It’s Good News
January 21, 2009 (Wednesday)
The word, “gospel,” is a translation of the Greek word, “euangelion,” which means, “good news.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is Good News.
The Gospel is the good news of salvation by grace. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8-9 NIV). Salvation is God’s doing. “The Father has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:12-14). The hymn has it right: “In my hand no price I bring; simply to thy cross I cling.”
The Gospel is the good news of a Savior. Jesus is divine (“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” John 1). He is perfect (“In him was no sin,” 1 John 3:5). He teaches us how to live, and does so with authority (“Never man spake like this man”). He died to bring us to God (“At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away, it was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day”). By rising from the dead, He conquered death, our ultimate enemy.
The Gospel is the good news of the power of God. Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God” (Romans 1:16). Christ has power to deliver us from the penalty of sin, a second death in Hell. His power will take us to Heaven. His power changes the course of a believer’s life and makes everything new.
Yes, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is good news indeed!