Believers in Jesus should know what His gospel is. If you were to ask someone to define the gospel for you, they would most likely say, ‘It means good news.’ And, that’s right. But, what specific kind of good news is it?
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What Is the Gospel?
1 Corinthians 15:1–4 (ESV) — 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
- What does the word gospel mean?
- Here are a few entries from Greek dictionaries.
- The gospel of Jesus is the good news concerning the now present instantiation of Jesus’ divine dominion and way of salvation by His death and resurrection.
- God’s good news to humans, or good news as proclamation.1
- The short version and the definitions everyone knows is ‘the gospel is Good news.
- But, do you know the more extended definition, the one about the way of salvation and Jesus dominion?
What Is the Gospel? Its Jesus Dominion Over the Grave
- First, it is His dominion over death, hell, and the grave.
- Without the resurrection, the human race has nothing in the way of salvation.
1 Corinthians 15:15–17 (ESV) — 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
- Our faith is futile.
- The Greek word ‘futile’ means to be empty, devoid of significance, point, or benefit.
- If all we have as believers is what’s available on planet earth, we’re a miserable bunch indeed.
- If Jesus is not Lord over the grave, He can’t be Lord over you.
- That’s what the Gospel is.
- Jesus is Lord.
What Is the Gospel? It’s Jesus Dominion Over Devils
- The second thing the Gospel is about is Jesus dominion over devils, demons and evil spirits.
- Jesus is not only Lord over the grave; He is also Lord over Satan.
- If Jesus is not Lord over Satan, He cannot be Lord over you.
- Our Lord Jesus is a conquering Jesus.
- His victory made your salvation available.
- If Satan had known what the outcome of the crucifixion would be, He would not have pushed for His death.
1 Corinthians 2:7–8 (ESV) — 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
What Is the Gospel?: It’s the Good News of the New Creation
- The gospel of Jesus is also about salvation, your salvation.
- As a child of God, your salvation is not just about the forgiveness of sins.
- Salvation means your spirit, your heart, your insides, are recreated.
- This recreation is a miracle.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) — 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
- The Greek word for ‘creation’ means an object of creation brought into existence by God.
- But the most exciting Greek definition is not the word ‘creation’ but the word ‘new.’
- The Greek word ‘new’ means an original and of a kind not seen before.
- A new creation man is an original.
- The man who believes in Jesus, who is recreated by the Spirit of God, who becomes a new man in Christ, saved, or born-again is a man of a kind not seen before.
- This kind of man did not walk the earth in the Old Testament.
- Do you remember this verse in Genesis?
Genesis 6:4 (KJV) — 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
- The word ‘new’ would fit the description of these giants in the Old Testament.
- They were of a kind not seen.
- Spiritually, you are the New Testament version of giants.
- You are of a kind not seen.
- Adam was spiritually alive inside; so was Eve.
- Since those two, planet earth has not seen the likes of a man, who was alive in His Spirit.
- You are God’s ‘new creation’ man.
What is the Gospel? It’s the Good News of Joint Operations between God and Man
- Salvation means you’ve been drafted to share your salvation story.
- Again, that’s more good news for the new-creation man.
- God has chosen you to work with Him in carrying out His plan.
- If God is going to get anything done, He is going to use you to do it.
- Who else would He use?
- Angels don’t preach the gospel of salvation in this dispensation; men do, men who are ‘blood-washed’ by Jesus sacrifice.
- You are a child of God, His very son.
- Add to that the fact that you are a joint heir with Jesus.
Romans 8:16–17 (ESV) — 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
- That combination means you have something to share.
- What other good news is there?
What Is the Gospel? It Is the Restoration of Family
- No discussion of what the gospel is could be complete unless you talk about the family God’s building.
- Salvation is about the restoration of God’s family.
- The patriarch and matriarch, Adam and Eve split the family when they gave into sin.
- Now, via the sacrifice of Jesus, God has a family of sons.
1 John 3:2 (KJV) — 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
- John Calvin, one of Christianity’s famous Theologians, said it this way.
The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men can become sons of God. * That is one of the best one sentence definitions of the gospel you will find. * Throughout the busyness of life, we must constantly remind ourselves that every day you live on planet earth is a day of good news. * It’s a day of dominion and a day of salvation.
References:
- William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 402. ↩
