I’ve been reading a lot lately about what the word “gospel” really means. To many today it can be summed up like this:
“I am a sinner, Jesus came and died to save me from my sin, I accept His gift of forgiveness, live my life for Him and go to my reward in heaven when I die.”
When we explain “the gospel” to someone, we tell them how they are sinners (like that’s good news!), how Jesus died for them, they must accept Him as Savior and they’ll go to heaven.
As I read about what “gospel” meant to Jesus and the apostles, it seems they had something much broader in mind. To them the gospel begins at creation and continues until the new heavens and new earth. I would summarize it this way:
“God created a perfect world. It was wrecked by ‘the Fall’ when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sin entered the world. God wanted to redeem the world through His chosen people, Israel. Through their witness He would call all nations back to Himself. They blew it. He sent them into exile as punishment, but God was faithful to His covenant with Israel by preserving a remnant. God was also faithful to His covenant with David, the epitome of earthly kings. From David’s line came a Messiah, Jesus. He was perfectly able to restore all nations to God. He gave himself as a sacrifice for all to satisfy God’s just wrath toward sin. Everyone who responds to Him in faith will be saved. These faithful form ‘The Church,’ His body on earth. God now wants The Church to be His vehicle for drawing all people to Himself. Eventually Jesus will return to earth and ultimately establish a new heaven and earth where He will rule forever.”
The gospel, then, is the whole story of God’s love revealed in the bible and Israel finding their fulfillment in Messiah or Christ. That’s a pretty big story. How do we explain that to someone for the first time? It won’t fit in a tract. Well, that’s where The Church comes in. Intrigued? Check back next week & I’ll explain what I think the role of The Church is in all this. I’d love to hear your thoughts as well.
Peace,
Bill