THE ESSENCE OF THE GOSPEL

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

It is the Good News of salvation for humanity.

WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF THAT GOSPEL?

The essence of the gospel can be defined as the liberation and release; liberation from sin and release from the bondage or slavery to sin, as sin is a monster, a taskmaster that holds us legally bound to the death sentence. The whole gospel, the whole good news is bound up in the essence or core known as freedom or liberty. It is a call for a righteous intervention to eventually eliminate the dark side. The message of the Gospel included not only the death of Christ but the perfect living of Christ- both of which are imputed to us in our acceptance of the Gospel. We are both saved by His death as well as His life. Beloved, the Gospel as we know is not something that has been promised but that which has been accomplished by Jesus Himself and that is the essence of the Gospel.  After forty days and forty nights of prayer and fasting, and the devil’s temptations, Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were at the synagogue were fixed on Him.  Then Jesus proclaimed to His people, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” (Luke 4: 14:21). And His congregation had the same problems with that as we do. They could not accept it but rebelled.

Some of the most prominent theologians of this century proclaimed a gospel which said that Christ died for all men and all men are saved. Thus the “gospel” is merely announcing that fact to them. The true Good News is that Christ provided a salvation for all who believe in Him and repent of their sins. It is available to all, but it is effective only for those who accept His salvation. Notice that the gospel has a still greater objective; for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14). This is the Christian’s great interest, and it is God’s ultimate purpose in His great plan of redemption. As Paul also states to the Romans, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).

WHAT IS THE CONTENT OF THE GOOD NEWS?

1.       The basic story about Jesus: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mk. 1:1). Paul’s content of the good news, “Moreover brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you were saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you- unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you fast of all that which I also received; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to Scriptures, and that He was first seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. Therefore, whether it was I or they, , so we preach and so you believed” (1 Cor. 15:1-8,11).

2.    Jesus is the Christ:  “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42).

3.       Humans should repent:  The first gospel ministry of Jesus was the message of repentance, “Now after John was put into prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:14-15).

4.       Salvation is by faith in Jesus: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteous of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:16-17).

5.       God gives us His wonderful kindness and love: “But none of this things moved me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 2o:24).

6.       Both Jew and Gentiles can be saved: “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power” (Eph. 3:6-7).

7.       Jesus will return as judge: “In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel” (Rom.3:16).

8.       How believers should live:  “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27).

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GOOD NEWS

1.       It reveals the glory of Christ: “Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of God should shine on them” (2 Cor.4:4).

2.       It is eternal: “But the word of the Lord endures forever,” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you” (1 Pet. 1:25); “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (Rev. 14:6).

3.       It demonstrates God’s power: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).

4.       It calls us: “To which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 2:14).

5.       It saves us: “By which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you- unless you believed in vain” (1 Cor. 15:2).

6.       It gives us peace: “and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15).

7.       It gives us assurance: “If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I Paul became a minister” (Col. 1:23).

8.       It gives life: “To which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles” (2 Tim. 1:10).

9.       It changes lives: “which has come to you, as it has also in the entire world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth” (Col. 1:6).

10.   It tolerates no rival: “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not, another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you that what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed”(Gal. 1:6-9).

HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO THE GOOD NEWS

1.       We should believe it: “For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” (Heb.4:2).

2.       We should obey it: “Since there it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience”(Heb. 4:6); also “In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:8); “While, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men”(2 Cor. 9:13).

3.       We must not be ashamed of it: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).

4.       We should live in line with its truth: “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?(Gal. 2:14);

5.       We should serve it: “And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches” (2 Cor. 8:18).

6.       We should continue in it: “If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I Paul became a minister” (Col. 1:23).

7.       We should promote it: “For If I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16).

8.       We should defend it: “Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace; the former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains” (Phil. 1:7, 16).

9.       We should preach it: “And He said to them, “Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mk.  16:15). In Acts, “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4), and to the Romans, “In mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation” (Rom. 15:19-20).

10.   We may have to suffer for it: “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully” (1 Tim. 1:8). See also, “Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained” (2 Tim. 2:8-9).

Everlasting God, I give you all the praise, worship and adoration due Your name. Thank You for Thy goodness Abba Father and for Thy mercies which endures forever. Amen.

“Grace to you and Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”