Does the Gospel Matter Today?
Christians throw out the word “gospel” and the phrase “good news” a lot: “The gospel is good news; Jesus is good news.” But to keep these words from being empty, we play a game sometimes in our church gatherings to see if we know how various aspects of Jesus are actually, specifically “good news.” For example, a question I like to ask people regularly is “What was it about Jesus that made the gospel sound like good news to you?”
IS THE GOSPEL ‘GOOD NEWS’?
I’d ask you to pause and consider your answer to that question: “what about Jesus made the gospel sound like good news to you?” Because there are a thousand subjective ways that God’s one objective gospel can sound like good news.
“There are many angles from which people through history have found that gospel to be truly good news.”
Similarly, there’s a reason that every time we see a commercial for diamond jewelry, the stone is set against a black background and slowly rotates as bright lights shine on it. Every slight turn picks up the light differently, reflecting it beautifully. It’s one diamond, but each different angle shows off its sparkle differently. In this way, the gospel of Jesus Christ is like a diamond. There is one gospel, but there are many angles from which people through history have found that gospel to be truly good news.
The good news of Jesus’ first coming and its objective change in those whose lives were impacted by that truth fill the first pages of most of the New Testament’s letters: “I was one thing, and because of Jesus, now I’m another thing.” “I was dead; I’m now alive.” “I was in darkness; now I’m in the light.” “I was defined by some lesser story; now I’m defined by the truest story in the whole world.” And so forth.
PAST - FUTURE - AND PRESENT!
In Ephesians 1–3, for example, or Romans 1–11, 1 Peter 1–2, and others, the first portion of many letters tell us what is true of us, whether we believe it or live it, or not. Jesus’ past work changes our very identity; the core of who we are.
He doesn’t change our identity one time in our own past, that moment or day when we intentionally take a step and declare we believe His work is true. And He doesn’t change it in some ethereal, future way. He changes us in a tangible, every-moment way that impacts every aspect of our present lives.
That same good news, along with the hope of Jesus’ second coming, fills the latter pages of each of those same letters (e.g., Eph. 4–6, Rom. 12–16, 1 Peter 3–5), and that good news was both the motive and power for the renewed and changed walk with God, relationships with others, and daily lifestyle.
Because the gospel changes everything.
Among numerous examples throughout the New Testament, this message of a past-present-future gospel is found in Ephesians 2:8–10. In the oft-quoted verses 8 and 9 Paul recalls past tense reality of the gospel: “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
“In the gospel God saved us from past brokenness. In the gospel God empowers us for present good works.”
Then in the very next verse he emphasizes the present tense reality that flows from it: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” In the gospel God saved us from past brokenness. In the gospel God empowers us for present good works.
And in the gospel, verse 7 also gives a glimpse of a glorious future: “In the coming ages [God will] show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Because the gospel changes everything.
EVERY NEED, STRUGGLE, AND QUESTION
The Bible says that the gospel is the good news of Jesus—for eternal life yes, but also for every part of our life now. So rather than reduce Jesus’ work to one act, we rightly consider how His life, death, resurrection, and reign shape our everyday motives, thoughts, words, and actions. In this, we understand the true biblical gospel, as we seek His kingdom on earth.
Jesus alone is—among a hundred thousand other things—satisfaction to the dissatisfied, joy to the joyless, hope to the hopeless, forgiveness to the indebted, freedom to the enslaved, salvation to those facing judgment, and the answer to every problem.
How do we know this? First, by learning to read the Bible through the lens of the gospel. It’s in the pages of the Bible that God shows us many angles of this multifaceted, amazingly precious diamond that is the good news of Jesus.
Second, we learn this by listening deeply to people – hearing their needs, struggles, and questions, and considering how Jesus actually sounds like good news to them… and to our own ongoing needs, struggles and questions.
SPEAKING THE GOSPEL AS GOOD NEWS
It’s because of those “many angles” that we can trust that the gospel does indeed apply to every facet of our walk with God, our relationships with others, and our everyday lives. Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus rose, Jesus reigns, and Jesus will return. Each of those truths is part of the biblical “good news.” While no part is complete in itself, each informs the lens through which we read the Bible and listen to others.
“Because praise God, the gospel does apply to all of life!”
So as we learn to rightly read the Bible, to wrestle with the verses, commands, and stories, we do so not with new eyes, but rather ancient ones. And as we learn to listen to our own longings, needs, and questions as well as those of others, we do so not as if “the gospel” sits on one shelf far away from normal life, but as if it truly does apply to all of life!
Because praise God, the gospel does apply to all of life! His past work, that gives us a better hope for our future, also informs every moment of our present. It’s as we grow in understanding that, by the power of God the Spirit, that we rediscover how the gospel is truly good news – for each of us – today and every day.
Portions of this article were adapted from
Reading the Bible, Missing the Gospel by Ben Connelly
