What is the “Good News”?

It seems like a simple question, and since it is the core of the Christian message we should expect that everyone who calls themselves by the name of Jesus should be able to explain this “gospel”. However, even among Christians we find varying descriptions and even some confusion about the nature and content of this Good News. Arguments have arisen and even wars fought over this “Good News”, leading many to doubt the goodness of this news! Yet, the seriousness of this question is not post-apostolic, as Paul warns about a curse on those who proclaim “another gospel” (Gal. 1:6-8). So the Good News, if we get it wrong, becomes Bad News indeed. We must get this right.

In answering the question, we need to consider the biblical context along with the historical context. In the New Testament, the word euangelion  is used 75 times, with its verb form euangelizomai 56 times.[1] While two of the verses in particular, 1 Cor. 15:1-8 and Mark 1:15, summarize the Gospel in fairly simple terms, a survey of others uncovers a richness that we could miss if we limited ourselves to a single verse. In the historical context, the Romans proclaimed the good news of Caesar as a military victory and/or a “rise to power of a new king”.[2] In the Christian gospel, this accords with the New Testament declaration of Christ’s coming as the King of kings and of His victory over sin and death on the cross and in His resurrection from the dead. This also fits with the Good News declared in Isaiah (40:9, 52:7-10, 60:6, 61:1), which Jesus himself declares as fulfilled in Luke 4:18-19. Quoting from the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary again: “… the herald of good news announces that Yahweh, the God of Israel, has defeated the pagan enemies, ended the exile of His people, and established His reign.”

The complication comes in this: Throughout the New Testament, different language and different metaphors are used to explain the gospel. As Andy Smith explains, in his book, Meaningful Evangelism: Choosing words that connect, “… the world is populated by a wonderful variety of people. They speak thousands of languages, and hold a vast array of values. Their understanding of certain words can be widely different. At the same time, unique experiences have shaped each of their views of reality. As a result, there is no one-set-of-words-fits-all  way to share the gospel” [3] (emphasis mine).

All of us tend to view this message through a particular lens, filtering out those perspectives that do not connect with our experience and view of reality. This is natural, but it hinders our ability to communicate the gospel with those who come from different cultures with their different lenses. It also means we miss out on some of the richness of all that Christ has done for us and that God offers us in the gospel.[4]

In this blog on the Multifaceted Gospel, I intend to

(1) Look at core of the gospel: How do we know we have not strayed into “another gospel”? 
(2) Explore the nature of this Good News from different perspectives and lenses; and

(3) Look at various passages of Scripture to see the intertwined influences of various perspectives. The twofold goal is that we “know [more fully] the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe” (Eph. 1:18-19, NIV), and that we communicate that hope and riches and power more effectively to those who have not yet heard in a way that connects to their hearts. May the Lord use this to bless and enrich His people.

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[1] Mathis, D. (2003). Gospel. In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Smith, Andy (2011). Meaningful Evangelism: Choosing words that connect.  Manila: OMF Literature, Inc.

[4] I am indebted to Jayson Georges (The 3D Gospel, personal communication) and Werner Mischke (The Global Gospel) for their insights into Honour-Shame and Power-Fear perspectives in contrast to the more Western Justice (Innocence)-Guilt perspective. More on this in my next post.