The word "Gospel" comes from an Old English word that means "Good News"--which, of course, is the meaning of the Greek word that "gospel" replaces. When Jesus came to preach his message, it was described as "Good News." So what exactly was that good news? I have preached/taught on this topic many times, and whenever I ask the audience to summarize the Gospel in one verse, they always pick the same one. You know which verse I'm talking about:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16, ESV)
In the Western Church, John 3:16 is considered the most important verse in the Bible. It is so central to the message of the Bible that it has become shorthand for the entire Gospel--hence why people write it on signs and in their greasepaint at sporting events. The idea seems to be that if a person got curious enough to look that verse up, they would find there the very core of the Gospel. The trouble is that this is not how the Bible itself summarizes the message of Jesus. In fact, all three of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) summarize the message of Jesus in one verse, and it's very different from John 3:16.
But that's getting ahead of myself. If we want to understand what the Good News is, we have to know the circumstances in which Jesus taught. To put it another way, if Jesus is the answer, what was the question? The New Testament is adamant that Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament, so that would seem to be the place to start. What was the problem in the Old Testament that needed solving? For the first-century Jew to whom Jesus preached, what was the bad news?
Last time we talked about the Divine Ecosystem, and about how human sin had destroyed God's design for creation. We were meant to be God's representatives on Earth, but we rebelled and brought sin and destruction into the world. God even gave us a second chance, through Noah, but we messed that up too. Humanity seemed to be doomed to live in sin.
Then God did something new and unexpected: he chose one man and decided to bring his design back into the world through him. Instead of working with the whole human race, God decided to focus on one person. So he called Abram:
Last time we talked about the Divine Ecosystem, and about how human sin had destroyed God's design for creation. We were meant to be God's representatives on Earth, but we rebelled and brought sin and destruction into the world. God even gave us a second chance, through Noah, but we messed that up too. Humanity seemed to be doomed to live in sin.
Then God did something new and unexpected: he chose one man and decided to bring his design back into the world through him. Instead of working with the whole human race, God decided to focus on one person. So he called Abram:
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(Genesis 12:1-3, ESV)
Notice what God is and is not doing here. He's not giving up on the rest of humanity by choosing Abram--he's not abandoning the Gentiles. Rather, he has chosen Abram to be the beginning of his campaign to bless all the nations of the world. God is still working on restoring all of humanity to his original design (The Divine Ecosystem), but he's beginning in one place with one family.
The story of that family has, of course, become quite well-known: Abraham's descendents went on to become the Nation of Israel (among others). And that family carried on this identity as God's "chosen people:" chosen to save the world. Paul describes this attitude in Romans:
The story of that family has, of course, become quite well-known: Abraham's descendents went on to become the Nation of Israel (among others). And that family carried on this identity as God's "chosen people:" chosen to save the world. Paul describes this attitude in Romans:
...[You Jews\ are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth..."
(Romans 2:19-20, ESV)
The problem, if you are familiar with the story of the Jews, is that they failed in their mission. God gave them an extensive system of laws and rituals--he told them line-by-line how he wanted them to rule the Promised Land--and they rebelled against God, just like everyone else. The Jews had failed, and they knew it:
As a pregnant woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we in your presence, Lord.
We were with child, we writhed in labor,
but we gave birth to wind.
We have not brought salvation to the earth,
and the people of the world have not come to life.
(Isaiah 26:17-18, NIV)
Eventually God had enough of their rebellion and revoked their arrangement, just as he had with Adam and Eve: he exiled them from the Promised Land, removed his presence from the temple, and removed their king from the throne. Even when the Jews came back to the Promised Land, God still did not return to the temple, or restore the Son of David to the throne.
In the midst of their failure, the Jews produced this strange faction of men, called prophets, who would come out of the hills and wilderness to condemn their corruption and rebellion--but also to proclaim hope. These prophets taught confidently that there would come a day when God would restore the Jews completely. But God wasn't just giving them another chance--the Jews had proved that no matter how many chances humanity gets, we will always rebel. No, before he restored them God was actually going to change them so that they would finally be able to obey. The prophets phrased this promise in several ways. They said that God would:
There are many other versions of this promise, but the basic idea was the same: one day God would do something radical so that his people would finally be able to obey him--and once the Israelites could obey him, they could finally get back to their original purpose: to live out God's design, his divine ecosystem, in the Promised Land.
