying that what we want to put, starting with our kids, people in touch with, is the very heart of God. The very love of Christ—it's a love that defies description. But if people can understand the loving nature of God, then they are on their way to receiving the good news of the gospel. And then, after you think about the gospel, and then think about the bad news it needs to replace, and then think deeper about what makes the gospel so good, think about the privilege. That's what he's saying, I think, to us here: the privilege of heralding this good news.
Look back at Isaiah fifty-two seven. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation. Publishes literally in the Hebrew here, Yeshua, which becomes the name of Jesus, Yeshua, Hamashiya. The Messiah, the Savior, publishes it. It's a it's a it's a term I I think of because I I like to write and I've spent a lot of time over the last couple years writing a new book that Baker Books is publishing.
So they didn't create the content, but they're publishing it. They're they're taking it. They're appreciating it. They're editing it. They're holding it in certain ways.
They are packaging it. They are going to market it. They're going to distribute it. They're going to do all they can to help as many people. As possible, help it.
That's what the publisher does. The publisher doesn't create the content. The publisher distributes the content. How beautiful is the one who publishes? This is a word that one of our prayer ministers came and shared with me just last Sunday before service when we were praying, and she says, "I've got a word from the Lord for you, not knowing that I'd be preaching here this week, but came to Isaiah fifty-two, and how beautiful are the feet of him?
Such beautiful feet." Are those that are publishing peace, publishing salvation, and I just felt this wonderful, warm presence of God when she shared the word, because I, like anyone, can end up feeling like that somehow. The sharing of the gospel is up to me or my creativity or my, and I just realized I'm just a publisher, right? And this isn't just talking. This text isn't just talking about preachers. This is talking about anyone in any place at any time that sharing the gospel.
That we're just publishers, we're just we're just sharing it, and the concept, the whole idea of people coming into an awakening of faith because of us sharing it is just so beautiful. It is like the striking of a match that ignites the kindling. Romans ten seventeen, he says, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. It is a word that is announced, like any other word, where you're sharing." But beloved, when you're sharing the good news of the gospel, whether you stand in in a pulpit and preach, whether you're speaking to your own family member in love, or whether you're sharing with a stranger you've never met, there's something—it's mysterious—that happens in the communication of the good news that is unlike any other type of communication. There is a way in which God uses even the simplicity of what we share, and anoints it with His presence.
Paul said in one Corinthians one twenty one, "Since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe." There is something about the way in which faith is awakened that. The communication of the gospel is unlike any other communication, because this is the communication that can bring about through a miracle of God a resurrection on the inside of the person who receives it. It is the sharing of of a of a word, a promise, an assurance that the writer Hebrews says is sharper than any two edged sword. That it is like imperishable seed. It is different than other kinds of words, and so so it's not about you getting it all right and saying it in such a quality way or clever way.
It is about about the beauty and the power of the message itself.
So, you're flowing in God's foreordained plan for the salvation of the world when you are sharing the gospel.
So, I think what we're seeing in this text is that there's no way that anyone can call upon the name of the Lord except by believing. But the way that people believe is they hear. This is way God made us, and we hear because words get shared. And and without the sharing of those words, this process is not at work. But when those words are shared, there is there's the revelation of this good news, and it it it's like any kind of good news where it energizes us.
But this is a miraculous kind of energy that comes inside the one who receives it, and I love at the end the picture. Of God here at Romans ten twenty one after speaking about Israel's lack of belief, but he says this of Israel. He says, "All day long I've held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people, and this is the image of a father, like holding out his hands to his toddler, like everything I have is yours. Come." This is the kind of good news that is at the deepest heart of every longing, because it is the reunion of a distant child with a father who yearns to be with the child. To be a Christian is to come to know God as your father.
When I was in fourth grade, my dad. I saw him in a little family meeting, cry for the first time I'd ever seen him cry, and he just said, "Dad's not going to be living at home anymore." I didn't know why, and my ten-year-old heart crumbled. He was my Pee Wee football coach. He told us spy stories at night. He was a lot of ways a hero to me.
He was a television newsman. Everybody in town loved him. I was proud of him, and now he was gone. As I've shared many times, good came from it. My mom cried out to God.
A neighbor introduced her to Jesus. Mom introduced the three boys to Christ. I came to begin believing in Christ, and we began praying. And I prayed every day. Every day I'd pray, God, would you bring my dad back home?
