The Gospel - The Good News!

Everyone has an idea of ​​right and wrong, and everyone has done something wrong - even according to their own ideas. To err is human, says a well-known proverb. Everyone has disappointed a friend, broken a promise, hurt someone else's feelings. Everyone knows guilt. That is why people do not want to have anything to do with God. They do not want a day of judgment because they know that they cannot stand before God with a clear conscience. They know that they should obey him, but they also know that they have not done so. They feel ashamed and guilty. How can their guilt be erased? How can the consciousness be purified? Forgiveness is divine, the key word concludes. God himself will forgive. Many people know this proverb, but they do not believe that God is divine enough to forgive their sins.üto forgive. You still feel guilty. They still fear the appearance of God and the day of judgment.

God has appeared before—in the person of Jesus Christ. He came not to condemn, but to save. He brought a message of forgiveness, and he died on a cross to guarantee that we can be forgiven.The message of Jesus, the message of the Cross, is good news for those who feel guilty. Jesus, the divine human, has taken our punishment. All people who are humble enough to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ will be forgiven.

We need this good news. Christ's gospel brings peace of mind, happiness, and personal victory. The real gospel, the good news, is the gospel that Christ preached. The apostles preached the same gospel: Jesus Christ crucified (1. Corinthians 2,2), Jesus Christ in Christians, the hope of glory (Colossians 1,27), the resurrection from the dead, the message of hope and redemption for humanity that is the gospel of the kingdom of God.

God has commissioned his church to sell this messageüand the Holy Spirit to accomplish this task. In the letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes the gospel that Jesus gave to his church: «But I do unto you, brothersühe who announces the gospel that I have preached to you, that you have accepted, that you are also in, by whom you also are saved, if you record with what speech I preached it to you, unless you have come to faith in vain. For I have delivered to you above all what I have also received: that Christ for our Südied after the writings; and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day after the scriptures; and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that he appeared more than füfive hundred brübut at once, of whom most remain until now, and some have also fallen asleep. After this he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; but last of all, as to one born untimely, he appeared to me also" (1. Corinthians 15,1-8 Eberfeld Bible).

Paul emphasizes above all that according to the Holy Scriptures, Jesus is the Messiah or Christ, that he is for our Sünds died, was buried and rose again. He also points out that many can testify to Christ's resurrection if anyone doubts it. Paul makes it clear that it is the gospel through which you are also saved. Our goal should be, like Paul, to pass on what we have received and what comes "before" anything else.

What we have received and therefore need to pass on is in line with what Paul and the other apostles received, especially what others say, "that Christ is for our Südied after the writings; and that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day after the scriptures ... ".

All other teachings of the Bible are based on these fundamental truths. Only the Son of God could for our Sünd die, and only because he did this and rose from the dead can we look forward with unshakable confidence to his return and our inheritance, eternal life. That is why John could write: "If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God, that he has testified about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God makes him aüliar; because he does not believe the testimony that God gave from his Son.And this is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1. John 5,9-12).

The gospel preached by Jesus

Some may, it seems, üHeat on Bible prophecies, but it is difficult for them, füto inspire the central message of the Bible - salvation through Jesus Christ! God has made Christians the most precious of all gifts and has made them obligate to sell to othersüas well as they can receive this gift!

When Peter described to captain Cornelius the role of the apostles, he said, "And he [Jesus] commanded us to preach and testify to the people that he is God-given judge of the living and the dead Prophets that by his name all who believe in him, forgiveness of the Süshould receive "(Acts 10,42-43).

This is the most important message; the good message revealed to the apostles was the central message of all the prophets - that God judges Jesus Christ üWho made the living and the dead, and everyone who believes in him, Süforgiveness through his name!

The central truth

Luke wrote that Jesus had his Jünger, just before he ascended to heaven, to the central GüThe message of his message reminds us: "Then he opened their understanding to them, so that they understood the Scriptures, and said to them," It is written that Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that preaching will be in his name. " [Repentance] for forgiveness of the süamong all peoples. Start in Jerusalem and be thereür witnesses" (Luke 24,45-48).

What should the apostles understand from the content of Scripture when Jesus made sense to them?ür opened? In other words, what is the central and most important truth to understand from the Old Testament Scriptures, according to Jesus? That Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance leads to the forgiveness of sins.ünds is preached to all nations in his name! "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved," preached Peter" (Acts 4,12).

But what is Init's gospel of the kingdom of God? Did not Jesus preach the good news of the kingdom of God? Natürlich!Is the gospel of the kingdom of God different from what Paul, Peter and John are üpreached about salvation in Jesus Christ? Not at all! Let us be clear that entering the Kingdom of God is salvation. Being saved and entering the Kingdom of God are the same thing! Receiving eternal life is the same as experiencing salvation [or salvation], because salvation is synonymous with being saved from the death-dealing sin.ühands.

