What is the Gospel?

Christians use the word "gospel" to describe the message of Jesus Christ but how many have considered what it truly means?

“The term Gospel is derived from the older "God-spell," meaning "good tidings.” [1]

In the Greek New Testament, the word used to express good tidings or good news is euangelion. Euangelion is not a unique word that was used only by early Christians. This term carried a far greater weight than what we understand today. According to Dr. Pennington, an associate professor of New Testament interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, defines euangelion as "a propagandistic way to announce the birth or ascension of an emperor and as part of the Roman imperial cult or worship of emperors. Thus it has political and religious implications."[2]

For early Christians to preach the "good news," meant to declare that Jesus was the real Son of God and the true King who was the only one to be worshiped. The apostles in identifying their message with "good news" (euangelion), were aware of the ramifications it would have on the political and eschatological (end times) worldviews of the Jews and Romans. It is this public profession that led to Jesus's crucifixion and his followers being persecuted.[3]

Today most Christians refer to the gospel in a broader sense as the justification of faith through Christ or the forgiveness of sins through Jesus's death on the cross. While those meanings are good, they lack the wider picture in which the original message was intended to convey.[4]

“The gospel is first and foremost a message about God and his kingdom to come through Jesus Christ."

Everything in the gospel is centered around this point. In fact, the entire Bible is centered around God and him bringing the culmination of his story to glorify himself.

In Jesus healing people and casting out demons, he was not only demonstrating his love and power but it was Jesus providing us snapshots of the kingdom to come.[5] Jesus was showing us that in God's kingdom, people are whole physically and spiritually. No evil spirits are running a muck and people have free access to God. The four gospels alone used the term "kingdom"126 times [6], thus signaling that this was the central theme.

If you were to summarize the gospel story, it would go along the lines of something like this.

In the beginning, God created the world, and in his world was a beautiful garden. He placed Adam and Eve in his garden and instructed them to care for his garden and the world. Through his stewards, Adam and Eve, God would rule his creation. They were his vice-regents. In his garden, God gave them one rule, "Do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because if you do, you will surely die." However, one day, a crafty serpent approached Eve and told her that if she ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, she would become like God. Tempted by his words, Eve ate from the tree's fruit and gave some to her husband, Adam. It was from this point on that death and sin entered the world and Adam and Eve's relationship with God was broken. In love, God exiled them from the garden because if they stayed in the garden, they would be cursed to sin forever. It was in humanity's fall that God promised an offspring--a savior--who would bring humanity back to him and return us to the garden paradise.

Therefore, God the Father sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to be born of a virgin. Jesus, who was fully man and fully God, lived a perfect sinless life. At the approximate age of 30, Jesus began his mission to restore God's kingdom by preaching, teaching, healing, and delivering those who were oppressed by demons. Jesus died on the cross to atone for Adam and Eve's sins and for all of humanity's sins so that we would be reconciled to God. Three days later, Jesus rose from the grave and conquered death. Jesus freed us from the rule of Satan and from the rule of sin. Right now Jesus is at the right hand of God in heaven, ruling as king over heaven and earth. Jesus promised to return one day and complete the restoration of God's kingdom. Jesus calls all people, tribes, tongues, and nations to repent, believe in him, and receive eternal life (John 3:16).

Essentially, the message of the gospel is encapsulated in the person of Jesus Christ. Everything that happens in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the steps Jesus needs to take in order to accomplish his Father's mission. Meaning that Jesus is undoing the effects of the Fall in Genesis 3 and returning the world to its Edenic state (Revelation 21-22). He is reinstating mankind as God's representative rulers under His kingship (Ephesians 1:10, 20-23, 2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 3:21). This is why the early Christians called it "the good news." The good news that humans will be at peace with one another and at peace with God. The good news that our fallen world will once again be a place of beauty and life with God as our King forever. We are returning to a new garden of Eden filled with the people of God, who are in shalom with God and each other.

If you're reading this and you do not know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Now is the time to turn away from your sins and find salvation in Jesus. He welcomes you with open arms, but what will you choose? Will you choose life, or will you choose death? Pray to him now and receive the salvation that only he can give you. Jesus is the good news.

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Footnotes:

[1] Jonathan T. Pennington, Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012, 3.

[2] Pennington, Reading the Gospels Wisely, 5-6. [3] Pennington, Reading the Gospels Wisely, 6. [4] Pennington, Reading the Gospels Wisely, 6. [5] Pennington, Reading the Gospels Wisely, 44.

[6] John Piper, "What is the Kingdom of God," Desiring God, last modified September 8, 2017, https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-the-kingdom-of-god.

Resources:

Pennington, Jonathan T. Reading the Gospels Wisely: A Narrative and Theological Introduction. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2012.

Piper, John. "What is the Kingdom of God." Desiring God. Last modified September 8, 2017. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-the-kingdom-of-god.

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Bao Vang is a wife and mom of two amazing daughters. When Bao's not serving her local church, she likes to write and spend time with her family. Bao received her MA in Theological Studies from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and she is currently working on a PhD in Bible Exposition at John W. Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University. Bao is also a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature.