Your eight-year-old hears things. Your son hears wild stories. Your daughter sees the constant allure of commercials. He hears the taunts of the schoolyard. She feels an inner dread growing out of her many fears. How do you help your eight-year-old child with such difficult issues? What is needed most is the news of the gospel; specifically, the good news of the grace of God.
The word gospel means "good news." Matthew speaks of the Jesus proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. That is, the good news of the kingdom where Jesus is King. This good news means that people can be rescued from darkness. Your eight-year-old already knows something of this darkness. He knows the darkness personally from the fears and brokenness caused by his own sin. He also knows of the darkness from the ugliness of the world around him. Perhaps he has experienced the death of someone close to him. Or perhaps she has heard the cruel taunts of other children. He may have experienced the vicious devastation of a "natural" disaster or the ravages of war. Whatever the source, he has seen and experienced the attacks of the kingdom of darkness. He was born a slave to this darkness. The good news is that Jesus is able to rescue him from darkness. The gospel matters.
