Good News - for a change!!

Keypoints on this page
	The gospel ("good news") about the Kingdom of God was preached by Jesus and his followers.
	The gospel is based on prophecies in the Old Testament of the Bible.
	Jesus is the 'Messiah' always expected by the Jews, who will sit as King on the throne of Israel's king David in Jerusalem.

In our English Bible, the word ‘gospel’ is peculiar to the New Testament writings, translated from the Greek ‘euaggelion’, meaning "good news" or "tidings". From this root, other related words have entered our language.

The apostle Paul, one of the great teachers of Christianity, was commissioned by Jesus on his conversion to ‘… bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel’ [Acts 9.15]. Later on, he introduced himself in the letter to the Romans as ‘Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God’ [Romans 1.1]. Confiding to his readers, he said:

‘...I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek’
[Romans 1.15,16].

Good News
As an evangelist, Paul said ‘…I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles,’ [2 Timothy 1.11], evangelising the Roman world as he spread tidings of the good news of the gospel.

Paul appreciated the vital importance of this gospel teaching as the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. To be unenlightened by it, is to remain in the dark as he wrote to the believers at Corinth:

‘But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them’ [2 Corinthians 4.3,4].

The gospel's unique life giving property is linked with the great work of Jesus at the heart of Christianity. When Paul urged the young man Timothy to join him in suffering for the gospel, he reminded him how God:

‘... hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling… according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel’ [2 Timothy 1.9,10].

The Good News defined
But, to restrict the scope of the gospel to the work of our Saviour when he died on the cross is a mistake, ignoring the much wider plan God had in mind from earliest times. In fact we are not left to speculate, because the gospel preached by Jesus and the apostles, is defined in very specific terms. It was after his cousin John the Baptist had been put in prison by Herod that:

‘Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel’ [Mark 1.14,15].

For the next three years before his crucifixion, we learn that Jesus:

`... went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him’ [Luke 8.1].

Similarly, Jesus sent out his twelve disciples to preach the kingdom of God to the people and it is recorded that:

‘they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel...’ [Luke 9.6].

We note here how the terms ‘gospel’ and ‘kingdom of God’ are interchangeable, with no mention of the crucifixion. The disciples were unlikely to preach about a development that they did not understand beforehand. For example, Jesus taught his disciples:

‘...The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him’ [Mark 9.31,32].

The substance of the good news did not change afterwards. In the forty day interval between his resurrection and ascension into heaven, Jesus was still ‘... speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God’ [Acts 1.3]. His final instructions were:

‘...Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.’ [Mark 16.15,16]

Here are two examples of the content of the preaching of the evangelists after Jesus had been received up into heaven. When the people of the city of Samaria:

‘... believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women’ [Acts 8.12].

The book of Acts concludes with an account of how, for two years at Rome, Paul was:

‘Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him’ [Acts 28.31].

We are given a marvellous description of Paul the evangelist at work in his house at Rome:

‘And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.’ [Acts 28.23].

The Gospel preached before Christ came
Many Christians are under the mistaken idea that the teaching of the gospel commenced with, and is confined to, the New Testament. They miss the important connection with past developments in God's plan, which come to a sharp focus in the name and work of Jesus Christ. Thus, Paul recognised that this gospel of God, to which he had been called, God ‘...had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures.’ [Romans 1.2] Paul commends the readers of this letter to the Romans:

`... to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But is now made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith' [Romans 16.25,26].

The scriptures in question were the Old Testament books. Jesus challenged his critics to:

‘Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me’ [ John5.39].

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul explains that:

‘…the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham...And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. [Galatians 3.8,9,29]

Some of Abraham's descendants did not show the same faith, dying in the wilderness before they could enter the land promised to their ancestors. Paul’s warning is:

‘Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.’ [Hebrews 4.1,2]

If we search the old Testament Scriptures, we find that Abraham's descendants were established as a nation in the land of promise, becoming God's people and were constituted kingdom of God in the past. King David was promised by God that, sometime after his death:

‘...I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever’ [2 Samuel 7.12,13].

Who was this descendant who features so much in the promise? The declaration of the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary about the greatness of her as-yet-unborn son, answers the question:

‘... thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end’ [Luke 1.31-33].