In Jesus is life - eternal life. Eternal life requires the forgiveness of the Sühands. And the forgiveness of the Süor justification, one learns only through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is both judge and savior. He is also king of the kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom of God is the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus and His apostles preached the same message - Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way to attain salvation, salvation, eternal life, and entry into the Kingdom of God.

And if one’s senses are opened to understand the Old Testament prophecies, just as Jesus opened the understanding of the apostles (Luke 24,45), it becomes clear that the central message of the prophets was also Jesus Christ (Acts of the Apostles 10,43).

Let us continue. John wrote: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But whoever does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains üover him" (John 3,36). That is clear language!

Jesus said: "I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14,6). What we absolutely understand of the Word of God müis that a person without Jesus Christ can neither come to the Father nor know God, neither inherit eternal life nor come into the Kingdom of God.

In his letter to the Colossians Paul wrote: "With joy says thanks to the Father, who tühas done to the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has saved us from the power of darkness and has transposed us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have salvation, the forgiveness of the Sünd" (Colossians 1,12-14).

Notice how the heritage of the saints, the kingdom of light, the kingdom of the Son, the salvation, and the forgiveness of the sünds into a seamless garment of the word of truth, the gospel. In verse 4, Paul speaks of the faith [of the Colossians] in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints. He writes that this faith and love spring from "the hope... whichür is ready for you in heaven. You have heard of her before through the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you ... "(verses 5-6). Again the gospel is at the center of hope for eternal salvation in the kingdom of God through faith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through whom we were redeemed.

In verses 21 to 23 Paul continues, "And you, who once were aliens and enemies in your mind by doing evil works, He has now reconciled through His mortal body through death, in order to present you holy and blameless and without blemish in His sight, if you continue in the faith,ünd and steadfast, and do not depart from the hope of the gospel which you have heard and which was preached to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, have become his servant."

In verses 25 to 29, Paul further discusses the gospel he was called to serve and his goal in preaching it.üHe wrote: «I became a servant to you [the church] by the ministry which God gave me, to preach to you his word richly, the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints, to whom God wanted to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, namely, Christ in you, the hope of glory.üLet us preach and exhort all men, and teach all men in all wisdom, that we may make every man perfect in Christ. DafürmüI also strive and strive in the power of him who works mightily within me.

What the gospel is about

The whole Gospel is about Jesus Christ. It is about his identity and his work as the Son of God (John 3,18), as judges of the living and the dead (2. Timothy 4,1), as Christ (Acts 17,3), as a Savior (2. Timothy 1,10), as High Priest (Hebrews 4,14), as Füspeaker (1. John 2,1), as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14), as firstborn among many Brüdern (Romans 8,29), as a friend (John 15,14-15).

It is about him as the shepherd of our souls (1. Petr  2,25), as the Lamb of God, which the S.üends of the world (John 1,29), as für Passover lamb sacrificed to us (1. Corinthians 5,7), as the image of the invisible God and as the firstborn before all creation (Col.1,15), as the head of the church and as the beginning and firstborn from the dead (verse 18), as the radiance of the glory of God and the exact image of his being (Hebrews 1,3), as revealer of the Father (Matthew 11,27), as way, truth and life (John 14,6), as Tür (John 10,7).

The gospel is about Christ as the originator and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 1 Cor2,2), as ruler üAbout God's creation (Revelation 3,14), as the first and last, beginning and end (Revelation 22,13), as a sprout (Jeremiah 23,5), as the corner stone (1. Petrus 2,6), as God's power and God's wisdom (1. Corinthians 1,24), as the adultüneeds of all nations (Haggai 2,7).

It is about Christ, the Faithful and True Witness (Revelation 3,14), heir of everything (Hebr. 1,2), the horn of salvation (Luke 1,69), the light of the world (John 8,12), the living bread (John 6,51), the root of Jesse (Isa. 11,10), our salvation (Luke 2,30), the sun of righteousness (Mal. 3,20), the word of life (1. John 1:1), the Son of God who was appointed in power through his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1,4).

Paul wrote, "No one can lay any foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1. Corinthians 3,11). Jesus Christ is the fulcrum, the central theme, the foundation of the gospel. How could we preach anything else without contradicting the Bible?

Jesus said at the time to the FüJews, "You search the Scriptures, thinking that in them you have eternal life; and it is she that testifies of me, but you do not want to come to me that you might have life" (John 5,39-40).

Message of salvation

The message to sell the Christiansüthose who are called, is about salvation, that is, about eternal life in the kingdom of God. The eternal salvation or the kingdom of God can only be reached through the one true Tür, the only true way - Jesus Christ. He is the King of that kingdom. John wrote: "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; whoever confesses the Son has the Father also" (1. John 2,23). The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy: «For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself forür all to salvation, that this might be preached in due time" (1. Timothy 2:5-6).

