What is the Gospel?

Picture Credit : ericawiggenhorn

The term, “gospel” in Greek is translated as euangelion which basically means - “good news”. So what is the news and why is it good? The traditional way that we use to explain good news is by quoting John 3:16 which preachers call a key verse of the gospel. To an extent, I agree that it is a good way to explain gospel to a toddler or a child. But it is essential to understand the meaning of gospel in its original context and background and not just hide behind a verse as we mature.

When Christ Jesus and his disciples used the term gospel, it was a word very much attached to their present culture. The word gospel was an extreme political term having reference to an Empire or Kingdom and the triumph of the Kingdom and how the power, riches and wisdom brought good news to those who showed their loyalty to the Kingdom. So in the Biblical context, gospel was defined as the royal declaration of a Kingdom and its King(Lord). You might be thinking then about the necessity of the entry of a King and the establishment of his kingdom. For that, let us rewind a little and come back.

Four Pillars of the Gospel Story

1. Creation

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...God created people in his own image...God saw all that He had made and it was very good."

That is the whole gist of Genesis 1 and 2 where the gospel story starts. God the Creator created everything good and the mind blowing fact is that we humans were created in his own image . God placed the first couple, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and entrusted them with the responsibility to take care of everything in the garden. Man was created to have fellowship with God, worship him and to live in harmony. The gospel story had a fabulous start but while it was progressing, there came the twist.

2. Fall

Disobedience was the first diversion of the gospel story. It not only became the diversion but also the decisive moment in the gospel story. While God had given Adam the freedom to eat anything, he had also asked Adam to refrain from eating out of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God also had made sure to let Adam know the consequence of eating from the same which was death. The story moves on where Eve was created as a helper for Adam and then a serpent visits the couple and tempts Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Long story short, both of them yielded to the temptation and enjoyed the fruit from the tree of knowledge and lost the honor and glory they had. The rebellious choice of man detached man from God. The perfect image of man got blurred by his sinful act. A barrier got created which accounted for shame instead of honor. Man fell and the fall resulted in both physical and spiritual death.

Though man fell, God gave a hint of future hope while talking to the serpent. In Genesis 3:15 we read about a person who would crush the head of the serpent and strike his heel. The story keeps going and in Genesis 12, we see the promise of God to Abraham about the covenantal blessing. The future hope was confirmed again through the words of God to Abraham. Thereafter we read about different sub-plots in the gospel story, the characters and their roles, disputes that happened and the temporary resolutions reached in the Old Testament. There were Prophets and Kings who were ordained by God but no one could resolve the root issue of man, sin. At regular intervals in the Old Testament, God spoke about the ray of future hope and about the good news that was yet to come. Meanwhile, sin grew and turned the lives of people into a disaster which in turn confirmed the fact that they needed a Savior.

3. Redemption

Having understood the relevance for the need of a Savior, we now enter into the part of the story where the ray of hope comes into action. God the Father sent his only son, Jesus Christ into this world to fulfill the promises made to Israel. Christ Jesus took on the nature of a servant and incarnated into this world in human likeness to deal with the greatest problem of man, sin. As Apostle John says, Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. When Christ made the royal declaration of the Kingdom (Mark 1:14-15), remember he was talking to an audience who considered Caesar as the King. The Jewish audience rejected the message of Christ. They did not receive Christ and his message but rather forsook him.

As a result, finally Christ was sentenced to death on the Cross. He took the punishment of death as a penalty for our sins. The King of all the earth humbled himself by becoming obedient to his father. He became willing to endure the pain and shame on our account. The sinless man took upon the sins of the entire world and died a substitutionary death on the Cross. Though it looked as a victory for his enemies, it was the death of Christ that actually triumphed victory over the powers of darkness and evil. It was a glorious win over the curse of sin. Galatians 3:13 says – Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. He was buried in the tomb. The story didn’t end there. On the third day, he was raised according to the Scriptures and appeared to many. After appearing to many witnesses, Christ the Lord ascended to heaven on the 40th day after his resurrection.

4. Restoration

Because of His obedience to his God and Father, Jesus was highly exalted as Lord of Heaven and Earth, and seated at God’s right hand. Right hand in Jewish culture indicates blessing, authority, and power, as opposed to the left, which was the hand of cursing. After ascension of Christ into heaven, God sent the Holy Spirit as promised to the earth to regenerate, empower, teach, counsel, comfort and sanctify the participants of the Kingdom. And Christ the Lord will return back in glory to restore all creation where there will be no more tears, death, disease and most importantly no sin. The Lord who put the crown of thorns at his death has now been crowned with glory and honor now. Amen!

