Apr 2016
"The Struggle for Love"
"The Longing for Home"
So desperate to prove
That our hearts aren't alone
While death looms wherewith
To make dust of our flesh
We seek in a myth
Our souls to enmesh
With a hero of hope
A rescuing source
To widen our scope
And give pith to our course
An unshakable tie
An attachment at core
Which might silence the cry
That our hearts are at war
With a pure set of eyes
Full of fire and proficient
To dispel all the lies
That our souls aren't deficient
But it's not our mere lack
Which causes most dread
It's the earth-shattering fact
That our spirits are dead
Cut off from their Source
In a black alienation
Humanity's curse
For its rank ins'bordination
We just want our own way
And to write our own story
So we plunge on astray
To seek our own glory
To play artist or muse
Or idol or chief
Any self-styled ruse
To assuage us of grief
Any measure to show
A lasting signif'cance
So that someone would know
Our unique magnif'cence
For our beauty's been marred
And we crave a redemption
Of souls twisted and scarred
By fulfillment's exemption
But, alas, we will find
That search hard as we may
There's not one of our kind
Who can carry the tray
Upon which the weight
Of our souls has been laid
For who can e'er tolerate
Its gross debts unpaid?
Such suff'cating mass
Of defects and ills
Pressed 'gainst delicate glass
Of egos and wills
Still more ghastly to bear
Is devotion unbound
For with millstone to wear
Its master is drowned
'Neath a sea of foul yeast
And becomes the enslaved
To a hungering beast
To a worship depraved
For the heart is a tiger
And must have its fill
So it raises a man higher
With a kiss before the ****
Not intentionally, of course,
Does it slaughter its idol
But of hurricane force
Is this longing so vital
And as pedestal turns
So quickly to altar
Our wounded pride burns
When our gods and alms falter
And the fire of its rage
Turns upon its obsession
Tiger breaks out of cage
To reclaim self-possession
It bites and it tears
What it once so adored
And pride no longer cares
If it kills its false lord
But upon such demise
The soul screams in terror
For it's broken its prize
And can't take back its error
It begs and it pleads
To restore what's been lost
But at end knows it needs
To consider the cost
Of the damage untold
It has left in the wake
For hearts can't be controlled
With a gush or a shake
No, men's hearts are like bombs
Which so easily explode
Once the pin is removed
All past wrongs will re-load
So the prey becomes hunter
When the tiger attacks
For he does not want her
To see what he lacks
As he, too, had put
Her up in wrong place
But now steps his foot
Upon her shamed face
To now pulverize
As his own heart's been crushed
To blind out her eyes
And to see her lips hushed
For with words idly spoken
She'd stabbed at his soul
And had left his pride broken
By her judgments so cold
She had not meant to harm
Knew not e'en that he heard
But one cannot disarm
A thought put to word
Worse than not knowing this
She no longer knew him
And her once imagined bliss
Proved a nullified whim
Oh, what games and delusions
We play and we build
Upon empty illusions
And dreams unfulfilled
Yet strangely it's when
Our worst fears come true
We can finally transcend
All those old tales we grew
Out of ego and void
Out of sorrow and pain
When our nerves felt annoyed
And our hearts felt too vain
'Cause when ego is puffed
It is primed, too, to pop
And with pinprick is snuffed
Like a pest-blighted crop
So imagine much more
When a venom's injected
Right into its core
And its heart is rejected
But can you also not see
How it needs such a burst
To begin to get free
From its self-absorbed curse?
Except now feels the matter
Of our soul's isolation
Fiercer still with the shatter
Of our pet consolation
So we wait and we wonder
If we've missed the true meaning
Of the frightening thunder
In our heart's constant screaming
Whether homesick or lost
Whether lonely or grieved
Locked in bleak Winter's frost
We find little reprieve
Yet we know we've been made
For the glory of Spring
Some card's still to be played
Some grand song still to sing
Inexpressible yearning
For some secret we know
But can't speak for the burning
Repercussions of woe
Not some mere melancholy
Nor nostalgic forlorn
Not the musings of folly
But a sense that we're torn
From primordial root
And from headwaters fresh
Yet much deeper to boot
From our spiritual breath
'Tis an ache not for wares,
Appreciation or fame
But a fight just for air
Against strangling shame
For we're naked, we know
And with all we devise
Our most flawed parts still show
To a pure set of eyes
Like we're walking around
With no covering intact
But thin hospital gown
With wide split up the back
So we hide our true face
Aim to be what we're not
Work our blots to erase
Lest our schemes should be caught
Be 't by friend or by foe
We dare not risk the pain
Of humiliation's blow
On top of our stain
But instead of relief
Anguish grows louder till
This life's loneliest grief
Paralyzes the will
And last hope all but dies
On doubt's bed of despair
While embittered heart cries
That its lot's too unfair
Yet on outside we play
Through our unconscious mind
Man's collective charade
That everything's fine
Like some pact we'd all sworn
To uphold and obey
To protect from the scorn
Of society's sway
If we run with the flow
'Stead of strive 'gainst the tide
We might make enough show
To salvage our pride
We forget that conceit
Is what caused all the mess
Through a serpent's deceit
And a couple's wrong guess
'Twas they first tasted shame
And then hid in a garden
Sewing fig leaves as claim
To secure their own pardon
Yet in horror they knew
They had squandered the Prize
And must flee from the view
Of a pure set of eyes
Now same state of awry
Runs through each of their seed
Inborn and borne by
Like the thorniest ****
Whose nettles pierce deep
And infect every part
While roots tangle and sweep
Through the mind and the heart
It mocks what we've lost
Torments every dim hope
To constrict and accost
Like a noose-tightening rope
Still, hope won't be decayed
Smold'ring fires yet burn
Sparking hints that we're made
For bright Eden's return
This redemption we crave
Is no phantom's false plea
But as crestfallen wave
Hides itself in the sea
It's been veiled in plain sight
Big as all of our stories
Deep as mankind's full plight
And as high as its glories
Cloaked in every ambition
That we have to get in
To some exclusive coalition
For its favors to win
Lurks a bleeding predilection
Frustrated from birth
A desire for election
To bestow on us worth
Lured by scent of a promise
To be chosen and known
Like the warmth of a mom's kiss
Given only to her own
We search tree after tree
For sweet intimacy's nectar
From a fruit that will be
Our secret connecter
To hope's nourishing breast
To life's honey from comb
To an undying rest
To a straight way toward home
One to wipe away tears
And allay deepest doubt
Which proceeds from worst fears
Of our being locked out
Of a garden again
Cast from pure tree of life
Dim remembrance of when
Mankind first entered strife
All our conflicts, comp'tition,
Confusion and blame
Find first cause in perdition
That's invaded our frame
Like the foulest disease
The most cankerous rot
Grown by monstrous degrees
Hatched by Lucifer's plot
This story's no ****'s attack
Nor archaic folklore
But the earth-shattering fact
That our hearts are at war
With a pure set of eyes
Full of fire and proficient
To dispel all the lies
That our souls aren't deficient
And it's not our mere lack
which causes most dread
But the earth-shattering fact
That our spirits are dead
Cut off from their Source
In a black alienation
Humanity's curse
For it's rank ins'bordination
And yet...
This is also the story
Of how those same eyes
The Possessor of Glory
Looked with love and heart cries
On the crown of creation
His reflection of Self
Made His own treasured nation
The heirs of His wealth
Now broken and lost
All banished from Garden
And He knew the full cost
To grant them His pardon
Had known long before
He had e'er even made
That first man of yore
Yet handcrafts anyway
For His love is so strong
And He wanted to share
His intimacy with a throng
His own children to bear
So with souls in convulsion
From their rebellious misdeed
Just before their expulsion
He promised a Seed
One untainted from sin
Who could take its great boulder
And the weight of His kin
Upon His own shoulder
A Hero of hope
A rescuing Source
To widen our scope
And give pith to our course
An unshakable tie
An attachment at core
Who would silence the cry
That our hearts are at war
With a pure set of eyes
Full of fire and proficient
To dispel all the lies
That our souls aren't deficient
For those eyes are His own
And He'd pay the full fee
By His body alone
To set our hearts free
He's hope's nourishing breast
He's life's honey from comb
He's our undying rest
He's our straight way toward home
He will wipe away tears
And allay deepest doubt
Which proceeds from worst fears
Of our being locked out
Of the Garden again
Cast from pure Tree of Life
Dim remembrance of when
Mankind first entered strife
But 'twas on another tree
That sweet intimacy's nectar
Was secured tight when He
Became sacred Connector
And the thorns of our curse
Were pressed onto His head
With not one there to nurse
As the Son of Man bled
Then the wrath for our sin
Was absorbed as He cried
And the foul curse was broken
When the Son of God died
But death couldn't keep Him long
Nor His glory dispose
And we found our lost song
When the King of kings rose!
