God has been trying to give 'the good news' to mankind since He first declared to Adam and Eve the promise of a Saviour to come in Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel." The word gospel in the new testament means Good News, and that is what the whole world needs. Thus, we are told in Revelation 14:6 we are to bring the 'everlasting good news' before the whole wolrd: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people."
What is this good news? Some would say it consists of the message about Christ's death for our sins and His resurrection. Yes, this is a vital part of the good news, but much more is involved than the fact that Christ died and rose again. We deal with many terms which help us to understand the plan of salvation--forgiveness, pardon, justification, sanctification, cleansing, repentance, conviction, confession, righteousness by faith, and numerous other important words. Whole sermons can be built around any of these words.
Yet, if we were to take one of these special words in the Bible we could, through ignorance--willingly or unwillingly,leave out other points of the truth of the gospel. Many have done this, by presenting the idea of Jesus' death on the cross releasing us from full obedience to the ten commandment law. Or, they go to the opposite extreme, emphasizing the law without truly presenting the mercy and grace made available at the cross. No doubt, others may have presented what they have considered to be truth, but which turned out to be error, because it only gave a partial glimpse of what is the Biblically-sound good news from heaven.
So, what does the 'good news' include? First, let us say, if you had the opportunity to preach only one sermon or give one bible study, and you wanted it to be enough to start individuals on the road toward the kingdom, what would you include? You would need to present the good news in a nutshell, so to speak. Your primary subject should cover the cross of Calvary, the resurrection, and the high priestly work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary (see Hebrews and Revelation). Your main job would be to present truth in a way which would lead your hearers to conviction and true repentance. And then you would encourage them to keep studying God's word and praying for further light. That would be all you had time for in one Bible study or sermon.
Many of us are aware of the fact we are living in the last days, as Bible prophecy makes this quite clear. The time has come for Jesus to return in the clouds of glory to take us home. God is preparing a people to be translated without seeing death. These people will go through an experience that will help to vindicate God's cause before the universe. They will, through no merit of their own, help to seal the destiny of the righteous and the wicked. How? Through their lives being so totally surrendered to God that only Jesus can be seen in them. Then it can be shown to the whole universe that God's law can be kept, and our living Lord is gracious, merciful, just and fair in all His dealings with the intelligent creatures He has made. They will witness to the fact that the redeemed can be trusted in a pure heaven.
We should strive to be among those who are translated. Though we may die before that time, we must have this as our main goal in life. The translated ones are part of the result of the 'good news' given in its fulness. But, of course, they are not the gospel. And this article is about the gospel or good news.
Yet, this group of people will have in their possession a knowledge and understanding of the good news, which is more complete than any other generation. Individuals may have possessed a complete understanding--perhaps Moses or John, and others. Of course, Christ understood it all. But in these last days, we have access to the accumulated light that has been gradually unfolding over several thousand years.
We have the Old Testament, which men before Moses did not have. "Christ was the foundation of the Jewish economy. The whole system of types and symbols was a compacted prophecy of the gospel, a presentation in which were bound up the promises of redemption." Acts of the Apostles, EGW. We have the entire New Testatment, which the people of Christ's time and everyone before then did not possess. We have the experiences of godly men and women and of the reformers down through the centuries. They certainly have unburied truth from God's word for us. The reformer, John Wesley, is quoted as saying: "There is, therefore, the closest connection that can be conceived, between the law and the gospel. On the one hand, the law continually makes way for, and points us to, the gospel; on the other, the gospel continually leads us to a more exact fulfilling of the law."
A book called Gospel Workers tells us: "We are living in the last days, when error of a most deceptive character is accepted and believed, while truth is discarded. The Lord will hold both ministers and people responsible for the light shining upon them. He calls upon us to work diligently in gathering up the jewels of truth, and placing them in the framework of the gospel. In all their divine beauty they are to shine forth in the moral darkness of the world. This cannot be accomplished without the aid of the Holy Spirit, but with this aid we can do all things. When we are endowed with the Spirit, we take hold by faith of infinite power. There is nothing lost of that which comes from God. The Saviour of the world sends His messages to the soul, that the darkness of error may be dispelled. The work of the Spirit is immeasurably great. It is from this source that power and efficiency come to the worker for God."
As surely as we have all this accumulated light, we are responsible for what we do with it. If we are "hungering and thirsting" after righteousness, and long to be filled with the power of God, we will make use of this light. And what is this light? It is the GOSPEL, the good news. We may speak of it in one sentence or one sermon, but to get the full impact of it, we will need eternity.
The truths of the bible, all the doctrines of the Bible are part of the GOOD NEWS. These truths have been passed down to us from others who have served God with all their hearts, minds, and souls. They ae all important, and they arre all part of the gospel. Each one separately will reveal one or more aspects of the plan of salvation.
There is the good news in everyone of them. There is good news in the prophecies. Good News is found in the doctrines of the state of the dead, the Sabbath, the law of God, and the sanctuary truths. They all contain the gospel, the good news. They all repsent the good news. They arre all symbolic of the good news. Yes, the whole Bible contains the gospel. But it's not good news for all who read it.
It isn't good news for those who choose to reject truth and for those who choose to cling to their sins. But it is good news for repentant sinners. God's love is the height, depth, length, and breadth of the good news. Not a love, that excuses our sinning, but a love that pardons our sins and gives us the strength to overcome every evil trait. It is those who understand all these doctrines and prophecies and truths, so graciously handed down to us through generations, who will recognize that the end result of all this good news is a TRANSFORMATION OF CHARACTER.
Why has God given us so much truth in these last days? Because He wants a people who will serve Him without reservation, who will hold back nothing for selfish purposes. He wants a people who will so completely bear the image of their Master, they can go through a "time of trouble" without a Mediator, and then be translated without seeing death. They will be so changed their only motive will be to vindicate the name of Christ, to prove the justice and mercy of God.
When we look at such a grand and wonderful goal, it can be frightening. But if we cling by faith to God's promises and never let go, we will be conquerors. Repentance is a gift of God. Faith is a gift of God. The divine power for victory comes from God. He supplies the grace, the merits, the strength and everything else we need. What do we supply? Ourselves--surrender, submission to the will of God in EVERYTHING, with a willingness to learn, to change, to die or live, to suffer, to sacrifice.
Absolutely nothing we do will merit us any favor. But unless we humbly surrender all, every day and every hour, we cannot gain the victories we need. God gives us all that we have--material things, intelligence, abilities, talents, the air we breath, everything! We give Him our weak, sinful selves--to be molded and used as a piece of pliable clay.
And what does He give us in return? A life of victory, a glorious future, a chance for unending development of all our natural powers through eternity, and eternal joy, peace, and love. Any sacrifice, no matter how great, is worth it all.
The best of the GOOD NEWS is, God has all kinds of tremendous plans for our lives here and for eternity. He will not force us to accept His plans, but He will give us all the knowledge, understanding, strength, and grace we need, if we choose to live entirely for Him.##### (c)1995, Kathryn Terrell
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