The word gospel literally means ‘good news’. We should ask ourselves what is this news and why is it good?
Firstly it is news meaning that it concerns definite events that happened. The fact that it is news means that we have no power to alter or change the news! We can simply believe it or choose to deny it. When we believe the news something mysterious happens in that this news becomes the very power of God to us, transforming us in our hearts and we become alive to God. We find that the separation we have experienced from knowing God is removed and we are brought near to Him, to know Him, love Him and serve Him.
So then what was this event that happened and which we are asked to believe? It is this: In the first century AD, God sent His Son from Heaven to earth to live among us. God’s eternal Son, Jesus was born in Israel to a virgin named Mary. This Son of God lived a perfect and blameless life on earth and then died a bloody and murderous death at the hands of wicked man. Though he was innocent, he was killed. Even the presiding judge Pilate said ‘I find no fault in this man’. However, the prophet Isaiah had foretold these events 900 years earlier. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified between two thieves, and died upon a wooden cross after enduring such a beating that he was no longer recognizable.
After He had been dead for three days, God raised Him up. Death couldn’t hold Him, and he appeared to more than 500 people over the next 40 days that He was on earth. During this time he spoke about the Kingdom of God, and showed his disciples how all the events of His life had been predicted and promised in the Jewish scriptures (the Old Testament).
Now what makes this news so amazing, is that Christians are told to cherish, honor, remember and be grateful for this horrific death that their God suffered and died! How can this be?! How could the Son of God’s brutal death at the hands of wicked men be something that people celebrate?!
This is the where the ‘good’ of the good news comes in. This death is good for Christians because Christ’s death was not unexpected or random. Rather the scriptures tell us that Jesus was delivered according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God! This life, death and resurrection was God’s plan for Christ. Which means that this suffering and death was for a specific purpose! And Isaiah, one of many prophets who foretold of Christ’s life and death years before the time, gives us a clear reason what this suffering was for. “He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all”.
So this Jesus died and was murdered on our behalf! He died the death we should have died, and took our place. The wrath of God was upon Him, when it should have come to us.
The reason God’s wrath should have come to us is because we have all rejected God. In the words of Isaiah ‘we all like sheep have gone astray, we have turned – every one – to his own way’. And God is life. So when we turn our backs on life, we inadvertently walk towards death. Our rejection of God, our decision to follow our own way, our failure to love Him with all our hearts, our willful disobedience of all His commands has left us alienated from God, but not just alienated. We are spiritually dead, and awaiting our physical death as the final outworking of our alienation from the Author of life.
But Jesus died the death we should have died! He suffered and was alienated from God on the cross in our place, for our sins! And not only that, but when we trust in Him and believe this news, His perfect righteous life get’s ‘given’ to us, ‘credited’ into our account, just as our sin got ‘given’ to Him on the cross, and ‘credited’ into his account.
This means that a divine exchange has taken place. Jesus dies the death we should have died, and we get to live in the benefit of the perfect life He lived! The benefits of that life are that we get to know God! And as we know Him we find we love Him, treasure Him, revolve our lives around Him and want to serve Him all our days.
The gospel is good news because in it we hear that the greatest need any of us ever has had, to be reconciled to our Creator, God and loving Father has been made possible because of something which happened in which we were not involved. All we have to do is respond by believing this news, and then watch as God mysteriously transforms us, makes us alive to Himself, and we begin to see our entire lives being turned upside down.
I welcome your comments on the clarity of this post!
Simon