The debt had been paid
He had finished the work
The tide 'gainst us was swayed
We weren't left in our lurk
And we've only to now
Just repent and believe
To open and allow
Our hearts to receive
Our Divine Fountainhead
Our covering complete
To sup from His bread
And to sit at His feet
To worship the One
For Whom we were made
By Whom we've been won
Whom forever we've craved
The One Who can bear
Our hearts' full devotion
The One Who won't tear
At our souls' raw emotion
The One Who will be
Sweet eternity's song
Who with lasting decree
Will...right...every...wrong
"The Longing for Home"
So desperate to prove
That our hearts aren't alone
While death looms wherewith
To make dust of our flesh
We seek in a myth
Our souls to enmesh
With a hero of hope
A rescuing source
To widen our scope
And give pith to our course
An unshakable tie
An attachment at core
Which might silence the cry
That our hearts are at war
With a pure set of eyes
Full of fire and proficient
To dispel all the lies
That our souls aren't deficient
But it's not our mere lack
Which causes most dread
It's the earth-shattering fact
That our spirits are dead
Cut off from their Source
In a black alienation
Humanity's curse
For its rank ins'bordination
We just want our own way
And to write our own story
So we plunge on astray
To seek our own glory
To play artist or muse
Or idol or chief
Any self-styled ruse
To assuage us of grief
Any measure to show
A lasting signif'cance
So that someone would know
Our unique magnif'cence
For our beauty's been marred
And we crave a redemption
Of souls twisted and scarred
By fulfillment's exemption
But, alas, we will find
That search hard as we may
There's not one of our kind
Who can carry the tray
Upon which the weight
Of our souls has been laid
For who can e'er tolerate
Its gross debts unpaid?
Such suff'cating mass
Of defects and ills
Pressed 'gainst delicate glass
Of egos and wills
Still more ghastly to bear
Is devotion unbound
For with millstone to wear
Its master is drowned
'Neath a sea of foul yeast
And becomes the enslaved
To a hungering beast
To a worship depraved
For the heart is a tiger
And must have its fill
So it raises a man higher
With a kiss before the ****
Not intentionally, of course,
Does it slaughter its idol
But of hurricane force
Is this longing so vital
And as pedestal turns
So quickly to altar
Our wounded pride burns
When our gods and alms falter
And the fire of its rage
Turns upon its obsession
Tiger breaks out of cage
To reclaim self-possession
It bites and it tears
What it once so adored
And pride no longer cares
If it kills its false lord
But upon such demise
The soul screams in terror
For it's broken its prize
And can't take back its error
It begs and it pleads
To restore what's been lost
But at end knows it needs
To consider the cost
Of the damage untold
It has left in the wake
For hearts can't be controlled
With a gush or a shake
No, men's hearts are like bombs
Which so easily explode
Once the pin is removed
All past wrongs will re-load
So the prey becomes hunter
When the tiger attacks
For he does not want her
To see what he lacks
As he, too, had put
Her up in wrong place
But now steps his foot
Upon her shamed face
To now pulverize
As his own heart's been crushed
To blind out her eyes
And to see her lips hushed
For with words idly spoken
She'd stabbed at his soul
And had left his pride broken
By her judgments so cold
She had not meant to harm
Knew not e'en that he heard
But one cannot disarm
A thought put to word
Worse than not knowing this
She no longer knew him
And her once imagined bliss
Proved a nullified whim
Oh, what games and delusions
We play and we build
Upon empty illusions
And dreams unfulfilled
Yet strangely it's when
Our worst fears come true
We can finally transcend
All those old tales we grew
Out of ego and void
Out of sorrow and pain
When our nerves felt annoyed
And our hearts felt too vain
'Cause when ego is puffed
It is primed, too, to pop
And with pinprick is snuffed
Like a pest-blighted crop
So imagine much more
When a venom's injected
Right into its core
And its heart is rejected
But can you also not see
How it needs such a burst
To begin to get free
From its self-absorbed curse?
Except now feels the matter
Of our soul's isolation
Fiercer still with the shatter
Of our pet consolation
So we wait and we wonder
If we've missed the true meaning
Of the frightening thunder
In our heart's constant screaming
Whether homesick or lost
Whether lonely or grieved
Locked in bleak Winter's frost
We find little reprieve
Yet we know we've been made
For the glory of Spring
Some card's still to be played
Some grand song still to sing
Inexpressible yearning
For some secret we know
But can't speak for the burning
Repercussions of woe
Not some mere melancholy
Nor nostalgic forlorn
Not the musings of folly
But a sense that we're torn
From primordial root
And from headwaters fresh
Yet much deeper to boot
From our spiritual breath
'Tis an ache not for wares,
Appreciation or fame
But a fight just for air
Against strangling shame
For we're naked, we know
And with all we devise
Our most flawed parts still show
To a pure set of eyes
Like we're walking around
With no covering intact
But thin hospital gown
With wide split up the back
So we hide our true face
Aim to be what we're not
Work our blots to erase
Lest our schemes should be caught
Be 't by friend or by foe
We dare not risk the pain
Of humiliation's blow
On top of our stain
But instead of relief
Anguish grows louder till
This life's loneliest grief
Paralyzes the will
And last hope all but dies
On doubt's bed of despair
While embittered heart cries
That its lot's too unfair
Yet on outside we play
Through our unconscious mind
Man's collective charade
That everything's fine
Like some pact we'd all sworn
To uphold and obey
To protect from the scorn
Of society's sway
If we run with the flow
'Stead of strive 'gainst the tide
We might make enough show
To salvage our pride
We forget that conceit
Is what caused all the mess
Through a serpent's deceit
And a couple's wrong guess
'Twas they first tasted shame
And then hid in a garden
Sewing fig leaves as claim
To secure their own pardon
Yet in horror they knew
They had squandered the Prize
And must flee from the view
Of a pure set of eyes
Now same state of awry
Runs through each of their seed
Inborn and borne by
Like the thorniest ****
Whose nettles pierce deep
And infect every part
While roots tangle and sweep
Through the mind and the heart
It mocks what we've lost
Torments every dim hope
To constrict and accost
Like a noose-tightening rope
Still, hope won't be decayed
Smold'ring fires yet burn
Sparking hints that we're made
For bright Eden's return
This redemption we crave
Is no phantom's false plea
But as crestfallen wave
Hides itself in the sea
It's been veiled in plain sight
Big as all of our stories
Deep as mankind's full plight
And as high as its glories
Cloaked in every ambition
That we have to get in
To some exclusive coalition
For its favors to win
Lurks a bleeding predilection
Frustrated from birth
A desire for election
To bestow on us worth
Lured by scent of a promise
To be chosen and known
Like the warmth of a mom's kiss
Given only to her own
We search tree after tree
For sweet intimacy's nectar
From a fruit that will be
Our secret connecter
To hope's nourishing breast
To life's honey from comb
To an undying rest
To a straight way toward home
One to wipe away tears
And allay deepest doubt
Which proceeds from worst fears
Of our being locked out
Of a garden again
Cast from pure tree of life
Dim remembrance of when
Mankind first entered strife
All our conflicts, comp'tition,
Confusion and blame
Find first cause in perdition
That's invaded our frame
Like the foulest disease
The most cankerous rot
Grown by monstrous degrees
Hatched by Lucifer's plot
This story's no ****'s attack
Nor archaic folklore
But the earth-shattering fact
That our hearts are at war
With a pure set of eyes
Full of fire and proficient
To dispel all the lies
That our souls aren't deficient
And it's not our mere lack
which causes most dread
But the earth-shattering fact
That our spirits are dead
Cut off from their Source
In a black alienation
Humanity's curse
For it's rank ins'bordination
And yet...