In Hebrews 2,3 we are warned: «How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which began with the preaching of the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard it?» The message of salvation was first proclaimed by Jesus himself.ündt- it was Jesus' own message from the Father. John wrote down what God himself ütestifies about his Son: "And this is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1. John 5,11-12).

In John 5,22 up to 23, John again emphasizes the importance of the son: "For the father judges no one, but has everything judgment for the son üso that they may all honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. "Therefore the Church preaches so steadily üAbout Jesus Christ! Isaiah prophesied, "Therefore saith God the Ren: Behold, I will lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious, foundational cornerstone. Whoever believeth shall not be ashamed" (Isaiah 28,16 Zurich Bible).

As we walk in the new life to which we are called in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him as our sure good, and daily hope for His return to glory and power, we can rejoice in our eternal inheritance in hope and confidence.

A call to live the future here and now

But after John was taken prisoner, Jesus came to Galilee and preached the gospel of God, saying, "The time is fulfilled."ülled, and the kingdom of God has come. Repent and believe in the gospel!" (Mark 1,14-15).

This gospel that Jesus brought is the good news—a powerful message that changes and transforms lives. The gospel üBerfünot only hears and converts, but in the end all the bestümake him refuse himüThe gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1,16). The gospel is God’s invitation to us to experience life on a completely different level.ülead. It is the good news that there is an inheritance waiting for us that will come into our possession when Christ comes again. It is also an invitation to an invigorating spiritual reality that can already be ours.

Paul calls the gospel the gospel of Christ (1. Corinthians 9,12), Gospel of God (Romans 15,16) and Gospel of Peace (Ephesians 6,15). Starting with Jesus, he begins toüredefining the idea of ​​the kingdom of God, focusing on the universal significance of the first coming of Christ.The Jesus who üThe one who wandered the dusty roads of Judea and Galilee, Paul teaches, is now the risen Christ, who sits at the right hand of God and is the head of all powers and authorities (Colossians 2,10).

According to Paul, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are "first" in the gospel; they are the schlüevents in God's plan (1. Corinthians 15,1-11). The Gospel is the good news forüthe poor and the oppressorüHistory has a goal. In the end, right will triumph, not might. The pierced hand has üOver the armored fist triumphed. The kingdom of evil gives way to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, an order of things that Christians are already experiencing in part.

Paul countered this aspect of the gospelüAbout the Colossians: "With joy says thanks to the Father who tühas done to the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has saved us from the power of darkness and has transposed us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have salvation, the forgiveness of the Sünd" (Colossians 1,12-14).

FüFor all Christians, the gospel is and was the present realityüfuture hope. The risen Christ who is Lord üTime, space and everything that happens down here is the fighter für the Christians. He who was taken up into heaven is the omnipresent source of power (Ephesians 3,20-21).

The good news is that Jesus Christ is every obstacle in his earthly life üThe way of the cross is a hard but victorious way to the kingdom of God. That is why Paul can summarize the gospel in the succinct formula, «For I considered itür right to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1. Corinthians 2,2).

The big reversal

When Jesus appeared in Galilee and earnestly preached the gospel, he expected a response. He also expects a response from us today. But Jesus' invitation to enter the kingdom was not kept in a vacuum. Jesus' call forüThe Kingdom of God was accompanied by impressive signs and wonders that made a country suffering under Roman rule sit up and take notice. This is one reason why Jesus had to clarify what he meant by the Kingdom of God. The Jews of Jesus' time were waiting for a Füwho brought back to their nation the glories of David and Solomonürde. But Jesus' message was doubly revolutionary. First, he took the common expectation that aüdischer Superstaat throw off the Roman yoke wüand transformed it into something completely different. He made of the widespread hope for political liberation a message of spiritual salvation: the Gospel!Jesus shocked people with the consequences of his good news. "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first" (Matthew 19,30).

“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” he said to his youngüdian countrymen. "When you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, but yourselves cast out" (Luke 13:28).

The great Last Supper was für all there (Luke 14,16-24). The Gentiles were also invited into the Kingdom of God. And a second one was no less revolutionary. This prophet from Nazareth seemed to have spent a lot of timeür to have the rightsless - from the lepers and Krüpimp up to greedy tax collectors - and sometimes even füthe hated Roman Unterdrücker. The good news that Jesus brought contradicted all expectations, even those of his faithful disciplesünger (Luke 9,51-56). Jesus repeatedly said that the kingdom they expected in the future was already dynamically present in his work. After a particularly dramatic episode, he said: "But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" (Luke 11,20). In other words, the people who saw the ministry of Jesus saw the present of the future. In at least three ways, Jesus turned current expectations upside down:

