It has been said that the Gospel is “news”. It has also been said that the Gospel is in fact “Good News”. (D.A Carson)
Why is the the news “Good”?
What does the “Good News” do for humanity and creation?
“The Jesus that people want is usually not the messiah that people need.” (Kolstad, C)
For a cultural context, the realities of the times of the 1st century church needs to be understood. The Jews wanted a concurring king and one who leads them out of oppression from Rome. Messianic hope was all around. Even after Jesus death there were those who rose up and tried to fulfill the mission of the “messiah” to liberate the Jews from oppression of Rome and culture. Even today the Jews are hoping for their political and cultural liberator.
In America today today people look at Jesus as a good teacher and one to look at to emulate behaviorally. People in American culture today want a made to order messiah. They are looking for something they want rather than something that they need. (This affliction is the same affliction the Jews of the 1st century suffered from.)Few are looking for a God to follow and submit their lives to. Few see the “Goodness” of the Gospel because they don’t understand the ramifications of the true judgment. Just like the Jews of the past, Americans today are looking for deliverance and independence. They are looking to be freed and for unity but don’t understand that freedom has come and the opportunity for unity exists. The good news is that God has offered freedom from judgment and opportunity for right relationship with God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. People today seeming are not interested in unity to God but unity to fleshly desires. People seem to be looking for Jesus to be something different than what Jesus was and is. Jesus is not just a “good” teacher, “good” role model, “good” leader, a “good” political figure, or a “Good” military leader to lead a insurrection against Rome (or todays culture). The “Good News” of the gospel is that Jesus is none of those things. The “Good News” is that Jesus is God in flesh and the ultimate sacrifice that the prophets of the Old Testament prophesied about. John 10: 7-9 shares the true nature of Jesus purpose. Vs. 9 “I am the the gate, whoever enters through me will be saved.”
This is at the heart of the “Good News” of the gospel. The Good news tells people of their true nature, the relationship they innately have with God, and the opportunity to have a relationship with God that is everlasting.