We call it "good news" because it is the story of God's victory over our dreaded enemy, death. Here's a brief talk on the subject.
This is gaudy stuff. I don't blame anyone for not believing it. But it's a major part of the good news. There are many ways to summarize the gospel. It's the story of Jesus as presented in the four accounts we call "the Gospels" in the New Testament. In that story we learn that Jesus was (and is!) God, and that he came to us, born of a woman, to bring salvation to his people. And did so . . . that is, made salvation available . . . by going to the cross, willingly and in obedience to the Father, so that those who believe might have eternal life.
Words like salvation and eternal life are not just technical or theological terms. They mean exactly what you would expect them to mean. Your life gets saved (Oh, death, where is thy sting!), and you live forever with God (Father, Son, Spirit) in a renewed heaven and earth. When Christians pray the familiar prayer that Jesus taught in the Gospel of Matthew, they say, in essence, "do you will, Lord, and make this earth like heaven (the abode of the Lord). Unite heaven and earth by coming to us, dwelling among us, and being our King forever."
King? We're into presidents here, not kings. But we cannot explain the good news to anyone without reference to this word and to its companion, Kingdom. A familiar term in the Gospel according to Matthew is the term, "Kingdom of heaven," or alternatively, "kingdom of God." What we Christians mean by these terms is the reign and rule of God in a particular place. The place where God's will is accomplished perfectly and forever. When Jesus began his ministry this was his message in a nutshell: "I bring good news! The Kingdom of God is at hand."
This idea, the idea that God is intent on establishing a new heaven and a new earth for those who believe, a realm in which he reigns over all, with sin and death destroyed, is the broadest circle to which we may apply the label, Gospel. The story of the Cross is crucial to all this, because it is the means by which this great victory for the Kingdom of God is accomplished. You can't have the good news of the kingdom without the story of the Cross, which is found in all four Gospel accounts in the New Testament. Christ goes to his death for our sake, atoning for our sins.
I'm aware that this has not exactly been a succinct presentation of the Gospel, but I find that succinct presentations always leave something important out. Often people leave out the part about a kingdom, yet the New Testament makes that part the very beginning and end of the good news. Matthew 4:17 leads inexorably to Revelation 21:1. And it gets there by way of John 3:16.
Much more can be said. This good news is really great news! Our part is only to believe it. Listen to it, read about it, study it, ask questions, and pray with whatever tiny degree of faith you might have that God would move your mountain of disbelief, and he will do it.
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