In order to understand what counseling is all about, we must begin with God since we are created in his image, redeemed by his Son Jesus Christ, and sustained by his Spirit as we live in his world. We are not able to make sense of our lives in this world apart from God’s wisdom and grace as expressed and displayed throughout his redemptive story. Every aspect of life and ministry must flow from the gospel, to include the ministry of counseling.
THE GOSPEL
The gospel is the good news of God displaying his glorious power (Rom. 1:16) and merciful love (Eph. 2:4) as he brings his people back to a right relationship with himself through the saving and final work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The shocking reality of God’s initiating and unconditional love is seen in the fact “while we were enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Rom. 5:10). The apostle Paul summed up what it meant to give his life completely to the gospel by proclaiming he was “determined to know nothing … except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
The Gospel’s Relational Themes
The undeniable themes of the gospel can be seen in the dynamic relationship between our triune God and us: (1) the patience, mercy, sovereignty, justice, wrath, forgiveness, and love of God the Father, (2) the rebellious, hopeless, self-exalting, idolatrous, and unbelieving nature of all men and women, (3) the humble, sinless, sacrificial, self-giving, and redeeming life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose death reconciled our relationship with the Father, and (4) the abiding, comforting, and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, who brings about progressive gospel change in and through us as we live as a family in the kingdom of God by faith in Christ.
Since we live in God’s world, we must be reminded that the thoughts and ways of God are radically different from the thoughts and ways of the world–the “world” in this context is used to refer to the corporate nature of those who do not know God–Richard Lovelace defines the “world” as corporate flesh. The nature of the world stands in stark contrast to the nature of the gospel, where the greatness and love of God is revealed through the cross of Christ–”glory in shame, wisdom in folly, power in weakness, victory in defeat” (Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, Total Church, p. 170)
Personally knowing, experiencing, and believing in God and these gospel themes not only enable us to live out the gospel, but also equip us to help others live out the gospel, all by the grace of God. The ultimate goal of the gospel is the glory of God, reflected in us as his people who are being renewed into the image of God as the body of Christ and who worship him with our whole lives (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16-18; Rom. 12:1; Col. 1:28).
Some questions for you … Do you agree that every aspect of life and ministry must flow from the gospel, to include the ministry of counseling? Have you ever considered the relational themes of the gospel? Why is it important to think of the attributes of our triune God in terms of relationship?
In order to further develop a framework for understanding counseling, we must understand God’s radical double-love commands which we will discuss next time …