• Jesus taught the good news that the Kingdom of God is a pure gift—the rule of God that already brings healing. Thus Jesus instituted the "year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4,19; Isaiah 61,1-2). But the Müsleazy and loaded, the poor and beggars, delinquent children and penitent customs officers, penitent whores and outsiders of society. FüHe declared himself a shepherd to black sheep and lost sheep.
• The good news of Jesus was also füthe people there, who were ready to turn to God through the painful purification of true repentance. This sincerely repentant Süwübecome a big in Godüfind a faithful Father who scans the horizon for his wandering sons and daughters and sees them when they are "still far away" (Luke 15,20). The good news of the gospel meant that anyone who says from the heart: "God be me Süand merciful" (Luke 18,13) tmd sincerely thinks that he is part of Godüto find a hearing aid würde. Always."Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Luke 11,9). F.üFor those who believed and turned away from the ways of the world, this was the best news they could hear.
• The gospel of Jesus also meant that nothing could stop the victory of the kingdom that Jesus had brought, even if it looked the opposite. This kingdom wüfierce, merciless resistance, but ultimately wüput it in übernatüpower and glory triumph. Christ said his Jünag: "But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory, and all the peoples will be gathered before him. And he will separate them from one another as a shepherd does a sheep part from the goats "(Matth. 25,31-32).

Thus, the good news of Jesus had a dynamic tension between the "already now" and the "not yet". The gospel of the kingdom referred to the rule of God that already existed - "The blind see and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them" (Matthew 11,5). But the kingdom was "not yet" there in the sense that its full resultüstill to come. To understand the gospel means to understand this twofold aspect: on the one hand the promised presence of the king, who already lives in his people, and on the other hand his dramatic return.

The good news of your salvation

The missionary Paulus helped initiate the second great movement of the gospel - its spread from tiny Judea to the highly civilized Greco-Roman world of the mid-first century. Paul, the converted Christian persecutor, directs the blinding light of the gospel through the prism of everyday life. As he praises the glorified Christ, he is also concerned with the practical consequences of the gospel.

Despite the fanatical opposition, Paul conveys to other Christians the breathtaking significance of Jesus' life, death and resurrection: "And you, who were once alienated and hostile in your minds through evil works, he has now reconciled through his mortal body through death, in order to present you holy and blameless and without blemish in his sight, if only you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and do not depart from the hope of the gospel which you have heard and which has been preached to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, have become his servant" (Colossians 1:14). 1,21-23).

Reconciled. Immaculate. Grace. Redemption. Forgiveness. And not just in the future, but here and now. That is Paul's gospel. The resurrection, the climax to which the Synoptics and John led their readers  (John 20,31), releases the inner power of the Gospel for the daily life of the Christian. The resurrection of Christ confirms the Gospel. Therefore, Paul teaches, those events in distant Judea give hope to all people: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes: to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it is revealed the righteousness of God, which comes from faith to faith" (Romans ). 1,16-17).

The Apostle John adds another dimension to the Gospel. It presents Jesus as theünger whom he loved (John 19,26), remember him, a man with the heart of a shepherd, a church leader with a deep love for people with their worries and fears. "And Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20,30:31).

John's presentation of the Gospel has its core in the remarkable statement: "That you may have life through faith." John wonderfully conveys another aspect of the Gospel: Jesus Christ in moments of greatest personal closeness. John gives a vivid account of the personal, serving presence of the Messiah.

A personal gospel

In the Gospel of John we encounter a Christ who was a powerful public preacher (John 7,37-46). We see Jesus warm and hospitable. From his inviting invitation: Come and see! (John 1,39) up to the challenge to the doubting Thomas to put his finger in the wounds on his hands (John 20,27), the person who became flesh and lived among us is portrayed in an unforgettable way (John 1,14).

People felt so welcome and comfortable with Jesus that they had a lively exchange with him (John 6,5-8th). They lay beside him while they ate and ate from the same plate (John 13,23-26). They loved him so much that as soon as they saw him they swam to the shore to eat together fish that he had fried himself (John 21,7-14).

The Gospel of John reminds us how much the gospel revolves around Jesus Christ, his example and the eternal life we ​​receive through him (John 10,10). It reminds us that it is not enough to preach the gospel. We have to live it too. The apostle John encourages us that others might be won by our example to share the good news of the kingdom of God with us. Such was the case with the Samaritan woman who met Jesus Christ at the well (John 4,27-30), and Mary of Mandala (John 20,10:18-1). He who wept at the tomb of Lazarus, the humble servant who washed his disciples' feet, is still alive today. He gives us his presence through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit: "He who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 4,23,27). Jesus actively leads his people today through the Holy Spirit. His invitation is as personal and encouraging as ever: "Come and see!" (John 1,39).

Brochure of the Worldwide Church of God