For a Jew, this is the good news. It's not "God loves you!" The Jews already knew that. This message is good, but hardly news. It's not "God will forgive you!" The Jews knew he would do that too. Again, good, but not news. It's not "You get to go to Heaven!" or "You are going to Hell anymore!" either, because the Jews didn't really know much about the afterlife anyway. The existence of Hell would have been news to them.
Rather, the good news, to a Jew, was simply this: "You know that part of you that keeps pushing you to sin, no matter how hard you try not to? You know that thing in your brain that makes you mess up and do stupid, hurtful things even to people you love? God is going to fix that. God is going to change you and take that part right out of you so that you won't mess up anymore. God's going to cure you so that you can finally get back to doing what you were always supposed to be doing!"
Paul describes the Good News this way in Romans 7-8, and he can't even get halfway through without calling out, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25) in the middle of his argument. And since the Jews were God's means to save the whole human race, that means that good news for the Jews is good news for us, too!
This is the foundation of the Vocational Gospel: the Good News is not simply that you've been saved from the eternal consequences of sin, but rather that you've been saved from the power of sin--and you've been saved for a purpose! You've been saved from sin because sin was keeping you from living out the life God designed the human race to live. In fact, the Good News is not ultimately about salvation at all: it's about the cause that God is saving us for, which Jesus calls "The Kingdom of Heaven." Which is why, when the Gospels summarize the message of Jesus, they summarize it this way:
In the midst of their failure, the Jews produced this strange faction of men, called prophets, who would come out of the hills and wilderness to condemn their corruption and rebellion--but also to proclaim hope. These prophets taught confidently that there would come a day when God would restore the Jews completely. But God wasn't just giving them another chance--the Jews had proved that no matter how many chances humanity gets, we will always rebel. No, before he restored them God was actually going to change them so that they would finally be able to obey. The prophets phrased this promise in several ways. They said that God would:
- Pour his Spirit on them (Isaiah 32:14-20, Joel 2:28-9, Zechariah 12:10)
- Write his law on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-4)
- Give them new hearts (Jeremiah 32:39; Ezekiel 36:24-27)
- Heal them from sin (Jer. 3:22; Hosea 14:4).
There are many other versions of this promise, but the basic idea was the same: one day God would do something radical so that his people would finally be able to obey him--and once the Israelites could obey him, they could finally get back to their original purpose: to live out God's design, his divine ecosystem, in the Promised Land.
For a Jew, this is the good news. It's not "God loves you!" The Jews already knew that. This message is good, but hardly news. It's not "God will forgive you!" The Jews knew he would do that too. Again, good, but not news. It's not "You get to go to Heaven!" or "You are going to Hell anymore!" either, because the Jews didn't really know much about the afterlife anyway. The existence of Hell would have been news to them.
Rather, the good news, to a Jew, was simply this: "You know that part of you that keeps pushing you to sin, no matter how hard you try not to? You know that thing in your brain that makes you mess up and do stupid, hurtful things even to people you love? God is going to fix that. God is going to change you and take that part right out of you so that you won't mess up anymore. God's going to cure you so that you can finally get back to doing what you were always supposed to be doing!"
Paul describes the Good News this way in Romans 7-8, and he can't even get halfway through without calling out, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25) in the middle of his argument. And since the Jews were God's means to save the whole human race, that means that good news for the Jews is good news for us, too!
This is the foundation of the Vocational Gospel: the Good News is not simply that you've been saved from the eternal consequences of sin, but rather that you've been saved from the power of sin--and you've been saved for a purpose! You've been saved from sin because sin was keeping you from living out the life God designed the human race to live. In fact, the Good News is not ultimately about salvation at all: it's about the cause that God is saving us for, which Jesus calls "The Kingdom of Heaven." Which is why, when the Gospels summarize the message of Jesus, they summarize it this way:
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
(Matthew 4:17, ESV)
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.”
(Mark 1:14-15, ESV)
But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
(Luke 4:43, ESV)
But the Kingdom is a matter for another post. See you then!
*Much of the argument made here is inspired by the writings of N.T. Wright. If you want to do any further dressing, I recommend his book How God Became King.
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