This is also the story
Of how those same eyes
The Possessor of Glory
Looked with love and heart cries
On the crown of creation
His reflection of Self
Made His own treasured nation
The heirs of His wealth
Now broken and lost
All banished from Garden
And He knew the full cost
To grant them His pardon
Had known long before
He had e'er even made
That first man of yore
Yet handcrafts anyway
For His love is so strong
And He wanted to share
His intimacy with a throng
His own children to bear
So with souls in convulsion
From their rebellious misdeed
Just before their expulsion
He promised a Seed
One untainted from sin
Who could take its great boulder
And the weight of His kin
Upon His own shoulder
A Hero of hope
A rescuing Source
To widen our scope
And give pith to our course
An unshakable tie
An attachment at core
Who would silence the cry
That our hearts are at war
With a pure set of eyes
Full of fire and proficient
To dispel all the lies
That our souls aren't deficient
For those eyes are His own
And He'd pay the full fee
By His body alone
To set our hearts free
He's hope's nourishing breast
He's life's honey from comb
He's our undying rest
He's our straight way toward home
He will wipe away tears
And allay deepest doubt
Which proceeds from worst fears
Of our being locked out
Of the Garden again
Cast from pure Tree of Life
Dim remembrance of when
Mankind first entered strife
But 'twas on another tree
That sweet intimacy's nectar
Was secured tight when He
Became sacred Connector
And the thorns of our curse
Were pressed onto His head
With not one there to nurse
As the Son of Man bled
Then the wrath for our sin
Was absorbed as He cried
And the foul curse was broken
When the Son of God died
But death couldn't keep Him long
Nor His glory dispose
And we found our lost song
When the King of kings rose!
The debt had been paid
He had finished the work
The tide 'gainst us was swayed
We weren't left in our lurk
And we've only to now
Just repent and believe
To open and allow
Our hearts to receive
Our Divine Fountainhead
Our covering complete
To sup from His bread
And to sit at His feet
To worship the One
For Whom we were made
By Whom we've been won
Whom forever we've craved
The One Who can bear
Our hearts' full devotion
The One Who won't tear
At our souls' raw emotion
The One Who will be
Sweet eternity's song
Who with lasting decree
Will...right...every...wrong
~~~
First two lines taken from Timothy Keller sermon titles;
also inspired by his other sermons:
"The Breastplate of Righteousness"
"Blessed Self-Forgetfulness"
"The Sandals of Peace"
"The Wounded Spirit"
~~~
The Gospel of Jesus Christ:
"...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
~ Romans 3:23
"...people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..."
~ Hebrews 9:27
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord."
~ Romans 6:23
"'Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake:
some to everlasting life,
others to shame and everlasting contempt.'"
~ Daniel 12:2
"For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil."
~ Ecclesiastes 12:14
"This will take place on the day
when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ..."
~ Romans 2:16
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him
to whom we must give account."
~ Hebrews 4:13
"Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
no one who does what is right and never sins."
~ Ecclesiastes 7:20
"...it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue
to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'"
~ Galatians 3:10b
"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles
at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."
~ James 2:10
"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
~ Isaiah 64:6
"...sin entered the world through one man,
and death through sin, and in this way
death came to all people, because all sinned..."
~ Romans 5:12
"As it is written:
'There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.'...
Therefore no one will be
declared righteous in God’s sight
by the works of the law;
rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin."
~ Romans 3:10-12,20
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
~ Romans 5:8
"This is how God showed His love among us:
He sent His one and only Son into the world
that we might live through Him.
This is love: not that we loved God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
~ 1 John 4:10
"But God raised Him from the dead,
freeing Him from the agony of death,
because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him...
He was not abandoned to the realm of the dead,
nor did His body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life..."
~ Acts 2:24,31b-32a
"...He raised Christ from the dead
and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
and every name that is invoked,
not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
And God placed all things under His feet
and appointed Him to be head over everything
for the church, which is His body,
the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way."
~ Ephesians 1:20b-23
"For there is one God
and one mediator between God and mankind,
the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people..."
~ 1 Timothy 2:5-6a
"...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...
He was buried...He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures..."
