New Perspectives - What Is The Gospel?
New Perspectives–What is the Gospel?
Joshua Bush, Discipleship Minister
As we’ve been walking through the meaning of discipleship for the past several months, it’s important to understand the message that Jesus preached as he made disciples who made disciples.
When someone asks you “What is the Gospel?” how do you answer? Do you mention how the Gospel is what the church talks about all the time during Worship service or during Sunday School? Do you mention how the Gospel has changed your life as a follower of Jesus? Do you say that the Gospel is what Jesus did for us on the cross when he died for our sins?
Growing up, these are the kind of things I would share with people when they asked me “What is this Gospel thing that you Christians talk about all the time?” I would go on to explain the story of the Bible, the history of the Israelite people, the culmination of the prophetic texts finding their fulfilment in Jesus Christ, and how Jesus came to die for our sins so we can live with Him forever in heaven. That is how I explained it. It’s important to note that all of these things are true: God worked through His chosen people—Israel—to serve as a set apart nation and to be a light to the world; God used the prophets to foreshadow to His people that God will one day do something new with His creation; and Jesus did come and die for our sins so we can spend eternity in the glorious presence of God.
Yet, is this the Gospel that Jesus preached during his roughly three-year ministry in 1st-century Palestine? Did Jesus go around and say, “This is the Gospel: that the history of Israel has led up to me?” or “This is the Gospel: that I have come to die in order to forgive your sins,” or “This is the Gospel: that I will bring you salvation so you can spend eternity in Heaven.” Are these the messages that Jesus declared when he was here among us?
The word “gospel” means “good news.” In Greek, the word for “gospel” is euangelion and it literally translates as “good news,” “good message,” or “good word.” So anytime you read the “Gospel” or “good news” in your Bibles, it is talking about the same thing. Great! But what is the message of the Gospel? What is this Good news that Jesus talked about?
Go right now and open up your Bible and look for the words that Jesus spoke throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Read: Mark 1:14-15; 9:1; 10:23-25; Matthew 4:17; 9:35; 24:14; and Luke 4:43; 6:20; 8:1; 9:2; 10:11; 16:16, John 3:3 and 18:36. What do you notice? What do all of these passages have in common when they talk about this Gospel, this Good news?
They all talk about a kingdom. Not just any kingdom, a kingdom belonging to who? – The Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God (or the Kingdom of Heaven in the book of Matthew) is the message that Jesus declared to God’s chosen people. You see, this Kingdom of God is the Good News that Jesus wanted everyone to know about. Why? Why was Jesus so focused on talking about God’s Kingdom?
Take a look at the kinds of kingdoms that people in the first century lived within. Within the Roman Empire: people were at war with one another; people were publicly executed in the colosseum and upon wooden crosses meant to inflict tremendous amounts of pain and suffering upon their victims; the king of Rome—Caesar—declared himself to be the savior of the world because he alone can bring about a new world order under his leadership. How does that differ from Jesus’ Kingdom? From God’s Kingdom?
The Kingdom of God has an eternal creator who is all-powerful and wants us to follow His leadership. Unlike the Roman Kingdom, our God who rules over His Kingdom does not put us to death for disobeying Him. The Kingdom of God wants everyone to be able to participate in a life filled with love, kindness, and flourishing under His good and holy guidance.
Jesus wants to show us what life would be like when we choose to submit ourselves to God’s Kingship rather than suffer under the rule of an earthly king. Jesus wants us to have a taste of what the consummation of creation will look like when all evil is wiped away and there is no more suffering, or mourning, or sadness, or pain.
Jesus gave his life for us, according to the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:1-8), so that we may be made right before God so that we may fully enter into this Kingdom and be full participants in God’s good plan for the history of salvation. Jesus dying and resurrecting and our acceptance of Him as Lord and Savior is the plan of salvation and it is extremely important. It is through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection that we can not only have a sampling of what this Kingdom of God will be one day, but also so that we may be active members of God’s Kingdom here and now.
So, the next time someone asks you, “Hey! What is this Gospel thing you are always talking about?” tell them that it is Good News. Good News that we don’t have to live under evil kings, a life of suffering and pain, or a world that lives in sin. Good News that we as followers of Jesus Christ can enter into this New Kingdom that is different from every other Kingdom of this world. A Kingdom ruled by God rather than a Kingdom ruled by humans. And it is by accepting Jesus as Lord that we have the opportunity to live under God’s good rule.