The gospel literally means good news. We talk a lot about the gospel, but do we spend time to contemplate what is the news that is good? Some, if not most will say that the good news is the gospel of salvation. God sent his only begotten son to die on a cross for our sin and whoever believes in him will be saved. But if that is all there is to the gospel, then why does Matthew say in 4:23, "And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people." and in 24:14 he says, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Here and in other places in the Gospels, the good news is the kingdom has come. What does this good new have to do with the gospel salvation? And why are we to preach the good news that the king has come to all nations?
Jesus came teaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. Then he healed the sick, raised the dead and forgave sinner their sin. Since the Gospels called the gospel that of the kingdom this must be the essential understanding of what the good news is. As I have usually thought of it as the coming of Jesus the Christ who is king of kings. That is true. Where he is, he brings his rule. But there seems to be more. Jesus' coming starts a new way of existing. He heals the sick because there is no sickness in his kingdom. He saves sinners and makes us children of God because there are no sinners in His kingdom, it is Holy. He raises the dead because the kingdom is life.
I think about this because it has wonderful implications for us today. The good news of the kingdom includes the good news of salvation. This is key. Man’s fall into sin unleashed death, disorder, and destruction. But with salvation Jesus will renew the creation and glorified it. (Rm. 8:18-25). So, the gospel not only saves us to worship God in church. It tells us how to live with our neighbors, with our activities and with our society.
The gospel urges us to care for our neighbor. The good news guides us to care for the sick and those in prison. It compels us to make peace and to love our enemy, modeling God's forgiveness when we do so. The coming kingdom is good news for the creation as well. He will reclaim and renew the creation as His garden. The gospel declares Jesus is coming to rule and he is working through us to reclaim everything. He sends us into all the world, not just geographically but to all cultures, all disciplines such as science and the arts and politics. Jesus is Lord of all. That means he is Lord of everything, and he desires us to bring everything under Him.
So, for the next few weeks I will explore more, what is the good news and what that means for us today. To good deeper into today's reflection I encourage you to watch the following video on the link: Heaven & Earth (The Bible Project).
Grace and Peace,
Pastor MacDonald