~ 1 Corinthians 15:3b-4
"...God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ,
not counting people’s sins against them."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:19a
"'Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that
through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
Through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin,
a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.'"
~ Acts 13:38-39
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him all things were made; without Him
nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life,
and that life was the light of all mankind...
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth...
For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ...
'...the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"
~ John 1:1-4,14,17,29b
"The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For in Him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
And He is the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead,
so that in everything He might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,
and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross."
~ Colossians 1:15-20
"'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'"
~ Luke 19:10
"...He appeared so that He might take away our sins.
And in Him is no sin."
~ 1 John 3:5
"...Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
~ 1 Peter 1:19b
"God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith.
He did this to demonstrate His righteousness,
because in His forbearance He had left
the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time,
so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus."
~ Romans 3:25-26
"In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace..."
~ Ephesians 1:7
"For the life...is in the blood,
and I have given it to you to make atonement...
it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life."
~ Leviticus 17:11
"...and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness...
Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many..."
~ Hebrews 9:22b,28a
"'All the prophets testify about Him
that everyone who believes in Him
receives forgiveness of sins through His name.'"
~ Acts 10:43
"For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever
those who are being made holy."
~ Hebrews 10:14
"'He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in His mouth.'...
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness..."
~ 1 Peter 2:22,24a
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God."
~ 1 Peter 3:18a
"Jesus answered them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'"
~ Luke 5:31-32
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness."
~ 1 John 1:8-9
"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:21
"...For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."
~ 1 Corinthians 5:7b
"Surely He took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered Him punished by God,
stricken by Him, and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on Him,
and by His wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all."
~ Isaiah 53:4-6
"And He died for all, that those who live
should no longer live for themselves but for Him
who died for them and was raised again."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:15
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him
is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because they have not believed in the name of God’s
one and only Son... Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever rejects the Son will not see life,
for God’s wrath remains on them."
~ John 3:16-18,36
"God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
Whoever has the Son has life;
whoever does not have the Son of God
does not have life."
~ 1 John 5:11b-12
"He was delivered over to death for our sins
and was raised to life for our justification."
~ Romans 4:25
"...just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
~ Romans 6:4b
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade..."
~ 1 Peter 1:3-4a
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation:
The old has gone, the new has come!"
~ 2 Corinthians 5:17
"...to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name,
He gave the right to become children of God— children born
not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will,
but born of God."
~ John 1:12-13
"Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you,
no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.'...
'Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless they are born of water and the Spirit.'"
~ John 3:3,5
"...born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God."
~ 1 Peter 1:23
"...birth through the word of truth..."
~ James 1:18
"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
~ Romans 10:17
"...to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies
the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness."
~ Romans 4:5
"...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but that which is through faith in Christ—
the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith."
~ Philippians 3:9
"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ
to all who believe."
~ Romans 3:22a
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."
~ Acts 4:12
"Since we have now been justified by His blood,
how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through
the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled,
shall we be saved through His life!"
~ Romans 5:9-10
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this is not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
~ Ephesians 2:8-9
for a fuller list of verses:
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/2179517/the-gospel-of-jesus-christ/
First two lines taken from Timothy Keller sermon titles;
also inspired by his other sermons:
"The Breastplate of Righteousness"
"Blessed Self-Forgetfulness"
"The Sandals of Peace"
"The Wounded Spirit"
~~~
The Gospel of Jesus Christ:
"...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
~ Romans 3:23
"...people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..."
~ Hebrews 9:27
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord."
~ Romans 6:23
"'Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake:
some to everlasting life,
others to shame and everlasting contempt.'"
~ Daniel 12:2
"For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil."
~ Ecclesiastes 12:14
"This will take place on the day
when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ..."
~ Romans 2:16
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him
to whom we must give account."
~ Hebrews 4:13
"Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
no one who does what is right and never sins."
~ Ecclesiastes 7:20
"...it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue
to do everything written in the Book of the Law.'"
~ Galatians 3:10b
"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles
at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."
~ James 2:10
"All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away."
~ Isaiah 64:6
"...sin entered the world through one man,
and death through sin, and in this way
death came to all people, because all sinned..."
~ Romans 5:12
"As it is written:
'There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.'...
Therefore no one will be
declared righteous in God’s sight
by the works of the law;
rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin."
