The Gospel

The word ‘gospel’ is from the Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) word ‘godspell’, which means ‘good story’. It has the same meaning as another word which we use, which comes from the Greek language. That word is ‘evangelism’, which is from the Greek meaning, literally, ‘good message’.

The first four books of the New Testament are known as the four Gospels – the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Here is the opening statement in Mark’s Gospel:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.Mark 1:1

So, the ‘good story’, or the ‘good message’, or the ‘good news’ is about someone called Jesus Christ, who is identified by Mark as being ‘the Son of God’.

In a separate article, we’ll be looking in detail at who Jesus Christ is. In this introduction I simply want to present a summary of the gospel message – the headlines of this good news story, if you like – and then in later articles try to explain what the main elements of the story mean.

Let me begin by emphasising that although I’m using the word ‘story’, we are dealing here not with a made-up story that just illustrates how we ought to live. We are dealing with the truth; and how we relate to this truth – whether we reject it as nonsense and move on, or accept it as the truth and begin to live in the light of it – is the most important decision that any of us can ever make.

It is the difference between eternal life and eternal death.

Here it is in a few brief one-liners:

• God created a universe, and everything in it was good.
• He created spiritual beings (whom we would call ‘angels’) and physical beings (such as dogs, cats, and koala-bears).
• He created mankind “in His own image” – a special type of being that is both physical and spiritual.
• Evil entered the universe through an angel whom we call Satan, who rebelled against God and attempted to usurp His authority.
• Mankind fell under the influence of Satan and also rebelled against God, turning their backs to Him and pursuing their own, selfish agendas.
• God reached out to mankind in an attempt to bring them back to Him, but they refused. He forged a nation – the nation of Israel – as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, but even they rejected Him and turned against Him.
• Finally, God sent to the earth his only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to live as a man and to die a death that would pay the price of mankind’s sin and open the way for them to return to God, be forgiven, and to receive the gift of eternal life.
• Whoever puts their faith in Jesus Christ and walks in obedience to Him will be accepted by God, be brought into His presence, and live with Him for ever.
• Whoever does not receive Christ will be rejected by God and condemned to eternal punishment.

That last statement makes it sound as if the Gospel isn't good news for everybody, but only those who decide to follow Jesus.

Well, that's absolutely the way it is, and as we progress through this series of articles, you'll find out why that's so, and why there isn't any other way that God could have arranged it.

If there had been another way, I'm certain that He would have made it work.

However, let’s start looking at all this in a little more detail, beginning with a very important question: What's the problem?.