938 Distinctives: The Gospel
Gospel
Is it music, is it an adjective for the word truth, isn’t it a term for a story of Jesus’ life?
The word gospel is used in so many ways that its meaning can often get blurred. It can get lost in the jargon-filled world of the “Christianeze” language.
However, the New Testament has a very specific use for it, and when we learn its meaning, I believe it connects us to the very source of transformative Spiritual power.
Ok, so what does it mean?
Gospel is the simple Greek word for “Good News.” Whenever a child of Caesar was born, heralds would be sent through the empire to herald the “news of this great event,” this “good news.”
When Christians speak of the gospel, they speak of news of something that has happened, and just like the birth of a new ruler in Rome, the good news of Christianity is the news that something has happened mainly related to Jesus Christ.
In particular, the news is that Jesus Christ has been resurrected from the dead. This resurrection is the divine affirmation that he is the Messiah. And if he was the Messiah, that means that in his resurrection, the renewal of all things has now begun. The reign of God, known as the Kingdom of God, is now expanding, and when the church heralds the good news to the world, they are announcing that something has happened, and it continues to have implications. The world's renewal has begun, and we can be a part of it. We become a part of it by accepting Christ’s death on the cross as our own, and uniting ourselves in faith with his death on the cross (as the cost of sin), and simultaneously being united with Jesus' resurrection victory. For the believer, this unites us with every single blessing given to Jesus as full members of the family of God, serving within the movement of the renewal of all things.
Paul speaks of the cascading impact of the gospel in a letter to the young church in Collose.
“…we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.”
Colossians 1:4-6
Paul speaks of the gospel as if it were an organic being that grows and bears fruit. It is important to note that Paul did not say, “The Bible is growing and bearing fruit,” nor did he say, “The church is growing and bearing fruit,” instead it is the gospel that grows. The Bible and the church are tremendously important. He says the gospel is the key, not just to knowing God, but to understanding God’s grace.
Why? It is news. It is news that something has happened. News spreads, news changes things. Opinions, ideologies, philosophies, and theories can all be conjectured. Christianity is not a good idea; it is the news of something that has happened in history.
This means that the key question is not whether you like the teaching of Christianity; rather, the key question is, who is Jesus? Did this happen? If not, what do we do with a Western civilization that has been completely shaped by a person who was an entire fraud?
Or, if the good news is something that has truly happened, what are the implications? That means that the beginning of the end has come, the renewal of all things has begun and we can be a part of it, to experience forgiveness, healing, freedom, and the restoration of humanity and the good for which this world was created.