~ Romans 3:10-12,20
"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
~ Romans 5:8
"This is how God showed His love among us:
He sent His one and only Son into the world
that we might live through Him.
This is love: not that we loved God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."
~ 1 John 4:10
"But God raised Him from the dead,
freeing Him from the agony of death,
because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him...
He was not abandoned to the realm of the dead,
nor did His body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life..."
~ Acts 2:24,31b-32a
"...He raised Christ from the dead
and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
and every name that is invoked,
not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
And God placed all things under His feet
and appointed Him to be head over everything
for the church, which is His body,
the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way."
~ Ephesians 1:20b-23
"For there is one God
and one mediator between God and mankind,
the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people..."
~ 1 Timothy 2:5-6a
"...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures...
He was buried...He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures..."
~ 1 Corinthians 15:3b-4
"...God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ,
not counting people’s sins against them."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:19a
"'Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that
through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
Through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin,
a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.'"
~ Acts 13:38-39
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through Him all things were made; without Him
nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life,
and that life was the light of all mankind...
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.
We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth...
For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ...
'...the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"
~ John 1:1-4,14,17,29b
"The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For in Him all things were created:
things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
And He is the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead,
so that in everything He might have the supremacy.
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,
and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross."
~ Colossians 1:15-20
"'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.'"
~ Luke 19:10
"...He appeared so that He might take away our sins.
And in Him is no sin."
~ 1 John 3:5
"...Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
~ 1 Peter 1:19b
"God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,
through the shedding of His blood—to be received by faith.
He did this to demonstrate His righteousness,
because in His forbearance He had left
the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time,
so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus."
~ Romans 3:25-26
"In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace..."
~ Ephesians 1:7
"For the life...is in the blood,
and I have given it to you to make atonement...
it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life."
~ Leviticus 17:11
"...and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness...
Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many..."
~ Hebrews 9:22b,28a
"'All the prophets testify about Him
that everyone who believes in Him
receives forgiveness of sins through His name.'"
~ Acts 10:43
"For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever
those who are being made holy."
~ Hebrews 10:14
"'He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in His mouth.'...
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness..."
~ 1 Peter 2:22,24a
"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God."
~ 1 Peter 3:18a
"Jesus answered them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'"
~ Luke 5:31-32
"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness."
~ 1 John 1:8-9
"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:21
"...For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed."
~ 1 Corinthians 5:7b
"Surely He took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered Him punished by God,
stricken by Him, and afflicted.
But He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on Him,
and by His wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him
the iniquity of us all."
~ Isaiah 53:4-6
"And He died for all, that those who live
should no longer live for themselves but for Him
who died for them and was raised again."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:15
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him
is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because they have not believed in the name of God’s
one and only Son... Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,
but whoever rejects the Son will not see life,
for God’s wrath remains on them."
~ John 3:16-18,36
"God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
Whoever has the Son has life;
whoever does not have the Son of God
does not have life."
~ 1 John 5:11b-12
"He was delivered over to death for our sins
and was raised to life for our justification."
~ Romans 4:25
"...just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."
~ Romans 6:4b
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade..."
~ 1 Peter 1:3-4a
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation:
The old has gone, the new has come!"
~ 2 Corinthians 5:17
"...to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name,
He gave the right to become children of God— children born
not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will,
but born of God."
~ John 1:12-13
"Jesus replied, 'Very truly I tell you,
no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.'...
'Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless they are born of water and the Spirit.'"
~ John 3:3,5
"...born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God."
~ 1 Peter 1:23
"...birth through the word of truth..."
~ James 1:18
"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message,
and the message is heard through the word of Christ."
~ Romans 10:17
"...to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies
the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness."
~ Romans 4:5
"...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,
but that which is through faith in Christ—
the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith."
~ Philippians 3:9
"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ
to all who believe."
~ Romans 3:22a
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."
~ Acts 4:12
"Since we have now been justified by His blood,
how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through
the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled,
shall we be saved through His life!"
~ Romans 5:9-10
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this is not from yourselves,
it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."
~ Ephesians 2:8-9
for a fuller list of verses:
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/2179517/the-gospel-of-jesus-christ/
