The Gospel is Good News
I bring you good news of great joy.
If we want to know what the Christian Gospel is it’s best to know what the term gospel means generically. The phrase comes from the Greek word “euangellion” meaning “good news.” The word was originally used by the Greek military to declare or proclaim the “good news” of victory.
Back in the day, Greeks lived in small cities enclosed by huge walls. So, when an opposing army came to attack, they would pull together a small, highly trained army and send them beyond the walls to fight the battle.
The problem is this was before the day of Facebook, and Twitter, so when the army went out to fight, all the people were left feeling anxious and filled with fear, because they had no idea if they were winning or losing the battle. They did not know if there were going to live or die that day.
So, because of this dilemma, when the Greeks won a battle, the first thing the leader of the army would do, is send someone called an evangelos back to the city with the euangellion, for the people.
In English, they would send an evangelist to run back to the city with the Gospel.
And when these evangelists got to the city, they would climb the massive walls and proclaim the gospel saying:
“Come and gather all you people, come and hear the Gospel… come and here the good news… this very day the battle for you has been won… come and hear the Gospel today, this very day, your freedom has been secured for you!”
A gospel is the proclamation of good news, not the distribution of good advice. A gospel is good news telling you what has been done for you. It is not good advice to tell you what you must do to save yourself.
The Christian Gospel is this, shouted from the mountain tops by Jesus himself, to you who are in need of saving.
I LOVE YOU!
I delight in you. I, God, call you my child. I think fondly of you. Regardless of what you’ve done in your life or how you have lived, I love you.
That is the Gospel. The Christian Gospel is that God - through no work of your own - delights in you. The Bible puts it like this,
"The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love, He will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing. –" Zephaniah 3:17
And, if you are like me, you wonder how could God possibly do that?
What God did in the person of Jesus Christ is he entered into this world and then, in Jesus, he lived the life that you were called to live. In the person of Jesus Christ God in other words – lived a life – that was worthy of God, the Father’s delight. It was a life where Jesus perfectly loved God, and it was a life where Jesus perfectly loved his neighbor as himself – it was a glorious life.
But, then, at the end of Jesus’ life – even though He lived a life that was worthy of adoration, delight, and praise – what Jesus did out of love for you – He went to the cross, and on the Cross, he became your substitute - where Jesus took upon himself – all of your sin and shortcomings, He took upon Himself the results of your unworthy life. This is is why Isaiah says,
"But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds, we are healed." - Isaiah 53:5
But not only that, you see, on the cross, Jesus also gave to you His perfect righteousness – the results of His perfect life – which is why Isaiah also says,
"I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." - Isaiah 61:10
THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS:
Through faith in Jesus, God delights in you regardless of what you have done – because God, in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross took upon Himself all of your bad – in order that He could give you all His good.
That is the gospel. This is not something you earn, this is not something you work for, this is something that God simply offers for you because of His love for you –
The Apostle Paul in the book of Romans puts it like this he says,
“God demonstrates his love for you in this, that while you were a sinner Christ died for you.”
If you would like to know more knock on the front door of one of the station locations or reach out to us below.
We are people of the Good News. We are people of the Gospel.
