What Is the Gospel?

The word "gospel" comes from the Greek word euangelion which literally means "good news."

We call the first four books of the New Testament "The Gospels." That is, they are the Good News that  Jesus announced and that his followers have sought to continue to announce to the rest of the world ever since he passed the baton to his disciples.

Just what is the content of the Good News?

In Mark's account, Jesus begins his public ministry this way:
"After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'" (Mark 1: 14-15).

Many theologians agree that the crux of Jesus' message is that something he called "The Kingdom of God" (or "Kingdom of Heaven" in Matthew's Gospel) had somehow arrived and was now present and available to anyone who would respond to it. 

Jesus communicated the in-breaking of the Kingdom through both his words and his actions. When he performed miracles like healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and casting out demons, he was demonstrating and illustrating the reality of his message.

"But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you" (Luke 11:20).

The term "Kingdom of God" needs to be understood in order to grasp just what Jesus was saying. We tend to think of a kingdom as a geographical location. But the New Testament uses the term to describe a condition more than a location. The Kingdom of God is the condition where God's rulership is acknowledged, where His dominion holds sway. Thus, when we pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven..." we are asking God's dominion to come and be made manifest on earth where we live in the same way and to the same degree that it is manifested in heaven, the place where God's Kingdom rule is fully manifested.

Jesus Himself is the One who brought the Kingdom to earth. His favorite term for himself was "Son of Man." This is probably an allusion to Daniel's prophecy:
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed" (Dan. 7: 13-14).

So, Jesus is the One who brings the Kingdom to us, the One who is to receive our worship. His message ends with, "Repent and believe the Good News!"

To repent literally means "turn around." That is, the only response to the Good News is to turn away from whatever direction you are going and turn towards the Son of Man himself. Jesus brings the very presence of God and God's rulership to us. In order to enter into the Kingdom of God, we turn to Jesus and place our trust in him. 

Jesus, himself, is the content of the Good News. In him the Kingdom of God has arrived. Have you turned the direction of your life towards him and placed your trust in him? 

I'll write more on the Good News in my next blog.