The Haunting Question

What is the gospel?

This question has haunted my dreams for the past two years or so. Everywhere I turn as regards Christian doctrine and praxis it shows up. The question is knocking on my door, wanting to be answered. "I'm coming", I'll say, but I'm really just fixing myself a bowl of cereal and settling down to yet another Christian book. I check the window to see if it's still there, and it is - patiently waiting for the door to be opened.

Well, during my time in Worcester I've had a chance to come to the door and open it, ever so slightly.

My first conviction is that when Jesus talks about the gospel and when Paul talks about the gospel, they're talking about the same thing. So for Jesus, the gospel is "the gospel of the kingdom". For Paul, it is "the gospel of the king". These are two sides of the same coin - king and kingdom. Jesus saw himself as one who was establishing the kingdom of God on earth; Paul saw Jesus as the one through whom the kingdom had been established.

What makes this "good news"? What makes this gospel?

We only need to look at what the reign of Jesus is about. I've come up with 5 things:

• Defeat of evil
• Forgiveness
• Fellowship
• Justice
• Judgement

The reason I like these "gospel realities" is that they include the ministry of Jesus. In fact they spring forth from the ministry of Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. If we take many of today's gospels as being sufficient then we are left to conclude that Jesus didn't actually bring the good news at all! If the gospel is simply "You're a sinner, Jesus died for your sins so you wouldn't have to, accept this reality by faith" then Jesus failed miserably in terms of evangelism.

But Jesus was a bearer of good news. He said himself that "The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news...", and he wasn't lying. We read of him casting out demons by the Spirit of God (defeat of evil). We read of him proclaiming the forgiveness of sins (forgiveness). We read of him eating meals with tax collectors and sinners (fellowship). We read of him putting creation to rights (justice). We read of him denouncing that which is evil (judgement). All of this occurred because the kingdom of God was at hand. All of this occurred because The King was at hand. The story of this King -- the story of Jesus -- is the euangelion, the gospel, the good news. That's why the Gospels are the gospel!

What should one do in response? Repent, and believe the good news! That is, turn away from your present kingdom and entrust yourself to the reign of Jesus.

Paul was making the same appeal when he announced that we needed to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The good news was that through Jesus:

• evil has been defeated (Col. 2:15)
• forgiveness is secured (Col. 1:14; 2:13)
• fellowship with God and others can be restored (Col. 1:19-20; 3:12-14)
• justice is being unleashed, and God is restoring people to his kingdom (Col. 1:13)
• judgement is being rendered on all that is anti-God and therefore anti-human (Col. 3:5-6)

And the focus of all these realities? The cross of King Jesus. This is why Paul can write elsewhere that he desires to know nothing else except Christ and him crucified. This is why he can write that the word of the cross is the very power of God.

There is so much more to explore in all of this, but that's where I'm at in terms of answering this haunting question. But it is also a beautiful question, and one I hope to never cease being asked.