Jesus born to be king
If the good news of the gospel concerns the kingdom of God, then the central figure of God's plan must be Jesus Christ. At his trial, Pilate asked him:

‘Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice’ [John 18.37].

At Pilate's insistence, a sign written in three languages was displayed over the cross bearing the body of the man who testified before the Roman governor of his kingship. The sign read:

‘JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS’ [John 19.19].

We are still challenged to take seriously the claim of:

‘Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead’ [Romans 1,3,4].

Nothing can prevent a risen Lord returning to the earth to rule on the throne of David, which surely explains why the evangelists were and still are today, committed to carry on preaching the good news about the kingdom of God.

Before Jesus can establish the kingdom of God, the present system of man's rule will have to be destroyed. Paul declared to the Athenians how that:

‘he (God) hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead’ [Acts 17.31].

The upshot of this dramatic intervention at his second coming will be that:

‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever’ [Revelation 11.15].

Our share in the kingdom
The hope offered to all who believe the good news about the Kingdom is a personal share in the future world order. We think of the sad company of disciples in the upper room a few hours before the crucifixion. Jesus assured them:

‘Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel’ [Luke 22.28-30].

What should be our first priority in this life? Jesus says we should not worry about material things:

‘But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom’ [Luke 12.31,32].

Those who receive this great reward will gratefully acknowledge how much they owe to Jesus for the victory over sin and death he achieved by his sacrifice. Their personal saviour is:

‘Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sings in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen’ [Revelation 1.5,6].

Jesus the only Saviour
The teaching of the gospel of Christ does not accommodate acceptance of other religions. There is only one faith and Jesus is the only saviour. Peter declares of Jesus Christ of Nazareth:

‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved’ [Acts 4.12].

As Jesus claimed of himself:

‘... I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me’ [John 14.6].

Christ’s example is unique in providing assurance of a future hope. All other human teachers, however well-intentioned, are only able to offer hope now in this life, because their powers are necessarily limited, and death ends all. Matthew concludes his gospel record with an account of how Jesus after his resurrection, when bidding farewell to the eleven disciples, assured them of the promise of a future life, to be enjoyed in the kingdom as a certainty:

‘And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.’ [Matthew 28.18-20].

The scope of the Gospel
There is nothing exclusive, about the work of Jesus. The Scripture tells us that he was ‘the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world [John 1.29] and ‘that the world through him might be saved’ [John 3.17]. One day, God is going to install His Son as king on His holy hill of Zion in Jerusalem:

‘Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen (nations) for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession’ [Psalm 2.8].

Then, all nations will be blessed in the special descendant anticipated in the gospel preached to Abraham.

The following scriptures show that this good news crosses all national, cultural, language, and ideological barriers:

‘… according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ…made known to all nations for the obedience of faith. [Romans 16.25,26]

‘this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations…’ [Matthew 24.14].

‘... for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. [Romans 1.16]

‘...Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.’ [Acts 10.34,35]

Over the last two thousand years, the world has undergone radical, social, and political change. However, Bible teaching concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ is fixed, needing neither revision nor addition. Paul's strong warning to those of his time, who were perverting and corrupting the gospel of Christ, is equally applicable in our day:

‘... If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed’ [ Galatians 1.9].

Finding Messiah
Jesus was not the product of his age, a man just thrown into prominence by events. He transcended his times because his role had been defined long before, in many detailed and varied prophecies and promises. This is why the early disciples recognised the arrival of the person anticipated in the Old Testament writings.

Andrew said to his brother Simon:

‘We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ’ [John 1.41].

Philip said to Nathanael:

‘We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph’ [John 1.45].

Nathanael said to Jesus:

‘Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel’ [John 1.49].

By our studies of these same Scriptures, may we also come to find Jesus, recognising him as the long promised Messiah. The difference for ourselves, who live at the end of the long interval between his two advents, is that we will have to wait for his return to the earth in power and great glory before we can see Jesus of Nazareth in person.

‘And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. [Hebrews 9.27,28]

Meanwhile, the request contained in his model prayer for believers takes on real meaning:

‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven’ [Matthew 6.10].