"There are two different kinds of good news. The first doesn’t really require much context. If you were surprised by a massive inheritance, this would simply be good news. If you found out that you had been awarded a huge promotion at work, this would be good news. But if you heard that a cure had been developed for a particular kind of cancer, you would not hear it as good news personally unless you had previously taken in the bad news that you had that particular kind of cancer." -- Douglas Wilson, Flesh of My Flesh
Everyone likes good news, but not everyone appreciates the Good News. In order to appreciate it, you have to appreciate the weight of the bad news. Grace teaches our hearts to fear and then grace our fears relieves. Grace does not artificially create something to be afraid of in order to produce the sensation. We are actually in danger, we just don't realize it. So grace reveals the danger for what it already is. And when we see that clearly, if we see it rightly, we shudder. It is then that the Good News of Jesus Christ makes sense. It is then that His death becomes Good News of a particular variety. It is not just bonus news or happy news, but the best news ever! It is realizing that our biggest problem is worse than we thought only to discover that God's solution is grander than we ever imagined. That is appreciating the sacrifice by first understanding the situation.
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