God's Good News

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God’s Good News

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 1 vs. 14, we read that Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of God, or as some bible versions put it “God’s Good News”. While many people today do not see Jesus as a preacher of the gospel, but rather that the gospel is about Jesus, Mark informs us that at the onset of Jesus’ public ministry he was preaching or heralding the gospel. Perhaps the reason that most people do not see Jesus as a preacher of the gospel is because they understand the gospel to only be about the death and resurrection of Jesus and the consequent forgiveness of sins. And yet, Jesus said right at the start of his public ministry “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel… (Luke 4:18).”

Mark does not leave us in vs. 14 wondering about the meaning of the gospel, i.e. the good news. He informs us in vs. 15 of the content of Jesus’ gospel preaching by quoting him as saying, “… the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel”. That is a good outline of Jesus’ preaching. Jesus was proclaiming that the kingdom of God is approaching or drawing near, and that’s good news. It was also a call to repent, (to change your mind, your thinking, attitude and behavior) by believing what he was preaching about the coming of God’s kingdom and receiving it as Good News.

We read in Hebrews 1:1 that “God, who spoke in times past… in the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us in His son…” The message that God has spoken to us in His son, in these last days, is the gospel that Jesus preached, that of the approaching kingdom of God. Contained in the gospel message of the coming kingdom is the promise of life in that coming age. Jesus, as quoted in Luke 18:30, put it in these terms. “There is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children for the sake of the kingdom of God (cp. Mark 10:29, for my sake and the gospel’s), who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.” The life of the age to come that is promised for believing and obedience to the Gospel is a life without the prospect of death. Now that really is good news. That should be enough to bring anyone conscious of the aging process at work in them, that is taking them to the inevitable end of death, to take Jesus seriously when he says we ought to pray, “Thy Kingdom come”.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, which Jesus and his contemporaries were familiar with, and had access to, (commonly called the Old Testament) God is referred to by many titles. El Elyon is Hebrew for “Most High God”. El Shaddai is “Almighty God”. Both of these titles or names refer to “YHWH“ (often pronounced Yahweh), which is the proper name of God and is translated as LORD in many versions of the bible. When Jesus spoke of his coming in power and glory, which is a reference to his coming to sit on the throne of David as King in the kingdom of God, he said that he was coming “in the name of the LORD” (Matt.23: 39, quoting Ps. 118:26). Indeed, the Jewish people were expecting their Messiah to come in the name of YHWH (see Luke 19:38). The Apostle Paul writes concerning Jesus, “God has given (favorably granted, bestowed upon, conferred upon) him a name above all names.” When he returns, Jesus shall reign as king in Jerusalem, “the city of the Great King”, in the coming kingdom of God, in the name, authority and power of the LORD (YHWH). This is definitely good news, as we are promised by God, through the Hebrew prophets, a good and righteous government when the Messiah (the Christ, see John 1:41) takes up the reigns of power and establishes peace on earth.

God's Good News mp3

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