What is the Gospel

But what does the Bible actually say? What really does Jesus mean when he refers to the Gospel?

If someone would ask you to explain the Gospel, what would you say? Well, many people would sum up the Gospel as this: that Jesus came to this earth, he died on the cross, and rose from the dead to save me from my sins. If I repent and put my faith in him, I can go to heaven and live eternally.

There is truth in that. But the focus becomes my salvation and my personal experience. But what does the Bible actually say? What really does Jesus mean when he refers to the Gospel? Well, to begin with, the Gospel translates into the Greek New Testament word, euangelion, and its Old Testament Hebrew verb equivalent, besar. These words mean good news. Now, the word besar would have been used in the context as a royal announcement, as when David heard the good news that his army had defeated the enemy in battle and he still rules on the throne. And euangelion is always used to announce the arrival of a new king, as when the angels announce to the shepherds the good news of the arrival of Christ, the Anointed King.

Let's look at other places where the Gospel is mentioned. Luke 9:1-6 says, "Then he called his twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, 'Take nothing for your journey, neither staves nor script, neither bread, neither money, neither have two coats apiece.

And whatsoever house you enter into, there abide and fence depart. And whosoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the dust from your feet for a testimony against them.'" And they departed and went through the towns, preaching the Gospel and healing everywhere. So Jesus gave instructions to his twelve disciples for their first missionary trip.

When they preached the Gospel, what do you think was their message? That this guy named Jesus was going to die on a cross and if you believe in him, then you can go to heaven? Well, actually, the mystery of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus was hid from the disciples until the resurrection of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit, when they finally were able to see the complete picture.

For example, later on in this narrative, Matthew 16:21-22, it says, "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, 'Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee.'" You see that Peter rebuked Jesus for telling him that he was going to die and rise from the dead.

So my question is that if the disciples did not understand that Jesus needed to die, how could they have preached the Gospel? How could they have preached something that they themselves didn't comprehend? To help us understand, let's look back to Luke 9:2-6. And linking these two verses together, it says, "And he, Jesus, sent them to preach the kingdom of God. And they departed preaching the Gospel." The key is to understand that the message of the kingdom of God and the Gospel are synonymous.

Contrary to what many people believe, the Gospel is not a repent of my sins so I can go to heaven message. It's more than just that. It's something so much more exciting. And please, please do not misunderstand me. In no way do I mean to minimize the sacrifice of Jesus and the forgiveness of sin. I am so thankful for what Jesus has done for me by rescuing me from sin and death.

But repentance and forgiveness of sin is only the beginning of our life with Christ and not an end in and of itself. Now let's turn our attention to the message that Jesus preached. Matthew 4:17-23 says, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' And they straightway left their nets and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.

And he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases among the people. The message that Jesus preached was the message of the Gospel of the kingdom.

Although Jesus' blood does cover our sins, but he hadn't died yet. So his message was not that his blood was going to cover their sins in the future. No, his message was relative to them in their time. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, which is something you can reach. It's within your grasp. And quoting Jesus, "Follow me," which is an invitation to join with him. The Gospel is the message that the king has come. The king is here. All that the prophets had prophesied about, after all this time waiting for this Messiah, he has finally come. And to accept the Gospel is to join ourselves with the king and follow him in his kingdom.

As the message of Jesus was for the people in their time, so is the message of the Gospel of the kingdom in our day. It's not a future message, nor a future kingdom, but it's at hand. It's within our grasp.

Now the focus changes from what I can and cannot do in order to get to heaven to following Jesus because he's king. And heaven is not the goal in life, but the reward to those who obey the king and are a part of his kingdom.

So I would like to compare the two definitions of the Gospel we've discussed. The first, I will call it the mainstream Gospel, which is all about me and my sin. Jesus died for me so that I can go to heaven.

The focus of the mainstream Gospel is about me and my experience. The second Gospel, I will call it the Gospel of the kingdom, is uniting with God's story, God's nation, and God's plan for his people. We unite with something much greater than ourselves. We become a part of the nation of Jesus, a society of people living out the commands of King Jesus, who are giving to the poor, who are living in peace with each other, and have homes that aren't separated by divorce and remarriage.

And by living this way, our perspective changes. And instead of viewing this world as a waiting room until we get to heaven, we create a little bit of heaven on earth.

At the coronation of Jesus, he received a crown and a robe, and he was exalted, not on a throne, but on a cross. Jesus has defeated death, and he reigns as king. That is good news.

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