The Key To A Gospel-Driven Life

The mob was angry at Stephen that day…so angry, they would soon kill him.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55)

What’s the key to living a grace-motivated, gospel-driven life? Seeing the glory of God, Jesus, as king over all creation.

There’s nothing that orients our perspective on life and death, good and evil, politics, passions, or people like seeing King Jesus ruling and reigning over everything.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah saw the same thing:

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:1,5)

Stephen, by the time of his vision, already knew that the lord had taken away his sin. Isaiah was terrified that seeing the lord would lead to his own destruction. But the lord assured him of his safety:

And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:7)

Seeing Jesus as King, and believing in his redeeming work gives us the courage and strength to be the people that God has called us to be. We can live grace-motivated, gospel-driven lives without fear because we know that our King rules forever.