I didn't have any idea the dynamics or what had happened. I just, I just, I just longed for him. And after he'd been gone for a couple of years, one evening I was playing soccer with neighborhood kids in the Simon's backyard. I remember it so vividly; I could never forget it. And my mom hollered to me out the back door, "Alan, phone!" It was unusual.
Who could be on the phone? What would be important enough to call me away from a great soccer game? I go running in, breathless, and she said, "It's your dad on the phone." I said, "Okay." I took the phone in my hand, and my father announced to me, "Alan, he said I'm coming back home." I said, "That's great, Dad." We spoke for a moment. I hung up. I went running back to that soccer game, and I didn't tell a soul what had just transpired.
But the life inside of me changed. Sadly, it wouldn't last. He'd come home for a few years, and in the tenth grade, he left for good. But for those moments, the deepest longing of my heart. Was met by the greatest news that I could have.
I'm reconnected with my father, and I think the heart and soul of a nation is longing for a reconnection with a heavenly father. And we have good news, and the good news of the gospel is not just what Jesus has done. It's not just What Jesus still is doing, it's not just the nature of God. The good news is that God is like a father who's got his arms outstretched, and He is smiling. And the smile of God is so beautiful that it awakens a smile within those of us who see Him smiling.
Little Mia, our grandbaby, has learned to wave, and it's just there's no human being that if a baby, a little baby, smiles at you and waves, it will just it will make you smile, make you wave, and make delight come into your life. And Bennett said that he was recently at the mall. And Amy and the baby, and so Amy's looking at some clothes, and Bennett's walking around with the baby, and Mia's in a happy mood, and she's smiling at people. And women are coming around because who can who can not you know look at a cute baby? And they're huddling around, and suddenly Mia smiles and waves at one of the women.
And Bennett hears the lady turn to her friend, and the lady said, "Jackpot! The thing that you just want is to know that there's affection from this little baby through a smile and a connection with you. The Lord's not got a frown, but a smile. He's not got." Clenched fist and crossed arms, but extended arms to a whole world that's desperate for good news. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring that good news?
Think about that good news. Think about how much the world and everybody you know needs that good news. Think again about how. Deep and wonderful the good news really is. Think about how good God is and see Him with His arms outstretched.
And I think you'll find yourself hopping up and down, hopping up and down on the inside. Open the painting. Open the painting. Open the gospel. Open the good news.
God's love is for every person, and you and I can be the ones with those beautiful feet to share it everywhere. How beautiful are those feet! How lovely it is to share the good news of Jesus Christ, and that's the gospel. Alan Wright, today's good news message. Such beautiful feet in our series, Beloved: A Study of Romans.
Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio as he shares his parting good news thought for the day. Just a moment. Allen Wright Ministries is more than just a daily radio broadcast. Here are Daniel and Pastor Alan explaining another layer. Pastor Alan, we love putting resources into the hands of believers and those who are looking for ways to improve their life through the good news of the gospel.
And those resources show up in a variety of ways. One of the coolest ways I think, though, is every day a resource called the Daily Blessing pops in my email inbox. It's a world. That's real quick to curse. You don't have to go very long into your day before somebody is ready to speak negative things over you.
We need the true word of God spoken over our life, and so Daniel, I write a daily blessing every day, and would love to send it. All you have to do is just give us your email at pastorallen dot org, and we'll get you signed up and start including you. Pastorallen dot org is your next step. Simply drop by on your phone, tablet, or Computer today, that's pastorallen dot org, and be blessed with a fresh word from the Lord today. Back here in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day as we come to the conclusion of this teaching.
Such a beautiful feat, Pastor Alan. Where do we go from here? There is a kind of grace and victory that comes into the Christian's heart when we. Really receive the gospel as the kind of good news it is. I think that after all these years of walking with Him, I really still don't know how good it is, and and in many ways this is Christian growth, is day by day to understand what's so good about the gospel, and then secondly to say that our Our living as Christians, and call it ongoing sanctification, or call it right living and obedience to God, whatever you want to call it, all of that from the New Testament perspective is fueled by the good news itself.
It's it's not fueled by a quest of good news. It's fueled by the actual good news. And so, if you're having trouble, Today, getting motivated to live a godly life, get more good news. If you're struggling in a relationship and you're finding that you're not being very patient, get more good news. Throw yourself into the good news.
Immerse yourself in the gospel. Fill yourself every day. We all need it. We need good news, and we need it every day. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.
