Preliminary Thoughts on the Good News of God

I had set a challenge for myself to see if I could figure out what the Good News was that Christ preached. It couldn’t be: believe in Him, crucified and risen and inherit eternal life. People were believing without the event of the crucifixion having taken place. So what was the Gospel of God?

Let me start by saying what the Gospel of Man might be: work hard and you’ll succeed (the American Way) or be born into the right circumstances and you’ll succeed; you’ll know if you have God’s favor by evaluating your circumstances—if you’re poor, you and/or your forefathers were sinners... Life is a struggle and you’re lucky if you attain anything at the peak of Maslow’s Hierarchy

The Good News Christ preached seems to turn this on its head. John the Baptist challenges us to prove that we have repented by how we live—feed the hungry, clothe the naked/poor (in other words, serve and look beyond your own needs at the bottom of the pyramid). And then John promises a baptism of the Holy Spirit and water. Christ too tells Nicodemus that we need to be born of the Holy Spirit and that’s how we get spiritual life, eternal life. We can only do this coming near God’s Light in order to expose and expunge our sins. To the Samaritan woman, Christ tells her that God promises living water flowing within us, providing eternal life. And that nourishment (the bottom of the hierarchy) comes from doing the will of the Father. This is an echo of His rebuke of Satan in the wilderness that life comes from the word of God, and not from bread. And another echo is that we should worship and serve (top of the hierarchy) only God and not ourselves, our reputations (esteem). It’s this message that has the others in the Samaritan village acknowledging that this man from Nazareth is the Savior of the world.

In an early synagogue experience, Christ reads from the Isaiah scroll how the time of the Lord’s favor has come. For several chapters God outlines how Israel’s fortune will be reversed at the time of the Redeemer. The Light will break forth over the land. The time of separation from God, because of the people’s sins, has ended. All the people will be righteous. The land will be possessed forever.

So this is the start of the Gospel of God: the Holy Spirit has been released upon the people. Light is shining through the people of Israel. The kingdom of God is here. Miracles are happening—Christ’s disciples are performing miracles as well as others outside the circle of disciples (Mark 9.38-39). Blessed are the poor...Do not worry or be anxious because your Father in heaven loves you...only seek the kingdom...focus on love and service and all else will take care of itself.

These are preliminary thoughts but they are freeing, grace-filled, heart-warming thoughts that we can have access to the Father, not by what we do beforehand but by humbly, contritely approaching Him and asking for His grace and mercy.

The next thoughts are: how else did Christ describe the Good News? (He does tell Nicodemus that the Son of Man must be lifted up and belief in Him will bring eternal life.) What did the early church preach as the Good News—a transition between access to the Holy Spirit towards Christ and Him crucified (Paul in 1 Corinthians)? So I may be looking into the early sermons found in the Acts.