What is the gospel?

I've left this post up for posterity. This was my first attempt to start blogging my senior pastor journey. Be kind 😀

I recently recorded some 2 minute devotions at the local radio station for a segment they produce called "Look up and Live." They play them every morning between 6-6.30 here in Big Spring (The call letters are KBST if you want to look them up on the web and try to catch one, pretty early though). The things I talked about have been pretty heavy on me, so I thought I would put them here in print also. I'm very interested to see what everyone thinks.

The word “gospel” literally means good news. That is why when you ask most people what the gospel message is they tell you it is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. This surely is good news for us! As I was reading through the gospel of John a while back, I began to notice that Jesus often refers to “good news.” I became intrigued. What is the “good news” or “gospel” that Jesus spoke about so often? If you notice when read the gospels and much of the new testament, you will find that Jesus, the disciples, and the apostles repeatedly speak about the Kingdom of God. Jesus said many times, “Let me tell you the good news about the Kingdom of God.” Over and over they say this same thing. They were obsessed with the idea of the Kingdom of God. Then it hit me, their idea of the gospel message was different from ours. Jesus came to tell us about the Kingdom of God and show us what it looked like and let us know it is available right here and now. Over the years, I believe that we might have substituted this gospel for another. Our gospel has become the minimum entrance requirements for heaven. I believe it is true that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that all who believe in him and have asked for and accepted his forgiveness for our sins will get to spend eternity with him in heaven, but I also believe that as Christians we can have so much more. The good news is not finding that magic word that helps us get into heaven and avoid hell, the good news is that the Kingdom of God is accessible to everyone right here, right now. Remember this prayer, “Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done?” In the prayer that Jesus taught us he said, “Your kingdom come.” Jesus primary concern was to make sure the kingdom of God was available to everyone and His purpose was to model God’s kingdom in his life, death and resurrection. Everything he did and said and thought was all about God’s kingdom. So what does God’s kingdom look like? Think about what you imagine heaven to be like. It is a place where the outsiders and marginalized are welcomed and loved. Where the rich and poor get along. It is an awesome place, and Jesus’ mission was to model that for us. So as Christians, remember that not only do we have our reward when we are no longer on this earth, but the Kingdom of God is available to us right here, right now.

Comments

  1. johnnybFebruary 4, 2010 at 8:23 AM

    I agree with you on one point, that we have misunderstood the gospel. However, the Kingdom of God that takes root in our regenerated hearts is a benefit of the gospel, not the gospel itself. We should always caution ourselves when we began to market Jesus for the benefits. The gospel is not more than "Jesus died", He died, should we not stop and think about that!!! If I was to shake some keys in your face the sound of those keys would mean nothing to you, but shake those keys in the face of someone locked up in prison and those keys are the sound of freedom. Our problem, as American Christians, we are not gospel hardened we are gospel ignorant. The magnitude of the cross is undeniable to a regernate person. The verse in Gal. ch 3 : 10 (paraphrasing) "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them". This condemns everyone in the entire world. There has been only one to to fulfill all of the law on this earth, Jesus Christ. We are all not good enough and the problem is we don’t understand this!! Because when we understand this, Just as Paul says in Romans 7, I do what I hate to do and not what I want to do, Oh what a wretched man I am!! When we understand who we are, we see our need for a savior and the death of Christ becomes precious to us!!! I mean think about it......It took the death of God's only son to save us, that’s how bad we are!!! So when we read a little farther down in Gal. 3:13 (paraphrasing) "Christ redeems us from the law, by becoming a curse himself" WOW!!!!! Praise God for his mercy!! That Christ stood in my place, and my sin was imputed to him, and God crushed his only son(Isa. 53:10) for me. His justice was satisfied in his Son, the justice I should have taken and now the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to me, not according to what I do, but according to what Jesus did. This is the gospel and it is so precious. Not to make much of this, is just down right STUPIDITY on our part!!! To even suggest something more than His death, as the gospel, the Kingdom of God(a benefit of the gospel), is reckless. While Christ was on the earth declaring the good news, it was the manifestation of himself, the incarnate Love, Mercy and Kindness of God, to a lost and dying people!! I assume you are a Christian Calvary, so as a brother in Christ, who cares for you, be very careful to what you post, you will be held accountable for everything. Grace to you in Jesus Christ.

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  2. Calvary CallenderFebruary 4, 2010 at 9:21 AM

    Johnny, I am not sure you understood what I was saying. I did not discount Jesus death and resurrection, nor did I infer that this is not part of the gospel. I absolutely believe that Jesus took my place on the cross and it is because of this that I can be redeemed. I fear you may have misunderstood the intention of my post. Many Christians have reduced the gospel to the minimum entrance requirements for heaven. Many believe that Jesus died simply so we can get to heaven and avoid hell. What I am saying is that the gospel is so much more than that. Jesus spoke often of the good news of the Kingdom of God, but never spoke of the good news of how to stay out of hell. I think it important that not only do we understand exactly what you said, that we as humans are depraved and it is only by Jesus' sacrifice and the grace of God that we can escape that depravity and a life without God, but that we don't limit God to think that all he offers is eternal life. While he surely does offer us an eternity with him through forgiveness of our sins by the death and resurrection of Jesus, he also offers an abundant life on this earth. I appreciate your concern. Believe me, I have prayed about, wept over, and studied this for some time. I am not trying to reduce or minimize Jesus sacrifice or God's grace, only point out that we should not be narrow minded to think the gospel message is only how to get into heaven and avoid hell.

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  3. johnnybFebruary 4, 2010 at 9:29 AM

    I must have misunderstood then. Im glad we are on the same page. Praise God!!! When you say, "he offers an abundant life".... What do you mean by that?

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  4. Calvary CallenderFebruary 4, 2010 at 9:38 AM

    Not abundant financially, necessarily, but abundant spiritually and socially. If we are Kingdom living on earth...loving people, being kind, compassionate, welcoming the poor and marginalized, etc., and we do this in a community (church), our lives are much more abundant because we are blessed by our community. Not only are we blessing others, we are being blessed ourselves. This may be over-simplified, but I hope you can see what I am getting at.

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  5. AnonymousFebruary 4, 2010 at 10:22 AM

    Hey Cal...enjoyed reading your post. I would encourage to look at Mark 1:15. Supports what your saying. Glad we are learning together what God's Kingdom is about.

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