Rediscovering the Gospel
For the most part I can’t claim any of these thoughts to be mine, as they rely heavily on Tom Wright’s book, “What St. Paul really said” - particularly chapter 9.
Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” - Mark 2 v 14-15
I think gospel is one of those words that I think has become muddied over time, the meaning lost on us as it has been used in different ways and with different intentions.
We hear a gospel message.
We assume its just another word for “good news”.
We think its one of the first 4 books in the New Testament.
We see a gospel choir, or listen to a gospel song.
We think of it as the moment we are saved.
Lots of different meanings, but none of them close to the magnitude of what the gospel really is.
However, I think that verse from Mark expresses exactly and succinctly what the gospel is.
It is the announcement that Jesus is Lord - Lord of the world, Lord of the cosmos, Lord of the earth, of the heavens, of everything we see, everything we think and everything that might ever be.
When we start to try to get our heads around this, there can be some huge implications.
The friction between preaching the gospel and social action dissipates in an instant. Preaching the gospel is announcing Jesus as Lord, social action is bringing that Lordship into being - they are one and the same. In fact, to preach the gospel without living it out is a contradiction, just as living it without preaching is an great omission. More than this, the gospel is at its most powerful when it is presented as words with action combined.
If Jesus is Lord over all, then there is no area of human life that does not need to come under the sovereignty of Jesus, there is no area of our lives that we can hold back from being obedient to Him. We can no longer treat our faith as only a personal thing between ourselves and God - if Jesus is Lord then our lives have to align with his rule.
We often rest on the thought that we saved by faith, however Paul talks about “obedience by faith”. Faith and obedience are not opposite - they are complimentary. The word our bibles translate as faith could just as correctly be translated faithfulness. In that light, the onus shifts from not just having faith, but to being faithful; being true to what God has asked of us. When we look at it this way, we recognise that holiness and obedience are the appropriate response for those who, by grace, are in the family of God.
As we look beyond ourselves, we see that the world around us owes allegiance to Jesus, that it is out of line with His rule. We need to show the world that there is a better way of being human, a way that is characterised by self-giving love, by justice, honesty, and by breaking down divisions.
If Jesus is Lord of all, then money and materialism are not. We must remind ourselves and others that we have another King, and that we are not to give into worshipping an idol.
If Jesus is Lord of all, then sexuality and all that the modern world tells us about it is not. We can no longer allow ourselves to buy into the lies that surround us. We need to reclaim the purity and purpose of self-giving love. We need to rediscover God’s perspective on sex and relationships, not being seduced into thinking the way the world thinks, but staying true to His intentions.
I could go on applying this to other areas of life, but I won’t.
I guess what I’m getting at, is that the gospel is not an experience, the gospel is allegiance.
When we announce the Lordship of Jesus, we proclaim that, in Jesus, the one true God has once and for all dealt with sin, death, guilt and shame, and calls every man and woman to abandon the idols that hold them captive, to discover a new life, and a new way of living in Him.
It is not about making us feel warm and fuzzy. Its not something we can pick up and set down.
It is a royal announcement, and no herald in the ancient world would say, “Caesar is emperor, accept him if it suits you”.
The gospel offers a way of life that ultimately leads to self fulfillment. However, to get there, we must first go through the cross. There is no doubt that we will experience many things from a life lived in allegiance to Jesus, however the only experience that is guaranteed is that of carrying the cross.