Revelation 19: 16 says – “On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

The Scripture portrays a very sparkling picture about the future for the participants of his kingdom. Every person in his kingdom will be restored into perfect relationships and most importantly, relationship with God: the Creator, Redeemer and Restorer. The Kingship of God started with Israel and will conclude with all nations and people of all language irrespective of caste, creed and ethnicity. As Ephesians 3:6 says - This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

Gospel in the Old Testament

Few references :

Genesis 3:15 (First preaching of the gospel- "protoevangelium") - I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Genesis 12:2 - I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and pin you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Psalms 32:1-2 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Isaiah 7:14 - The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel

Zechariah 9:9 - Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. (Fulfilled in Jerusalem, Matthew 21:2)

Micah 5:2 - But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me. The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”

Gospel in the New Testament

1. Matthew presents Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, the fulfillment of Old Testament hopes. 2. Mark portrays him as the suffering Son of God, who offers himself as a sacrifice for sins. 3. Luke’s Jesus is the Savior for all people, who brings salvation to all nations and people groups. 4. In John, Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the self-revelation of God the Father.

References :

Matthew 4:23 - And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Mark 1:15 - Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Luke 4:18-19 - The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Acts 8:12 : But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Acts 20:24 - But none of these things move 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.

Romans 1:1-4 - Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born 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 1:16 - 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 righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

1 Cor 15:3-5 - Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For I delivered to you first 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 the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.

2 Cor 4:4 - whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them

2 Tim 2:8 - Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach.

Ephesians 6:15 - and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Gospel of Peace

Romans 5:1 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand

Ephesians 2:14-17 : For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Our pre and post salvific condition:

Ephesians 2:1-10 : As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

1 Peter 1:3-5 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance [b]incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

What the Gospel isn’t?

1. It is not our response.

2. It is not prosperity.

3. It is not healing.

4. It is not legalism.

5. It is not our personal testimony.

6. It is not social justice.

"The gospel does bring us solutions to these problems [of suffering and injustice], but it does so by first solving.. the deepest of all human problems, the problem of man’s relation with his Maker; and unless we make it plain that the solution of these former problems depends on the settling of this latter one, we are misrepresenting the message and becoming false witnesses of God." – J.I Packer

How can we define the Gospel ? (From the context of the whole Bible)

1. Christ is the eternal Son of God.

2. Christ was sent by God the Father in human flesh to this world to reciprocate His love for us.

3. Christ lived a perfect life in obedience to God and fulfilled the law.

4. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

5. Christ was buried.

6. Christ was resurrected on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

7. Christ appeared to many witnesses.

8. Christ ascended to Heaven and He is seated at the right hand of God interceding as a faithful advocate for every participant of Gods kingdom.

9. Christ sent his Holy Spirit to empower us and remind all his teachings.

10. Christ will come again to judge the world in righteousness.

Our Role

Now we have understood the word euangelion(gospel) as the royal declaration of Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior and King of all, what is our role in His Kingdom? How does the royal announcement of Christ as King influence or affect us? Throughout the scripture especially in New Testament, various terms like justification, reconciliation, and adoption are being used to describe the benefits of the gospel. The benefits are applied by the Holy Spirit when we put our faith in Christ Jesus. Through faith in Christ, we become the participants of the kingdom. The word faith is translated in greek as pistis which can be better termed as loyalty or obedience or allegiance.

Mark 1:15 - “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Romans 10:9 says- “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Matthew 24:13 says - “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

If we balance the above verses, we will get an idea about what it means to be saved. It is to repent of our sins, believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and endure to the end. Salvation alone is another vast topic which is not in scope here. But remember, by surrendering to the Kingship and Lordship of Christ Jesus, we actively take part in the sanctification process which Holy Spirit does and at the same time we acknowledge the fact that Christ is sovereign over our life and has complete authority over us. Philippians 1:6 says - “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Christ is faithful to complete the good work he started in us. He is not a King who leaves us midway in the journey to let us figure things out but rather takes us to the end.

What does it mean to be Gospel-centered?

Picture credits : www.gotquestions.org

Conclusion

The gospel is about Christ Jesus the Lord and King. It is the royal declaration that the kingdom of God has arrived through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who is the Savior of the world. In simple words, it is the declaration that Christ is the Lord and Savior of our life. We are participants in his kingdom because of his grace and mercy. The gospel talks about the finished work of Christ and no human work needs to be added to the gospel. But as a response to the work of Christ, we act in faith, bear fruit and persevere to the end by the help of Holy Spirit who preserves us. May this gospel enrich your life and let the Holy Spirit help you to lead a gospel-centered life.