Matthew 28:18-19 – Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
For some time now, a question has been rolling around my head that has really been messing with my spirit . . . What is the Gospel? Since many who will read this live in the “Bible Belt”, I’m sure just about all of us could tell anyone about the Gospel (the first four books in the New Testament). We could talk about the promise of a Messiah, the virgin birth, the miracles Jesus performed, the parables, the 12 disciples, even His arrest, torture, death, and resurrection. Not to say that the life of Jesus isn’t important, but if someone was to ask what the Gospel was, I’m not sure many Christians could give a very clear, succinct answer.
A couple of months ago, my friend Matt went on a mission trip to China. Not a typical mission trip but a very dangerous one in which he and a small group would smuggle Bibles into the country. The story about what they faced and encountered to just help bring these people Bibles is quite an amazing and exciting story in itself, but there was one part of the story that really made me rethink things about church, the Bible, and the significance of the Gospel.
Their final weekend in China, the group travelled into Northern China to take more Bibles to Pastor Samuel Lam. A couple of quick facts:
- China is an atheist state. They go through great lengths to prevent Christianity and other religions from taking root and spreading through the region. In northern China, if you are caught with a Bible, talking about Jesus, etc. you can be arrested or even shot on sight.
- Samuel Lam is quite infamous among many in China. He was arrested and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel for which he spent 22 years or so in prison. His wife passed away not long before his release and since then he has continued to spread the Good News. The government has sent people to catch him but he always ends up converting those who come to him. Needless to say, this man loves the Lord and seeks to make Him known!
Anyway, Matt and the group made their way to his “church” to bring more bibles for him to hand out. Matt described it as a four story shack (nothing like many of us have experienced) in which people would come and line the stairwells, open spaces, and empty rooms 3-4 times a week just to hear him speak. He estimated that he’ll preach to several thousand people a week! When asked what He preaches on (a certain series, book of the Bible, or theme), he simply said, “I preach the Gospel”.
When I heard this, God really started messing with me about what Pastor Lam said, and even when was the last time I heard the Gospel preached in my own church or other churches that I listen to through podcasts. But more importantly, He kept asking me what the Gospel was. These questions bothered me even more because Jesus’ last command was “Go and tell people the Gospel (Good News)” and if I couldn’t explain this to God (the author), how could I explain it to someone who has never heard it, much less has heard it but doesn’t understand it.
Like anyone, I went to Bible to start to find the answer. I figured it’d be easy! I mean I went to a Christian school ever since first grade and could tell you about just about every story in the Bible, and over the past few years, I’ve started reading the Word for myself, trying to get a better understanding about the basis of my faith. . . I couldn’t have been more wrong! For so long, I had this view that God in the Old Testament was vengeful and sought to punish those who weren’t with him. Then He decided that that wasn’t working, so He sent Jesus and became all nice and loving. But the more I read and let the Holy Spirit start revealing more truths about what I was reading; I then began to see a whole different God. Then it finally hit me!
My take on the Gospel:
First, you shouldn’t look at the Bible as a book of rules and regulations (do’s and don’ts). At its heart, the Bible AND the Gospel is the story of a relationship. God created man. This pleased Him so much that He fellowshipped with them daily! After some time, man broke His one command (sinned) and that relationship was broken (Genesis 2 & 3). Even though man sinned, God went about trying to repair that lost relationship through various means: Noah, Abraham and the Jewish patriarchs, even covenants with the nation of Israel. Through all the ups and downs with His chosen people, God continued to pursue that lost relationship but in the end, that relationship could only be fixed one way . . . Jesus!
By Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, several things happened:
- A lost relationship had been restored.
- We have been redeemed from a death that we deserved but now don’t have to suffer.
- We now have 24 hour access to talk with God. No more priests or other medians. Just us and God!
The Gospel – The basis of our Christian faith. When you think about it, we have an awesome God! He loved us so much (even with all of our shortcomings) that He wants to be in a close relationship with all of us. Not in a way where we go to Him when we want something but where He wants to reveal more and more about His nature and His heart!
On a related note, when we talk about our “walk with Christ”, keep in mind, it’s a long process. I would say it’s more like a marathon and not a 50-yard dash. As we grow closer and closer to Him, we become like Him (Christ-like). The idea of grace is also seen repeatedly throughout scripture. This is reflected in the Hillsong United song, “Inside Out”, when its opens with this phrase:
A thousand times I’ve failed
Still your mercy remains.
Should I stumble again
Still I’m caught in your grace.
This is a great reminder that we WILL mess up (we’re human after all) but the awesome thing about God’s grace is that He’s there to catch us, put us back on our feet, and then He continues to walk with us!
I believe these concepts are so fundamental to our Christian faith! I encourage everyone who does read this to: seek after God, understand the Gospel for yourself, learn why Jesus told us to tell others about it, and how would you tell someone if they asked you about it. Be reassured that He is with us all the way and that you’re never alone when telling others about Him!
Mursian Chronicles 
I really like what you said here. It’s true. Christians claim they know God, but all they know is what God said to Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, Peter, Paul etc. They don’t hear God for themselves. Just because you know what God said to someone else in the Bible, doesn’t mean you know him. You know about him. You know of him, but you don’t know him personally. 99% of Christians have a relationship with a book (Bible), but not Jesus. Why don’t Christians hear Jesus for themselves? Because no one is teaching them. However, this is the only Gospel any Christian should be communicating. Once anyone starts hearing God’s voice for themselves, then he will take care of the rest.