Good News in an Old News World
Adrian Thornton

The good news of Jesus is not just news from the past. The good news is that God’s kingdom is present among us now, and we get to bring that good kingdom into our world. It is a kingdom that heals, transforms, and restores what sin has broken.

As humans, we love the past. Some love vintage records, old movies, old worship songs, history, traditions, family rhythms, and the familiar ways we have always done things. There is nothing wrong with learning from the past or being inspired by the past, but we are not meant to dwell there.

When we become too attached to the past, we lose sight of what God is doing in the present and what He wants to do in the future. Isaiah speaks into this when he says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing” (Is 43:18-19).

God was speaking to his people in exile, but He was also pointing forward to something even greater in Jesus. God was not only going to rescue people from Babylon or Egypt; he was going to rescue people from slavery to sin and death and bring them into the kingdom of God.

So how do we live as good news people?

First, we practise forgiveness. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 “love keeps no record of wrongs.” But we are very good at keeping lists — what someone said, what they did, how they hurt us. That is old news. That is not how good news people live.

That is what unforgiveness does. It keeps us living in pain again and again. Jesus tells Peter to forgive not seven times, but seventy-seven times. More than that, God is not keeping a list of our sins against Him. He forgives our wickedness and remembers our sins no more (Heb 8:12). So, we also forgive as the Lord forgave us.

Second, we take off the old self and put on the new self. Our family, upbringing, wounds, habits, and history have shaped who we are today. Some of this is good, but some isn’t, and that is the old news we are to let go of.

If we don’t take the time to deal with the past, we will continue to dwell in it. The only way we can deal with the ‘old news’ of our life is by living according to the Spirit. It is by living in step with the Spirit that we begin to change and become the person God created us to be.

So the question is: what side of the cross are you living on? On one side is unforgiveness and the old self. On the other side is forgiveness, freedom, and new creation. We are not old news people. We are good news people.